#omgtalks

But, I find it hard to get involved past that. I see so many wonderful posts on here about character motivations and character analysis and lots of in depth insights that I could never think of and I absolutely love to read these.

But I don't seem capable of doing it. When I think about a book it is more about what the author wrote.

I don't really question motivations or all the possibilities if the character had made a different choice because it isn't possible for me. All the characters did what they did because they were written that way. Things couldn't have been different because the author didn't intend for them to be.

Like when I see people get upset about character actions or happy about them, I'm unable to do that. Again, yeah I like and love characters, but I don't really dive too deep to get deeper emotions because it's meant to be that way. The character was always going to do that shitty or great thing and the story was always going to unfold this way.

I feel like I'm explaining it horribly. I wish I did see it differently. I feel that if I did I could have better discussions about books.

Tagged by @anassarhenisch four months ago. I am so sorry. Thank you for the tag!!

Is there a book you reach for on a regular basis? No. I think I grab War and Peace once or twice a year, determined to read it, but that’s it. I don’t have a go-to book that I have already read.

If you had to read only ONE book  over and over for the rest of your life, what would it be? Probably Shakespeare’s complete works. If it had to be something I’ve already read, then Gone With the Wind. I’ve only read it once, but I have such vivid memories of it and I think it could make me happy forever. 

Have you memorized a poem/quote/speech? If so, spill! Nah. I don’t read a lot of poetry. I once memorized Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address for a school assignment, but that is long gone. I also used to have the first class scene in Dangerous Minds memorized. I love that movie.

What book from your childhood destroyed you emotionally? I can’t remember anything from my actual kid years. Gone With the Wind is the first book I remember having an emotional reaction to and it broke my heart, so I guess that. I read that at 13, so I was still a kid.

Would you rather only read tiny poems or 400+ page books for the rest of your life? 400+ PAGE BOOKS, of course. I would have so much to read!! I enjoy poetry, but I’ve never been that into it, I don’t think I read enough of it. 

RANDOM BONUS QUESTION: What’s one thing that you taught yourself? Guitar? Hockey? Mechanical Engineering? Nothing, I think. I learned how to make GIFs from text instructions, but you know that is instructions. I don’t know if this means just being able to do it without that. In that case, I can’t think of a single thing I was not taught how to do.

So sorry for the late response. I save things in my drafts to go back to when I have more time, but I forgot about everything!

Thank you so much for tagging me! 

EXPOSITION

Divergent had the great task of world building and giving a lot of insight into the background of the city, while keeping things lively with the training, the attacks, and all the inner turmoil Tris was dealing with. Insurgent was just too much all the time. So many attacks and I think little was added to the background or built upon, other than giving us a little sneak peek at Candor.

Then there’s Allegiant. To me, ripe with exposition. Learning something new about the Bureau every chapter, with the bonus of getting extra background on Four because of the dual narration. Every instance of excitement has been small and was covered in a page or two. All the details and the story, I love it.

@reviewandrepeat replied to your post: 2020 Goals Update #65: March 5th

You read for 8 straight hours ….? …and your eyes haven’t melted out of your head?…. please share your secret power. I read for half of that time and I could feel death approaching ��

I think I paused for about an hour for dinner, but after that I pretty much read straight through for six hours.

Other than maybe using music to blockout background noise and focus and making sure you are comfortable, I have no suggestions for longer reading. I've always been like this. If I am into a book, I keep pushing. It also helped that it was a book club read and I wanted to be able to participate in the discussion.

Rules! Choose 20 books you want to read or goals you want to achieve in 2020. That’s it! It can be a mix of books and goals, or 20 books, or 20 goals…. it’s up to you. Then tag some friends to play along.

I was tagged by @bookofmirth

I will do a mix of books and goals, and I hope I can achieve them both!

Read The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. It was a book I bought for Kindle because a professor who I believe has great taste in books, recommended it to me. I’ve owned it for over two years.

Use the library to read new releases and get books for book club picks.

Take part in at least one read from either book club I am in every month. I was in two as of August of last year and I only read one book for them.

Finish at least three series I’ve already started

One Jane Austen novel

Read 10 books that I’ve owned for more than a year

Read at least one book that I’ve owned for five years or more

One book by J. R. R. Tolkien

One play by Shakespeare

At least one other play that is not Shakespeare

A book of short stories that I own

Read for at least 30 minutes every day, I think this will keep me from getting in a book slump

One non-fiction book every month, that I own (these don’t count to the 10 I own because then that would just be too easy wouldn’t it)

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, this was a book I started last year for a book club and never finished

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, another book from one of my book clubs that I never finished

Be more active on booklr and in the community overall

A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Pay off my library fine, currently using my mom’s account

Take part in one reading challenge on booklr

Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, my mom has been telling me to read this for years

I tried to stay away from listing specific books because I feel that usually makes me not want to read them. This way I have options. Maybe it is like cheating though. Hooray for vague goals!!

I was tagged by @@reading-while-dreaming

Name/nickname? Hailey. My family and a few friends call me Hailey Mo. A lot of my family calls me Mowgli as well because I watched The Jungle Book nonstop as a kid. I think the Mo part of HaileyMo comes from that, but supposedly that part comes from my middle name, which is Missouri.

Star sign?  Leo

Height?  5′2″

Age?  30

Eye color?  Dark brown

Personality type?  Um, I can’t remember and I am too lazy to take a test.

Last book you read?  Read and finished was Tales of the Peculiar, last read was Library of Souls, both by Ransom Riggs.

Scary movie or happy ending?  Scary movie ending

Do you have any pets?  I have five dogs (Sadie, Riley, Princess, Jax, and Gemma)

Special talents?  None that I know of.

Favorite movie? The Gangs of New York

Favorite thing to cook or bake?  The only thing I can cook decently is spaghetti and I don’t bake.

Have you ever gotten a tattoo?  What is it?  If you haven’t, do you want one?  I do have one. It is a heart with a peace sign going through it. It is based on the Ray LaMontagne lyric “learning I’m deserving of love and the peaceful heart”, from Old Before Your Time.

Last three TV shows you watched?  Zoo (rewatch), Breaking Bad (rewatch), and The Witcher.

Last three characters you’ve identified with?  Zachary Rawlins and Dorian from The Starless Sea. I love books too! Probably just another character from that book honestly.

I was tagged by @bookbandit and @lexi-rose-studyblr

Rules: respond to the prompt “decade in books” however you want, & then tag some ppl!

I’m choosing to put down books that had a big impact on me whether because the book just left a lasting impression or because it changed the way I read.

2010: The Haunted Vagina by Carlton Mellick III. Please forgive me for that title, honestly it isn’t even the worst one. This book is in the genre of bizarro fiction. I found it in 2010 and probably read another 13 books by this author until I stopped in 2013. They were like a 10x more vulgar and grotesque version of Chuck Palahniuk without the poetry and beautiful writing he has. Or even a real plot. Kind of like shocking for the sake of it and sometimes there was a message. Quick reads with interesting ideas. I enjoyed all of them, but they were obscene and I could not get back into them. It was a wonderful and interesting time though. I ended up reading more because of these books and it showed me that I should try books from any genre because you never know what you could miss.

2011: Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo. I loved this book. It has stuck with me through the years. If I ever had to recommend a book for everyone to read, it would be this one. It is haunting and bleak and I cannot forget it. I swear at least once a month I think about this book. ALSO, One by Metallica is based on this book.

2012: Great year for books! Um, I have to pick multiple books for this. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, ASOIAF by George R. R. Martin, and The Devil in The White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson. The Book Thief had me crying like a baby and it is one that I am so thankful that I read because I remember that gut wrenching feeling while reading it and it reminds me why I love books so much. ASOIAF has become my favorite series. I absolutely loved the books and characters and am waiting for the next two books. The series was my favorite read that year. The Devil in the White City was important for me because it introduced me to Erik Larson. I’ve read two books by him and I own another two. I think he showed me that non-fiction, that isn’t a memoir, can still be interesting and that I should give it a chance, before then I didn’t feel that way.

2013: The Stand by Stephen King. I finally finished the book I had started and stopped for the past 10 years. It was wonderful, best Stephen King book to me, and just reminded me that I absolutely love his writing, especially when it comes to his large novels.

2014: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. This was the year I stopped reading like I used to. On May 28th, I was standing in front of my bookshelf around 7:30 in the morning trying to figure out what book to grab as my grandma was being taken to the hospital. I had to do this same thing about two months earlier and ended up staying overnight for two days and wanted to make sure I had a book. She always pulled through, we just ended up waiting a while. Well, she didn’t pull through. Apparently, she was dead before we were even told to go to the hospital. She had died in the ambulance and my grandpa didn’t want to tell us so we could drive safely. The Kite Runner was the book I grabbed that day. It took me four months to finish it. This is when my depression truly began, where I was too deep in my grief that I needed help. Prior to this, I would read about 60-70 books a year. I know the biggest symptom of depression is losing the enjoyment or desire to engage in the things you once loved. I think I always kept thinking about how could I be looking for a book as she was dying. Why didn’t I treat it more seriously? My reading habits haven’t been the same since. Every time I think of The Kite Runner, it reminds me of my grandma’s death. It was an amazing book, and it was sad and dark too, which probably made it even harder to read at the time. This one decision I think made me resent books or just the correlation between the two made reading too painful for me.

2015: The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht. Of the 7 books I read that year, it was the only one I absolutely enjoyed.

2016: Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. I joined an academic quiz team at the end of 2015, but 2016 was the year that I got active in it. I excelled at it because I had been such a big reader and therefore I knew a lot of books, whether I read them or not, especially since I had the habit of buying books and not reading them. I read Things Fall Apart because it kept coming up and quiz team and it sounded like a great book. I loved it and the ending made me so angry. Any book that makes me feel strong emotions usually becomes a favorite.

2017: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. I needed this book to help me process by grandma’s death and to help me deal with my depression. This book hurt my heart, and I identified so strongly with the boy. I’ve made emotional connections with books before, but the feelings this book brought up came from the deepest parts of me. It was a cathartic read and I would recommend it to anyone who has struggled or is struggling with the death of a loved one. Be prepared for how painful it can be to read this.

2018: Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan. I only read six books that year and this was the one I liked best.

2019: The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I finally got back into reading last year and I have Tumblr to thank for it. Anyway, I had made a goal on Tumblr to read more books that I owned and this was one that I owned, so I went for it. This was my favorite read of 2019. I didn’t think I would like it because I disliked the writing when I first started. The book pulls you in and the writing and lack of detail in the beginning all make sense and it works. It was a great read and only made me want to read more of the books I own by him.

Thanks for tagging me, this was fun. Sorry, this is so long!

@sometimesreading​, I don’t own any graphic novels. I still have a couple of weeks left on my Kindle Unlimited trial so I can see if they have any. If so, it’ll work for both a graphic novel and reading in a different format. I think the last graphic novel I read was Nevermore, an adaption of Poe’s short stories. Or maybe Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. I think I read them around the same time.

@moonmean​, I live in a very small town and we don’t have any bookstores here. The closest one is over an hour away and as much as I would love to wander around in one, I don’t have the money or time to go to one.  My library lacks inspiration and is limited in their books. I’ve always had to get the books from other libraries. And I just don’t have the money to put into gas to go just to look around. I miss living in bigger cities. I could catch the bus to Barnes and Noble or Borders and spend hours walking around. A local bookstore would be great too, those have such a great atmosphere. If I get a chance to visit one, I will definitely do what you suggested!

@miss-southernerd​, Are some of the books you suggested fantasy? I think some of them are. I think I do need something like that. I will have to go through my books and see if I have any fantasy. I’m limited to what I own right now, so I can’t get any of the ones you mentioned. A change from what I normally read, classics and contemporary, might help me get back into the groove of things.

@kandidlyrandom​, I have poetry collections for Keats and Blake, so I could look into those. I have a collection of short stories from Poe and Hemingway, so I will check those out. I’m more likely to respond to short stories. I love poetry, but I feel that reading collections of them isn’t as much as fun. I can’t seem to hold on to enough of them the same way I can hold onto a story. 

@petrareads​, Implementing a certain amount of time read or maybe even pages read could work. I think starting out low like you mentioned would be a great way to go. Sometimes you just have to get started so you can reach the interesting part.

@brettlyburkeen​, How do you focus on just the audio? When I’m reading a physical book I have to start pages over because I happened to be thinking of other things while I’m reading, so I’m either not getting any of it or just pieces. I usually use music to help me focus. I don’t know how I would do that with an audiobook or what to do with my eyes. I also tend to reread passages or anything I couldn’t understand, so I would rewind instead? I’m definitely willing to try. Maybe start out with a short one.

@books-and-cookies​, Honestly, I think depression is playing a big role in all of this. It isn’t that reading is feeling like a chore to me, it’s that I’m not interested in anything. I’m re-watching shows because I can’t muster up enough interest for a new one. Basically finding ways to fill my time until I can go back to bed and then sometimes I just stay in bed all day instead. Everything is kind of blah right now. I also have issues with feeling like I am being lazy or just bad feelings if I can’t do anything productive, even if that productive thing is watching something I haven’t seen or playing a new game, just anything to make me feel less redundant. I got problems. I hope the desire for books comes back soon.

Thank you for all of your replies and suggestions. I hope I can take some of this advice and apply it and get back to reading soon.