I don’t think I am the only reader out there that loves stats. I am constantly wondering how books fit into my end of year statistics. I even have a page on my blog where you can look at my stats from the past few years. I have a spreadsheet full of all the books I have read so I can easily create pivot tables and graphs. It seems like book bloggers pay close attention to genres, genders and cultural diversity, which is great, but there is something problematic about this. I am not saying we shouldn’t strive to balance out our reading lives but I recently discovered something interesting about my own reading life.
I recently had a book-buying binge and I went into a local indie bookstore and walked out with eight new books. I didn’t look up the authors or read the backs of the books, I just picked books I have heard were good by readers I know and trust. I love the impulse buying part going into a store and just picking up whatever I want. As an experiment try it, see what books you end up with; it reveals a lot about your reading preferences.
Out of the eight books I picked up, two were translations, two female authors, one YA and one graphic novel. I probably can go deeper and looking into where every author was born but I think I’ll stop there. I didn’t even think about diversity or anything like that when I bought the books, I just wanted these books, they were available and I bought them. Two books I bought were ones I’ve read before and plan to read again; I just wanted to make sure I had my own copies of those books.
I agree we should be more diverse in our reading but maybe we should just enjoy reading on impulse rather than closing the gaps. I plan to read more translated novels but maybe a reading challenge is a better way of spreading our literary tastes rather than putting so much pressure on ourselves. I know this is a controversial topic and I am all for diversity, I just want to be free to read what I want when I want, I bought these books and only realised the lack of diversity afterwards.
What do others think? I know there are holes in my reading life but should I be so worried about them? Do you wonder the same thing? Do you worry about the gaps in your reading life and do you have any methods of being stress free?
Note: I’m not saying we shouldn’t be diverse in our reading, I think that is still important. I just think we shouldn’t feel guilty about the books we buy; especially if we don’t pay attention to the author when choosing.
I think challenges are a great way to bridge gaps, especially if it’s a fairly small one like 6 books from X genre or by Y author. You get to slowly be more diverse with your reading without feeling like it’s a school assignment. And hopefully it kickstarts something that’ll become second nature.
Reading challenges are a great way to do it; my problem was the fact that I’m doing a 36 book challenge; which is a little too big.
Spreadsheets and stats are alien territory to me, so I have no clue how much my reading is lacking in diversity. I’d hazard a guess and say the lack is massive, though. I think we should just read what we want to and not worry about ‘gaps’, but then I’m not out to impress people with my pretentiously diverse reading. 🙂
I like stats, I find it tells a lot about my reading, I just need to stop it from controlling my reading habits. I think I’ve got pretentious covered 😉
Spreadsheets and stats are alien territory to me, so I have no clue how much my reading is lacking in diversity. I’d hazard a guess and say the lack is massive, though. I think we should just read what we want to and not worry about ‘gaps’, but then I’m not out to impress people with my pretentiously diverse reading. 🙂
I like stats, I find it tells a lot about my reading, I just need to stop it from controlling my reading habits. I think I’ve got pretentious covered 😉
This is a really interesting post! I think that a balance is important – obviously we read because we enjoy it and we should indulge that by reading exactly what we enjoy, even if that isn’t a diverse range. On the other hand by stretching yourself and reading books that challenge you can make you appreciate what you do enjoy even more! Personally – as I am an English student I find that the reading I do for my studies is very diverse therefore when I select books for pleasure I don’t think too much about what I’m going to read next I just go with my gut instinct 🙂
This is a really interesting post! I think that a balance is important – obviously we read because we enjoy it and we should indulge that by reading exactly what we enjoy, even if that isn’t a diverse range. On the other hand by stretching yourself and reading books that challenge you can make you appreciate what you do enjoy even more! Personally – as I am an English student I find that the reading I do for my studies is very diverse therefore when I select books for pleasure I don’t think too much about what I’m going to read next I just go with my gut instinct 🙂
There are huge gaps in my reading resume…. HUGE! I don’t worry though. Life’s short etc etc.
Also I rarely buy books now. Since my seachange I’m on a pretty limited budget which involves no clothes / massages / books. Alas.
I tried a book buying ban last year…it was terrible. I tried to read the books off my shelf but used the library a lot more. I think as a book blogger you have plenty of opportunities fro books without buying them.
There are huge gaps in my reading resume…. HUGE! I don’t worry though. Life’s short etc etc.
Also I rarely buy books now. Since my seachange I’m on a pretty limited budget which involves no clothes / massages / books. Alas.
I tried a book buying ban last year…it was terrible. I tried to read the books off my shelf but used the library a lot more. I think as a book blogger you have plenty of opportunities fro books without buying them.
I really try to bounce around with genres because I find it gets stale and if they have a lot in common the books start to blend together in my mind. I also try not to always read just newer books and occasionally mix it up with a classic or even a mostly unknown book. Doesn’t always work out and I don’t think too much on it but it is something I try to keep doing.
I agree that books blend together if you read the same genre over and over again. I find that I naturally pick random books without thinking about my overall reading. If I ignore everyone that preaches about diversity and equality, I’m sure my reading will even out as I read more and more.
Yeah, it’s definitely not something I intentionally do. “Okay, that was a female author now I must read a male author.” Nah. I just read and hope I enjoy it. It’s easier that way.
I want to get to a point where I just hope it works out too. I need to stop worrying about it
I really try to bounce around with genres because I find it gets stale and if they have a lot in common the books start to blend together in my mind. I also try not to always read just newer books and occasionally mix it up with a classic or even a mostly unknown book. Doesn’t always work out and I don’t think too much on it but it is something I try to keep doing.
I agree that books blend together if you read the same genre over and over again. I find that I naturally pick random books without thinking about my overall reading. If I ignore everyone that preaches about diversity and equality, I’m sure my reading will even out as I read more and more.
Yeah, it’s definitely not something I intentionally do. “Okay, that was a female author now I must read a male author.” Nah. I just read and hope I enjoy it. It’s easier that way.
I want to get to a point where I just hope it works out too. I need to stop worrying about it
I try to occasionally fill in gaps, but it’s not my main focus. I have a hard time getting through anything I’m uninterested in, so I have to stick to what I’m sincerely excited to read.
I feel like I’m diverse in some regards (genre, new vs old, etc), but I’ve recently realized that I don’t read much from female authors. I plan to slowly start introducing more titles into my queue, and I’m assuming that will lead to my picking up more female authors from there.
I think we should just read what we want read. I live in hope that eventually reading gaps will be filled in
I try to occasionally fill in gaps, but it’s not my main focus. I have a hard time getting through anything I’m uninterested in, so I have to stick to what I’m sincerely excited to read.
I feel like I’m diverse in some regards (genre, new vs old, etc), but I’ve recently realized that I don’t read much from female authors. I plan to slowly start introducing more titles into my queue, and I’m assuming that will lead to my picking up more female authors from there.
I think we should just read what we want read. I live in hope that eventually reading gaps will be filled in
Whenever I become aware of a reading gap, I try to find the reasons for it rather than just filling it. The filling bit is voluntary. But I like trying new genres/authors/etc. while most of the time I seem to be stuck with the ones I already know. One of the reasons I love the Literary Exploration Challenge is that it makes my reading more diverse!
I’m glad you enjoy the challenge, I love it too, it gives me an excuse to read different genres.
Whenever I become aware of a reading gap, I try to find the reasons for it rather than just filling it. The filling bit is voluntary. But I like trying new genres/authors/etc. while most of the time I seem to be stuck with the ones I already know. One of the reasons I love the Literary Exploration Challenge is that it makes my reading more diverse!
I’m glad you enjoy the challenge, I love it too, it gives me an excuse to read different genres.
First, your reading stats are so pretty. I wish mine looked like that.
Second, i love your binge buying.
Third, about reading diversely. I’m having more and more problems with this concept. I know that vast majority of books in english tend to be by white (male) authors. But sometimes they produce books that radically expand my horizons because they present a world I knew nothing about. Take, for example, a book like Panopticon by Jenni Fagan. Yes, she is white but beyond that she and I have nothing in common. Her book was about kids in care in Scotland – a world that is so very different from my own that I consider it to be reading diversely. It opened my eyes to a lot of issues and has made me see the world around me differently.
Sorry about my rant.
1. you can have reading stats like mine, I used infogr.am to build that; it is very easy to use.
2. I’m very happy with my binge buying, it was the after thoughts that caused me stress.
3. Reading diversity has become a little problematic; especially when trying to read though the classics. I think the problem with the reading diversity is that people are assuming that all ‘white people’ or men are a like. There are different personalities, cultures and so on that we can explore within the confines of white people. I think we need to be willing to try reading about other cultures and just ignore the colour of their skin. It is a touchy subject and I’m not speaking against diversity, I think we will become more diverse if we are willing to try different books about different cultures and different genres.
Totally agree with you. And I’m going to give infrogr.am a try.
I look forward to see what you come up with
First, your reading stats are so pretty. I wish mine looked like that.
Second, i love your binge buying.
Third, about reading diversely. I’m having more and more problems with this concept. I know that vast majority of books in english tend to be by white (male) authors. But sometimes they produce books that radically expand my horizons because they present a world I knew nothing about. Take, for example, a book like Panopticon by Jenni Fagan. Yes, she is white but beyond that she and I have nothing in common. Her book was about kids in care in Scotland – a world that is so very different from my own that I consider it to be reading diversely. It opened my eyes to a lot of issues and has made me see the world around me differently.
Sorry about my rant.
1. you can have reading stats like mine, I used infogr.am to build that; it is very easy to use.
2. I’m very happy with my binge buying, it was the after thoughts that caused me stress.
3. Reading diversity has become a little problematic; especially when trying to read though the classics. I think the problem with the reading diversity is that people are assuming that all ‘white people’ or men are a like. There are different personalities, cultures and so on that we can explore within the confines of white people. I think we need to be willing to try reading about other cultures and just ignore the colour of their skin. It is a touchy subject and I’m not speaking against diversity, I think we will become more diverse if we are willing to try different books about different cultures and different genres.
Totally agree with you. And I’m going to give infrogr.am a try.
I look forward to see what you come up with