Hi! I’m back once again with another book tag. Today’s book tag is the Book Reader Problems Book tag which focuses on problems that all book readers face.
These are things such as having too many books on your TBR and having to choose between them or trying to keep up with your reading challenge.
I’ve had to adapt some of my answers to the questions as I’m not your typical reader (not every book I read is a physical copy). However, there are some great questions in here that I think pretty much any reader can relate to.
Let me know if you end up doing this tag and if you do, make sure to link back to this page or tag me on whichever social media platform is your preference.
I found this Book Reader Problems Book tag on The Book Nut blog, make sure you go over and check out their content.
1. You have 20,000 books in your TBR, how in the world do you decide what to read next?
It’s usually a culmination of things: either the book comes on offer on Kindle, the Audible audiobook is nice and cheap or I find the physical book on a local charity shop haul.
On top of these, I’ve got to be in the mood for them. Sometimes I’m craving a fantasy read, getting lost in a completely made-up world with creative cultures and worlds. Other times I really fancy getting into a juicy thriller. Other times I want to read a good location-sweeping action thriller and sometimes I don’t want any of these.
2. You’re halfway through a book and you’re just not loving it. Do you put it down or are you committed?
There are very few books that I DNF. However, there has been a couple of note over the past couple of years: Wolf Hall and Dune. Two books that I know have been critically acclaimed and so I felt I needed to read them.
However, sometimes you pick up a book when you’re just not in the mood to read it or you lose interest during a section and then another book takes your interest.
I’m definitely hoping to pick these up again at some point.
3. The end of the year is coming and you’re behind on your reading challenge, do you try to catch up? And if so, how?
Not at all. This isn’t something I obsess over. If it’s going to be close and I was planning on reading a 900-page fantasy then I might pick up a 300-page thriller instead, but I won’t make a point of sitting up long hours reading books to try and make up for it.
4. The covers of a series you love do not match, how do you cope?
It’s actually not happening. I won’t pick up a book unless the series covers match. This also leads nicely on to the awful habit publishers have of turning book covers into film/tv series tie-ins.
I understand it helps people who have watched said TV series/film understand there’s a book to read on the series too, but no one actually wants to pick up that book of Joe Bloggs from BBC One on the front cover over the incredible art original designed for the book.
5. Everyone and their mother loves a book that you do not. Who do you bond with over your shared feelings?
This is a great question! As a book reviewer, when I first started out, I often felt the pressure of needing to write a review that reflected other people’s views of the book. However, if you go to Goodreads or Amazon, you’ll often find plenty of other people who have very similar views to you – maybe the plot didn’t click with you or none of the characters made you fall in love.
I usually don’t worry about whether people will agree with my views – there’s no point having an opinion about books if you’re not going to be honest and share it. Usually, when I post a review to my social media, someone will agree with it!
6. You’re reading a book in public and you’re about to start crying. How do you deal?
Well, I don’t really cry at anything, but if I felt the tears stinging my ducts, I’d probably stop reading, open my eyes wide and look around – isn’t this what everybody does when they feel tears coming on but they don’t want to cry?
There have been a few books that have made me feel emotional and I know I’ve had to go and tell others about them immedtiately.
7. The sequel to a book you loved just came out but you’ve forgotten a lot of what happens. Are you going to reread it?
No, there are a few websites that can offer you quite good in-depth summaries of books that I’ll often go and use if I need to. If not, It’s often easy enough to use the blurb to pick it up again.
Also, sometimes you’ll start reading the sequel, it’ll reference something you’ve forgotten or even by rereading about the characters and their relationships, it’ll bring back memories from the first book.
8. You do not want anyone to borrow your books, how do you politely say no when someone asks?
Another great question! I think I’d just be honest and say I don’t like to lend out books. Maybe I’d say a fib like “I want them to be in good condition so I can give them to my kids in the future.” Maybe try something like that?
But no, I’m fine lending a book. A lot of my books are charity shop buys anyway so aren’t in the best condition.
9. You have picked up and put down 5 books in the last month. How do you get over this reading slump?
I get asked this a fair amount on my social media channels. I often say try three things: read something really short, read something that isn’t in your usual genre or just read a book you know you love and you already know most of the plot to.
Read something short because a reading slump can often be because you haven’t felt the resolution of a book’s story for too long. Reading something that isn’t in your usual genre can often surprise you and grab you in like you may not think.
10. There are so many books coming out that you are dying to read, how many do you end up buying?
I don’t tend to buy brand new books. I constantly feel like I’m catching up on the last ten years of fantastic books I missed during my down period. However, I did pick up the sequel to The Thursday Murder Club, The Man Who Died Twice, on release day and I decided to get it on Kindle.
Most books come out in hardback and I don’t buy hardbacks so it’s easier then as I don’t have anything physical to pre-order. So the answer here would likely be one or two.
11. After you purchase all of these books that you’re dying to read how long do they sit on your shelves before you get to them?
This one is more relatable! Let’s switch the question to base it more on when I go to a charity shop and come back with about 7 books for 3.50. In general, I’m in a state at the moment where I don’t have too many books on my shelf that I haven’t read. I recently received about 4 or 5 books which I have popped on my shelf and I intend to be the next 4 or 5 books I read.
If we’re talking my kindle shelf then that’s a completely different story. For a fair few years now, I’ve been picking up 99p kindle deals to a point where I now go “ooh, that looks a good book, let’s see if it’s on my kindle… ah yes, already have it.”
It’s one of the best ways to read loads of books and save money at the same time – take advantage of the 99p Kindle book deals daily email. Go to this link here and tick the option that says Kindle Daily Deals.
