Category: discussion

Aria @ Book Nook Bits will be the new host for Let’s Talk Bookish! If you aren’t following her yet, good check out her blog and give her a follow!

 November 4: How Do You Define Your Personal Reading Tastes? (Jillian @ Jillian the Bookish Butterfly)

Prompts: How would you define your personal reading tastes? What kinds of books do you like to read? How do you pick what books to read next? Do your reading preferences change often?

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Welcome to November and a new month of LTB everyone! Today’s topic is about personal reading tastes, something I’m not sure I have really thought about that discretely, so that’s exciting. Can’t wait to see what you all define your own reading tastes like too!

I think my personal taste in books (as general as I can be) tends to be books with characters that I can either really relate to or really get into the place of. No matter the genre, if the main character(s) have this kind of quality because of the writing, I’m honestly likely to enjoy it. I find myself having trouble with books with characters I just can’t get behind.

Of course I tend to enjoy thrillers and mysteries for that puzzle element and the suspense. But I also enjoy fantasy and historical fictions, which surprised me, but also told me that it’s not just the suspense and thrill that I enjoy about reading. A really good story with character development, especially through the lens of someone I can relate to is always welcome in eyes.

I tend to read thrillers and mysteries on an ongoing basis, and will kind of read them even without anything pushing me to read. However, if someone suggests to me something they’ve read that is good then I’ll tend to pick that book up next. A good title/cover at a bookstore can also grab my attention, of course.

I don’t think my reading preferences change that often, but I am usually willing to try a book that someone says is good even if it’s not normally my cup of tea. I wouldn’t count that as preferences changing, but I can certainly be flexible with what I choose to read!

What do you all define your reading preferences as? Character-driven? Plot-driven? Genre-driven? Let me know in the comments below!

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Aria @ Book Nook Bits will be the new host for Let’s Talk Bookish! If you aren’t following her yet, good check out her blog and give her a follow!

October 28: Halloween Freebie!

Halloween is in just a couple of days, so this Friday, write about whatever spooky-season topic you want! Some ideas are: your favorite horror novels, favorite fall reads, or your favorite places to read and write in fall!

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Welcome to another week of LTB here at DTRH! Today is a freebie, a free-for-all topic of discussion. I decided I’ll just take it easy this week and talk about whatever, and hopefully you can all relax as well!

I don’t usually buy too much into the spooky season and do and/or read anything particularly horrifying (or even on theme). Perhaps I’ll read something fall-themed, but as long as I’m relaxed, warm, and drinking a nice drink, any book will suffice. The usual thrillers I read are chilling enough to satisfy that winter spookiness. I don’t generally read a lot of horror, but I wonder if there are those of you that do! Let me know in the comments below if you do and why you like to read them.

Like I was saying, it’s really all about the ambience that I set for myself that makes it true fall reading – I’m usually reading the same stuff year round anyway. I have recently gotten out of a slump (hurray!) and that really helped me to plow through a bunch of books. I’d say what really got me out of the slump was being excited to talk with a friend who I recently found had a very similar interest in books as me. We traded a lot of titles, most of which we had both already read, and that really helped to spark my interest to both catch up and also to read more so that we could talk more about books!

As such, I’ve really been enjoying reading literally everywhere this season. Definitely in transit and on commutes, though that has its physical limitations (doesn’t prevent me from trying). I’ve just been using as many free moments as I can recently, despite my busy schedule to fit in my readings. It really has been super exciting and I encourage you to read anywhere anytime, even if it’s just for a little bit. It really helped the spark for me, and I feel less of a need to rush through books in one sitting (though guilty, I have done that nonetheless).

If you’re in a slump, I recommend talking to people who may have a similar interest in you and discuss what books you have read recently that you liked or disliked! I found it to be great when my friend and I would have an unpopular opinion together or a mutual dislike/like of a genre. I really felt brought together but it also made me remember why I loved reading in the first place.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Aria @ Book Nook Bits will be the new host for Let’s Talk Bookish! If you aren’t following her yet, good check out her blog and give her a follow!

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October 21: Do book titles matter? (Hannah @ Hannah’s Library)

Prompts: How much do book titles matter? Have you ever read or not read a book based on the title alone? Do you like long or short book titles better? Do you think the title has to connect to the story in some way? What are some of your favorite book titles?

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Welcome to another week of LTB here at DTRH! Today’s topic is certainly a good one and I’d love to hear what you all think about it. We’ve all heard about don’t judge a book by its cover, but how much do the titles actually matter/form part of that judgment?

I think book titles do matter, but how much can be hard to say. I would say it doesn’t make or break a book but a good title really does wonders for a book. It wouldn’t destroy a great book nor would it save a bad book. That being said I really do think even a great book can be improved by a great title! Titles are part of the cover and it just forms part of your initial impression, and there’s just no getting by that, even if we try not to be biased.

I personally have not let a title affect whether I read it or not. But that isn’t to say it didn’t subconsciously affect what grabbed my attention at the book store. Of course, if someone recommended me a book and it had kind of a strange title, I don’t think that would stop me from reading the book. The title is just a title; the content of the book is still really what matters the most.

I think short or long titles can work well, but it really depends. I think generally shorter ones (3-4 words, maybe) tend to be more “catchy” and easier to remember. I tend to prefer them but something like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest also just has a bit of a ring to it. I’ve never thought “I wish that title was shorter” but I certainly know that my own attention is really caught when there is a short and sweet title that really intrigues me.

Ideally, for me, I like when the book titles relate to the book in some way. It doesn’t have to be the plot, it could even be something intangible. But I think I do always reflect on the book title after reading the book, and I think it also helps me to remember what happened in the book years in the future, so it really helps when the title really does have something to do with the book. I have read some books where I felt like the title was completely irrelevant, and that is always a little bit off-putting. I have even read a book recently where the book title was casually thrown into the last few pages of the novel, as an essentially throwaway line and I was like…is that the only reference to the title? Strange.

I love titles like Verity, Six of Crows, Caraval, The Binding, or other rather intriguing titles that really make me want to read the book and find out why the author picked that as the title. If you haven’t read any of the above titles, I certainly recommend all of them!

What about you all? I’d love to hear some of your favourite titles!