Today’s discussion is about mood reading and mood readers. To me, mood readers are people whose mood dictates what books to read and whether a book is good or not.
Honestly, I consider myself a mood reader. I can only really read (and enjoy reading) a book when I’m in the zone. If I’m not in the zone, then DNF, DNF, DNF. Seriously, that’s how sad it is. I really wish I wasn’t such a mood (and moody) reader, but for some reason I have developed into one over the years. Before, I could just pick up a book and get into it if the writing was good and I liked where it was going. Nowadays I have to be in the “reading” mood in order to pick up a book. And if I’m not I just end up doing something else like blogging or surfing… the web. Even though reading is still my favorite hobby. Urgh, what am I going to do with myself?
And then there’s that DNF problem. It also works in reverse. If I’m “in the zone” I find that I can usually enjoy any book. Even if the book has a love pentagon and a super whiny annoying main character, if I start reading it and I’m in the mood, there’s a good chance it’ll end up with 4 or more stars. (And if I decide to reread it, DNF -__-). If I end up reading a fantasy novel while I’m in the mood for a contemporary, sorry, but that book is probably A) going to get DNFed (even if it’s part of one of my favorite series or written by one of my favorite authors) or B) get a 3 or less on my messed up rating scale (a discussion for another day). This is so horribly annoying because I just don’t have the time to wait for the “reading mood” to hit me. But I still want (and need to) read. So I try to force myself to. But it’s hard to enjoy a book when you feel like you are forced to read it (also why I kind of stopped reading a lot of ARCs and review copies and also another discussion for another day).
Urgh, why do I have to be a mood reader? Why can’t I just be able to enjoy a book when I pick up a good one? This is also why I go through a lot of reading slumps and am usually never able to finish my reading goals every year. Sigh.
Are you a mood reader?
Do you have any advice for someone who is?
OMG, Yes! I am so a mood reader, and I find netgally is the worse I could be in the mood for something request it and then when I get approved I am like well what did I want this for? and then unfortunately I DNF and I feel so horrible about it. Glad I am not the only one.
I do that with library books! I’ll spend all this time excitedly waiting for a book and by the time I get I don’t feel like reading it anymore. Which is a bummer because usually it’ll take a lot of time to get it back after I’m forced to return it.
Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
I am a HUGE mood-reader! And at points, it makes me feel really bad to not finish a book or give it a low reading, when I know it could just be me. Actually, the first time I tried reading If I Stay, I got part of the way through and decided I hated the book. A while later I re-read it and loved it! Must have been a mood thing. And my advice? If you start a book and can’t get into it, don’t necessarily write it off. If you think that you might like it later, try it again when you might be in the mood for it.
Great post!
I actually DNFed If I Stay, which is now one of my all time favs, the first time I “read” it too! I love giving books second chances, but that’s probably why my TBR pile never gets smaller, only bigger… Sigh.
Thanks for stopping by Em! 🙂
I’ve become a mood reader semi-recently, and it bugs me to no end! Sometimes I’ll push myself through a book, and it’ll be fine, but like you said, sometimes it just feels like a burden or feels like I’m just reading it because I have to. It’s a horrible feeling, and it makes reading and reviewing so difficult at times. And there are times when I just don’t want to read for some reason, and it’s just so frustrating because I know I really do want to read–my head’s just not in it. I think it’s also part of the reason why I start so many books when I haven’t finished the one I’m reading. Urggghhhh.
I know how you feel. There are times when I really want to read but feel like doing something else (like watching TV or even worse, surfing the web). And then when I finally feel like reading I have to do homework. -__-
Thanks for stopping by Jessica! 🙂
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I kind of like being a mood reader. Yes, it’s kind of a pain when you’re trying to finish that one book you were in the middle of, but suddenly don’t feel like reading anymore. Or when you’ve got required reading (school/ARCs/review requests) and those books just end up on the backburner. But mood reading makes me happy, because I get to read what I want to read, what I feel like reading, which leads to positive ratings.
If not… DNF, DNF, DNF 😛