Why Do You Read? Pt.2

Hello everyone! Today I am back with something very special. A while back I had this idea to start a series on here called, “Why Do You Read?” It all started because I had been hearing a lot of people say they didn’t like reading or even like books for that matter. So, I wanted to start sharing why some people like reading. Personally, I love hearing about other people’s reading journeys. I like to know why they started reading, what’s their favorite book, what’s the one book that changed everything for them. It’s just really fascinating.

For the first installment of this series, I interviewed my dad. His blog post is up if you want to check it out! I knew he read a lot, and I was curious to ask him a few questions. I really liked how the whole post turned out, and I loved the experience of getting to interview him. This week I decided to interview my best friend, Erin!

Fun backstory: Erin and I met in high school, in a molecular biology class. We were in the same lab! I was a senior and she was a junior, and here we are five years later. Erin has been a huge part of my life, she’s such a little ball of sunshine (sometimes a sassy ball of sunshine). Nonetheless, she is an amazing person, and I don’t know what I’d do without her. Erin and I are basically the same person. Which means this is where the interview begins. Just like the last one, I asked Erin ten questions about her reading habits. I wanted the questions to be engaging and to make her think. Without further ado, let’s get into it!

Interview with Erin:

To preface, Erin is in her last semester of undergrad and will be applying to grad schools pretty soon. She’s always volunteering, working, or studying. But even with all that going on, she still finds time to pick up a book!

Erin has read fifteen books this year! Which is really impressive given the amount of school and work she does. Her favorite genres include biographies, mysteries, and religion. To be honest, I was surprised to hear biographies. I feel like that’s such a rare answer but I love it. She loves biographies because “I am a total closet nerd and I love to learn.” No shame in that! I have a soft spot for a good celebrity biography. She especially loved the biography about Anne Frank. It was very moving and gave a lot of insight about the Holocaust and WWII. She also loves mysteries because she is a total crime junkie even though “I’m afraid of my own shadow.” It’s totally okay to have a complicated relationship with thrillers, believe me. And lastly, she loves religious books because they bring her comfort and a sense of hope.

On the other hand, when asked about the genres she didn’t like, Erin said that she has never been a fan of fantasy books. Mainly because she’s a very realistic person. She was never into any type of fantasy while growing up either. I thought this was super interesting. I knew she wasn’t into fantasy books, but it's super rare for me to hear someone say they aren’t a fan of it. I love finding out reasons why people are the way they are, so I really appreciate this tidbit of information. Compared to myself, I am not always a realistic person; I love believing in the make-believe. Since Erin doesn’t like fantasy that means she has other really good book recommendations that I can reach out to her for. Books that bring me away from my comfort zone which is really nice.

One of the books Erin always recommends to others is anything by Karen M. McManus (I agree 10000%). Her books fall under the YA/mystery section and honestly, they are very good. Erin and I talk about her books all the time and just recently found out about two books that she has in the works! She also said that she loves The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult.

Now, I asked Erin how she feels about not finishing a book because I think everyone reacts very differently to this. She said, “I try not to get too upset if I don’t finish a book.” She continued by saying that she can be super judgmental sometimes, so if the book doesn’t have her attention she’ll put it down relatively quickly. She would rather focus her effort and time into something that she actually likes. She also said that she will go to Tiktok for most of her book recommendations, but she will also go to her friends. It just kind of depends.

Erin said that she typically binge reads and then takes a break. Again, she is a very busy person and doesn’t have a lot of time during the school year to pick up a book. So, the summer is when she does most of her reading. Plus, you have to take some time to take care of yourself. Breaks are good.

Lastly, the most important question is, why do you read? To this Erin answered, “I read to escape reality and feel happy because life is stressful man.” I couldn’t agree more. Life is full of stress and anxiety, and sometimes, we need a break from that in our day-to-day lives. Picking up a book transports you to a whole other world. There are no limitations on where you can go.

As I have said before in other posts, I think reading is something everyone needs to do no matter how much or little you do of it. Step away from a screen, pick up a book, and relax. Read more.

Well, that's all for today, folks. Thank you for reading if you made it this far! I hope you learned a thing or two, or at least took something away from this. I loved writing this, and I would love to interview more people! If you are interested in being interviewed, please reach out to me either through the comment feature or shoot me an email at the bottom of my website page! Also, a huge thank you to Erin for letting me ask her these questions! And for supporting my bookish addictions. 😊

See y’all next week!