Reader Problems Tag

Hello! *steps out of the wilderness* When I started this blog a couple of years ago I had grand ideas of what it would become. However, I think I got too wrapped up in what I thought it should be rather than just letting myself enjoy it. So, here I am again, hoping to actually enjoy posting on here. No schedule, no expectations. It will mostly be book related but there will still be 'life' posts from time to time. To kick us off I thought I would do a tag, because everyone loves a tag! I originally saw this on Hannah's (A Clockwork Reader) YouTube channel. Enjoy! 

1. You have 20,000 books in your TBR, how in the world do you decide what to read next?
Ahh the quandary that lies in front of every bookworm all over the world. Most of the time I just go with what I am feeling at the particular time. I do usually have some form of idea of the books that I want to get to next; be that either new books, books I have been meaning to read for a while or proofs. However it can be hard to keep a list of priorities when you have so many books to read. Two things that pretty much guarantee that a book will be my next read is if it is an anticipated read (either from a favourite author/series or something new I have been waiting for) or if I am reading the series. I have a habit of binge reading series (especially YA) so I nearly always read them back to back.

2. You're halfway through a book and you're just not loving it. Do you put it down or are you committed? 
I used to persevere when I wasn't enjoying a book. I used to have the notion that if I had picked the book, paid money for it etc. then I should finish it because there was obviously something that drew me to it in the first place. I can gladly say that I have left all of that in the past. There are just too many books to give time over to reading ones we don't enjoy! If I'm not enjoying a book I will give it two or three chapters to see if it improves but if it doesn't and still isn't grabbing me I will put it down. I don't necessarily always put a book down with no intention of going back to it, it might just be a case of 'right book at the wrong time' - although I do generally know if a book just isn't for me.

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?
If I am honest I try not to let it get bother me too much. It's just a number after all. However I am close I will try to get to it by maybe reading a few short books or books that I know I can read quickly. When going back through my Reading Challenges on Goodreads I have actually more often than not missed the goal by a few books or more. Now this may be partly down to me not recording things properly (as with 2017 - I know the challenge fell by the wayside) but it is also down to me just not reading enough books. In the past this might have bugged me but nowadays I am more bothered about reading books I enjoy and actually want to read rather than the number I have read.

4. The cover of a series you love do not match, how do you cope?
Ergh. This does bug me if the publishers decide to change the design half way through. It obviously won't put me off buying the rest of them but it does irk me that they won't match when on the shelf. Same goes for when the size of the books changes. Sometimes publishers will do some of the series in the normal paperback and then change to trade paperback size. WHY?! I know it shouldn't bother me because books are to be read and enjoyed but I also like them as aesthetic objects so in that sense I can't help but be annoyed.

5. Everyone and their mother loves a book that you do not. Who do you bond with over your shared feelings?
I don't think there is necessarily a need to 'bond' with anyone over not like a book. I would never go out of my way to shout about a book that didn't live up to the hype for me because everyone has their own tastes and opinions. However if someone asks what I think of a book I will be honest. This has happened with The Perks of Being a Wallflower on many occasions. I just didn't like it. I have 'bonded' with other people who didn't like it either but most of the time people are amazed it was a book I gave up on after only 80 pages. But, as I said, each to their own.

6. You're reading a book in public and you're about to start crying. How do you deal?
I have done this a few times! As well as gasp, laugh and smile like an absolute lunatic. I do a lot of my reading on the bus on the way to work so unfortunately there is not a lot I can do when a book makes me feel all of the emotions. I do try to reign it in slightly but sometimes I will be so wrapped up in a book that I will forget everyone else around me and just react (especially if it is written by Sarah J Maas) It is always the sign of a good book if it can suck me in so much that all thought of decorum is forgotten about.

7. The sequel to a book you loved just came out but you've forgotten what happens. Are you going to reread it? 
This is a tough one because ideally the answer would be yes I would reread it but the reality is that I don't have time to be rereading books!! I am, however, pretty good at remembering what has happened in a series/the first book so a quick look at the synopsis usually does the trick!

8. You do not want anyone to borrow your books, how do you politely say no when someone asks?
Luckily I don't know many people who ask to borrow my books! The only person who does tend to borrow them is my sister and she is usually very careful with them so I'm not too bothered about letting her.

9. You have picked up and put down 5 books in the last month. How do you get over this reading slump?
Young Adult fantasy is always the way to go for me when I am in a reading slump and it is more often than not a new series that will do it. At the end of 2016 I was beginning to slip into a pretty big slump, nothing I was picking up was grabbing me. It was frustrating because I had only been a bookseller for a few months so I should have been lapping up being surrounded by books. What I think happened instead is that I was overwhelmed. Sarah J Maas was my saviour (and continues to be my Queen) I picked up the first Throne of Glass book and then basically inhaled the five books available in three weeks. Just recently I experienced the same thing and this time I picked The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater and then went on to binge read the four books over the course of a month.

10. There are so many books coming out that you are dying to read, how many do you end up buying?
Erm. . . all of them? I have zero restraint when it comes to buying books, especially those that I am eagerly anticipating. I have got slightly better when it comes to impulse buying but the list of books I am anticipating and will buy as soon as they are published just keeps growing and growing. Put it this way, we are not even half way through 2018 yet and I already have a steadily growing list of 2019 releases that I cannot wait for.

11. After you purchase all of these books that you're dying to read how long do they sit on your before you get to them?
It depends. Some of them will honestly sit on the shelf for years unread. And that is not because I don't want to read them (The Bone Season I am looking at you) it is just that for whatever reason I don't always get to them when I probably should. Some books I will read straight away, a new book in series or by a favourite author for example. I do need to get better at prioritising books but as soon as I set myself a reading list I immediately want to deviate from it.