Feeling While Reading | Mood Reader Book Tag

This tag was originally created by Slanted Spines - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mhq-AXn3A0 

1. Do you consider yourself a mood reader?

I don't think so. 

Although I guess when I really think about it, maybe I just don't notice because each time I choose my next read, I have a feeling that this is the book I want to read next and if I force myself to read something else, it doesn't always work out and I leave that book aside and try something new.

So, maybe I am a mood reader but just don't notice.

2. Do you set TBR lists and do you stick to them?

I don't set TBR (to be read) lists. I have occasionally set loose ones based on what I would like to read in the near future but they basically never go to plan. Especially because of the mood reader aspect I just explained and because I am always buying new books. And new books are always the ones I want to read next, no matter how big my pile of books I have yet to read is.

3. Do books affect you emotionally? Does the mood of a book rub off on you?

Yes, for sure. I can come out of the hypnotising state of reading a book and carry that feeling with me into "real life" and therefore be quiet, or moody, or sad, or happy to everyone around me for the next hour or so. It can feel kind of weirdly dangerous because it means that maybe the only reason I am feeling certain feelings is because of the book I just read, but at the same time, I want to feel deeply from the books I read because I value the experience of feeling for the characters and empathising with them so much.

4. When you’re feeling sad, what do you read? (Or do you not read when sad?) 

I think I do read and I think I read books that don't deal with heavy topics. I always seem to gravitate to contemporary, romance or the ridiculous (like Douglas Adams) when I am feeling sad. I think being able to use books to escape what you're feeling or to remind you of other emotions can be a really great form of escapism.

5. Most often, do you use reading to escape, to learn, or to critically reflect?

I was thinking about this and assumed it would be to escape because I have always just read for pleasure, but when I analyse my reading a little, I realised it is probably more accurately about learning. 

I love using books to understand the world around me better and to learn about other people's experiences and backgrounds. I am trying at the moment to read more diversely including reading about black history and experience, and books written by authors from different countries. This has really helped me to learn about what is different about people who are different to me (a white woman) but also how we are all similar as humans which can feel hopeful and inspiring. 

6. What is a book that made you laugh out loud?

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. 

I read all five books in this trilogy of five during the January/ February/ March lockdown in England this year and it was such a great escape and boost of nostalgia. I think I enjoyed it because I saw the stories in the old BBC Radio 4 show that I listened to when I was a kid and because the stories are just so whacky and brilliant. 

7. What is a book that has made you cry? Or, if you don’t cry, one that really moved you?

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman.

This book has become one of my all-time favourites because the protagonist is just so difficult to figure out but also difficult and loveable at the same time. It covers loneliness and mental health and really healthy platonic relationships and it does it with such empathy and understanding. I cried at the happy moments and at the sad moments and at the character arc of the protagonist.

This book is about Eleanor Oliphant who works every day at a job and goes home and drink a bottle of vodka each weekend. Straight away this intrigued me because I wanted to know why and this juxtaposition is just brilliant. 

8. What is a book that you didn’t even know how you felt about?

The Overstory by Richard Powers.

This is a long book. Probably one of the longest books I've ever read and that's probably why I don't know how to feel about it. I read this during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and it took me a couple of months to get through but I can say I am glad that I read it.

It is about multiple characters and storyline threads that work together and intertwines so the characters stories eventually overlap and meet each other. It is about trees and a trees lifespan and trees phenomenal powers in the natural world and for human beings and how we need to save every tree we can. It is about activism and mundane work and scientists and students and all the working cogs that will help to solve the current climate crisis. 

I would recommend this book even if it is just for the descriptions of nature and trees. But the stories themselves are also wonderful individually even if the whole book can feel like a slog or a little bit complicated.

9. Are you more likely to read on a sunny day or a cloudy day?

Hmm. I feel like these are two types of reading in my mind. 

I like to read on a picnic blanket in the sun in a quiet park or field. But I also like to read cuddled up with blankets and a cup of tea on a comfy chair in my bedroom when I don't feel like going outside.

10. Do you usually “set the mood” when you read? Music, lights, smells, etc?

No, I just read whenever I have the time and headspace.

I wish I had a morning routine so that I could wake up and spend time reading then and that is definitely a goal of mine. I try to read most nights before I go to bed but sometimes it just doesn't happen. 

I really need to create a habit of reading.

11. Can you leap from book to book or do you need buffer time between them?

I can leap between books. It doesn't matter to me about the difference between books that I read as long as I am in the mood for each of them, I can move from non-fiction to fiction to poetry and between genres without a problem.

Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash