Can a Bookperson

A few things:

1. I think that “Bookperson” should be an actual term. I don’t want to be a “worm” or a “nerd”. Cait’s “Book Dragon” was the best substitute I’ve seen, but I am fine with being a bookperson. 

2. I have read so many books that are new favorites so far this year that I am getting worried. Could this be a bad thing? 

Let’s focus on #2, since I don’t write for Webster’s, mmmkay?

Last year was a fairly average bookish year for me. There were some huge hits, and some dreadful misses. As you do. I ended 2015 with a real stinker, so I was pretty happy to move into 2016. My first book of the year? The amazing The Girl From Everywhere, which I will be flailing over pretty soon. But then a strange thing happened- I didn’t read any of the aforementioned misses. In fact, I think I read one, mayyyyybe two books (haven’t decided on the second one yet) lower than 3 stars. And both are just barely. Out of seventeen books so far this year, I will be adding four to my favorites shelf. FOUR. The shelf only has 40 books, and that is out of all the books I have read since ever. And, I used to be way more lenient- now I am very hesitant to add to the shelf- I think I only added four in all of last year! And none of this takes into account the books that have gotten or will be getting 4 or 4.5.

Could I somehow be becoming easier to please?

I swear I am not just losing my grip on reality. Other people I know who have read these books loved them too! But yes, there are some that haven’t been universally loved, obviously. But I still don’t think I am easier to please. If anything, I feel like I am harder to please? But maybe that’s the trick- maybe since I think it takes more to make me love a book, I go in with lowered expectations, which leads to happier surprises? Also…

The Good Side to This

  • I get to enjoy some fabulous books. That’s a given, right? Walking away happy and satisfied from 90% of the books you read has to be a win. And everyone loves to be able to flail about books!
  • Not having to send in too many “this book is the worst ever” reviews. I had to do that yesterday, and I don’t love doing it. (Confession: I do enjoy writing the actual review- just not sending it to publishers.)
  • Sequel excitement is better than ever. Of the new favorites, two were standalones and two were series. So those series, I get to be excited for! And of the books I have/will rate 3.5+? Five of those are series as well! That is a lot to look forward to!

The Downside

  • I hate being “that guy” who writes a ton of glowing reviews. But I can’t help it! And usually, I try to break things up- do a super positive review, then a negative one, then a middle of the road one… but I have nothing to break up the flails with. Nothing! My point is, you’re probably going to see a lot of positive posts, at least for a few weeks.
  • It WILL come to an end. And then what? I have been so spoiled, and when the crappy books start rolling in, which let’s face it, they most certainly will, I will be extra sad. Especially if I have a streak of rubbish. That’s the worst.
  • People get skeptical. I get it, because I would too. If I am visiting some blog and they have books thrown on their favorites list left and right, I am side-eyeing the hell out of them. So I mean, I accept that. Though, you also know that I am absolutely fine with writing a negative review, so hopefully that helps my cause. Or something.

I sound like a real jerk for thinking this is a problem

Look, I don’t think it’s a problem. I think it’s… strange. Unorthodox. Something I have never encountered before. And I want to know why. Nothing else changed in my life, I assure you I am not in some kind of paradise reading while my butlers, maids, and nannies tend to me and the small humans. Has the quality of books just been on point? Have my choices just been better than usual? Maybe it’s just complete dumb luck? I have absolutely no idea. 

And since this is a discussion, I am obviously wanting some opinions! And to know if this has happened to you. And to tell you that I have inevitably jinxed myself and the rest of the books I read in 2016 will be the worst ever. 

Posted February 8, 2016 by Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight in Discussion, Discussion Challenge / 51 Comments

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51 responses to “Can a Bookperson Love Too Many Books?

  1. I’ve also been having a fantastic book year so far! Only one read out of twenty something was below 3 stars, and it was only because I hated the ending of the graphic novel series. But maybe it’s not that we’re getting easier to please, rather we’re just getting better at choosing books we like. I think that’s what it is for me at least. At the start of last year, I was coming off a period in which I had fallen a bit out of my bookish ways, so I didn’t even know what I liked. But now I’ve really kind of found my niche, and, even when I venture out of it, it’s still a book that has other aspects I know I’ll like, like the mood or types of characters. So I think it’s a good thing 🙂

    • Oh YAY I am happy for you! It’s kind of fabulous, isn’t it? 😀 And you know, I REALLY think I am starting to agree- I feel like I have been doing more research into the books I request and read, so maybe that is just it? Also, maybe there is some degree of luck involved, but I’ll take it!

  2. Oh you’re not alone! Out of 30 books I read this year, 4-5 are already in my favorites shelf and even though some people might find that weird, I don’t really give a crap. I think the one reason why that’s happening for me is because over the years, I’ve learned what I like and what I don’t. I use to rely heavily on Goodreads reviews to help me decide on a book, but I don’t do that anymore and go with what my gut says, so I know exactly if I’ll love a book or not. Plus, even if I’m wrong with my judgement, I’ll just slap a DNF since I drop books so easily.
    Anyways, I don’t think it’s as unorthodox as you think it is. And I mean, the more books you love, the happier as a reader you are, right? 🙂

    • Oh YAYYYY! I mean, I am glad you are having a good reading year, of course- but also that you do not care about what anyone thinks! I really think that figuring out what I DON’T like has been a big help. And it is really good that you DNF so easily. I wish I could do it. I need to do it. I just… it’s hard! 😉

  3. HAHAHAHA…you add 4/17 books to your favourites shelf and you think that’s a lot…
    Sorry, I just find that amusing.

    If it had been me, chances were I’d have added 15/17 to my favourites shelf…I seem to be fairly easy to please. My blog is covered in flailing reviews.
    And it’s when I see posts like this that I realise that I am probably not normal?
    But I don’t mind…It’s more fun to love everything than it is to be critical.

    • HAHAH that is fabulous! I am so glad though! I totally agree that it is more fun to love everything- I certainly love it 😀

      I am easier to please than most too, I think. And I think I have gotten better at choosing books. And hell, maybe some of it is just dumb luck! 😉

  4. I understand where you’re coming from, Shannon! Like you there were some books I loved last year and some not so much (and I consider myself quite a harsh reviewer) but last year there were at least four books that have become favourites of mine, and I don’t think I’ve ever loved so many books that much in one year. But I don’t want to see that as a bad thing – if anything, it makes me quite sad to realise that before last year I was only stumbling across one new favourite out of SO MANY books each year. Why was I reading so many mediocre books? Now I think I encounter books I adore more because I know what I like and I’m much better at choosing books that I like; even if a book is being hugely hyped, I won’t bother picking it up if I know it’s just not going to be my kind of thing. The more we read the better we get at choosing books we’re more likely to enjoy. 🙂

    • That is a REALLY good point about only having a handful of AMAZING books out of like, hundreds! It IS sad! And I am doing similarly- even if it is hyped, I don’t HAVE to read it, unless either it is something I think I will like, OR enough people I trust peer pressure me into it. Is that bad? Bwhahah ooops.

  5. Sam

    I once had this discussion with my daughter, a book blogger. She does not solicit books, and therefore, reads and reviews books of her choosing. As she explained it, that is why more of her reviews are favorable. Since I pleasure read, I read whatever I want, and I would like to think this explanation applies to me, also. I also think I have become more selective in terms of genre and author, and that results in a more favorable experience for me as well.

    • Ahhhh this is a very good point! Ironically for me, I seem to enjoy the books I request MORE- I think because I am extra careful when I choose them? Because these were ALL books I requested. Actually, confession time: I haven’t read a book I BOUGHT since… October, I think? That is so bad. I really need to make some time for books I bought and was excited about!

  6. I remember talking about this with you the other day – it’s funny how when we rave about books all the time that people get suspicious. But it’s definitely based on your track record, if you’ve established yourself as trustworthy reviewer then you have absolutely nothing to worry about! Just relax and enjoy those positively great books that you’ve read, and we’ll enjoy the flailing on this end. <3

  7. This year for me has had solid books but I haven’t flailed over anything yet. There was a point last year I think where I went on a tear of a bunch of 4.5 – 5 star books. It did come to an end though. Honestly it i s a good problem to have and just ride it out as long as you can!!!

    • SO true! It was a good problem to have for sure! I mean, it hasn’t gone to crap completely, but I have definitely gotten out of the flail zone for now. Which is good, I guess. They can’t ALL be flails- of course, my reviews still will have a lot of flails for awhile 😉

  8. Maybe you’re just getting better at finding books you like. I used to hate a lot of books because I didn’t really understand my own reading tastes. I wasn’t good at picking out books for myself. Now that I’ve read a lot more, I’ve noticed that I like a lot more books. I think it’s because I understand my reading tastes and can usually know if I’ll like a book based on a synopsis alone. Or you’ve just gotten lucky and found a bunch of awesome books. 🙂

  9. I no longer try and categorize the books I read (I don’t rate books anymore either). Of course I have books that stand out in my mind as a favorite, but I don’t think there can ever be too many of these. If you end up having 500 books on your favorites shelf, so what? I think that’s actually a great thing 🙂

  10. I’m glad you’ve had a stellar reading year so far. Mine started out sucking, but is gradually improving.

    I approaching rating books in two ways. When I review over at Second Run Reviews, I provide a Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down review. This is the initial as this book stands alone (or with its brothers and sisters in a series) how I felt about this book. At the end of the year, I’ll star all the reviews on GoodReads. I really focus on the books that have stuck with me for the whole year regardless of when I read them. The ones I can’t stop talking about months after reading them are my favorites.

    Will I ever have a year like you are having now? I’m not sure; I suppose it is possible. I think it might be a matter of stepping back in few months and asking yourself, Do I like book A as much today as I did right after I read it? So will you have any many favorites 6 months down the road as you do today? I don’t know. Only you can answer that. (And maybe provide us with an update.) 🙂

    • Aww I am glad yours is getting better, but I am sorry about the sucking 🙁

      I like the thumbs up or down approach- but I am also super impressed that you rate them ALL! That is a GOOD question about the favorites months later! A VERY good question. So far, I think yes- but you could be right, and that could change. Because if they don’t stay in my mind, they probably weren’t a favorite! I will DEFINITELY update! 😀

  11. I would say you are doing better at choosing books, but then again, a book can SOUND good but not be, so it’s also a good time for book releases I guess! I find that I choose the right books for me most of the time so I don’t have that many negative reviews. I do try and mix up what I think of a book though – good and bad – even if I did like it! So yeah, not a problem, I don’t think. Though I’d hate for this to turn into a streak of rubbish books for you!

  12. I think you should just ride this wave! I love it when I read one amazing book after another — it hasn’t happened to me so far this year, I’ve already had a lot of disappointments, but I would say EMBRACE IT! There is no such thing as liking too many books or posting too many good reviews! Honest is best ♥

    • Aww thanks! You are SO right- honest is the way to go, 100% of the time. Which I think is why I worry- because someone will be like “Oh, you could not have read ALL the good books”. And I haven’t, they’ve just come in a big clump and need to be reviewed all at once hahahah. I hope that your year turns around soon!

  13. HAHA YOU ARE THE BEST, SHANNON. THE BEST. You must believe this.

    Okay so I think it’s absolutely better to be writing tons of happy reviews instead of negative ones. XD I mean, I get suspicious if a blogger ALWAYS loves or hates a book?? So, as a blog-reader, I do like balance. But omg it’s so draaaining to read blogs where they ALWAYS rate books low. I mean, I just feel like “why r u reading m8” because they seem to hate everything. *sighs* So I would prefer to see people flailing. I would. 😉

    And actually I think 2016 is just being a better year all round!?!? Like January SUCKED for me because I was finishing up 2015 books. But February so far has been alfdjkasd golden with all the 2016 books I’ve read. *happy sigh* I don’t know what was up with ’15, but all the books were apparently going through growing pains. AHEM. And honestly, I think maybe we are being excited/easy to please because last year wasn’t brilliant? It’ll even out. ;D

    ENJOY THE FABULOUS BOOKS WHILE YOU’VE GOT THEM.

    • AW thanks love! I like balance too- because no one loves every books, and if you hate every book? Ummm you’re clearly doing something wrong!

      That is a GOOD point about last year. In fact, two of my favorite books from last year were actually 2016 books so… yeah. It wasn’t a banner year, bookishly speaking. So maybe better quality combined with our newly lowered standards is making for a fabulous start to the year bwhahhaha! Hope your good trend continues too!

  14. That’s good that you’re enjoying your books this year (especially if you added 4 to your favorite list :D) I think the more I read the more picky I become. It’s super hard to impress me so most of my books are at 3 stars instead of 5. 5 stars is a book that blows me out of the water, and I think maybe that happened once last year. But I may be too picky, I know my sister loves more books than I do so she’s got higher ratings than me, so maybe we balance each other out. (Yay twin powers!) I don’t think there’s anything wrong with loving a lot of books, especially if it makes you happy 🙂 I love hearing people talk about books they love!

  15. LOL. Shannon. You crack me up. First of all, I think it’s awesome you’ve had such good luck this year! I have to admit, I have been too! I don’t like posting all positive reviews either, but now that I’m a bit more selective about what I read, I’ve had good luck overall! I’m always worried that I’ll hit a streak of books that are meh or I don’t like, because then I don’t want to read, so I get your apprehension.

  16. NO NOT AT ALL. I mean, I suppose you read less selectively with ARCs and all, but basically the only books I buy (aka practically only way to get non-classic English books here) are all books I’m 90% certain I’ll like. I still review them but I don’t think it matters! *sends takeout* May your reading streak be ever in your favour!

  17. I hate it when this happens! Because when it does I feel tempted to rate a book I really enjoyed lower just to keep the universe balanced, which is silly. I like to think of it as simply my excellent taste in books – seeing as I’m not just reading books any Tom, Dick or Harry have given to me and they’re actually my choices then I’m glad they’re good! That’s what we want after all? It’s such a weird . . . almost guilt trip thing, isn’t it? Sometimes I find the problem with having ‘too many’ favourites is that now I wouldn’t consider some to *be* an all time favourite in comparison to newer ones I’ve read. Hope that makes sense!

  18. I have “struggled” with the same thing! I feel lately there have been so many fantastic books recommended to me (or that I find and need to read) and so everything has seemed to be SO GOOD lately. I don’t want to seem like I am just saying everything and anything is good, but it truly is. I don’t think this is a bad thing, but I do think it is very important to be super honest in every review (If it’s good, say so. If not, don’t.) Maybe authors are just SUPER AWESOME right now.

    Another name I found and like is xtinemay’s (from YouTube) Book Lion.

    Thanks for another fantastic post. I relate so much!

  19. This is such an interesting discussion topic Shannon! I feel that, as long as you’re being honest about your thoughts, there’s no such thing as liking too many books. Some people are just naturally less critical than others, and who are we to judge for that? Thanks for sharing and, as always, fabulous discussion! ♥

  20. Nick and I were talking about this post earlier 🙂
    I don’t mind at all if people like a lot of books, I think you can tell when people genuinely like a book or they are just trying to be nice, are being fake excited about it, etc.
    My average GR is so high but I definitely don’t love everything and I have no problem with negative reviews. I do DNF a lot and for the dumbest reasons (well, not dumb to me. I DNF a book I was really excited for at 9% when I found out the guy had a kid…kids in books are a pet peeve for me FYI) and I don’t even bother rating or reviewing those.
    I’m glad you are loving your current reads Shannon and I hope it stays that way 🙂

  21. Nah, I don’t think that is a problem at all! I know I am not easy to please, or particularly too difficult to either. You’re probably just going through a spell of great books WHICH IS A GOOD THING. Tons more fun than going through the all too often reappearing spell of bad books in one lot… Bleh 🙂

  22. I think I am getting harder to please when it comes to 5 stars. But four star reviews? Shoot, I give those out like candy. Granted, I don’t add many of those to my ultimate favorites list, but I have loved SO MANY BOOKS this year. I mean, I have read over 30 books this year already and I have probably given less than ten books a three star rating or less. I do have 35 books on my ultimate favorites list and I think it’s crazy to say that someone can love too many books. I mean, that would be like saying . . . okay, I can’t even think of an analogy that’s crazy enough. I don’t think the fact that you love a lot of books means you are easier to please. Maybe that means you are better at only reading authors or genres that you like. And that is never a bad thing. 🙂

  23. Loving too many books? Is that even a thing? Because if it is – bring it on. I want some of that. I am waaaay stingy with my 5 stars. Like, if it happens 2-3 times a year that’s a good thing. My five stars aren’t for books I liked a lot. Or even ones I loved. My five stars are reserved for those special snowflakes of books – the ones that moved me immensely, that made me feel, that I will remember, and that instantly became an all-time favorite. But I know we’re not talking about ratings… we’re talking about loving All The Books. And like you said, this isn’t a problem. But I guess I would be worried about an inevitable swing to the other direction. A spate of meh. I say enjoy it while it lasts, my friend! 🙂

  24. Maybe you’re just really good at picking the right kind of books. I seem to be failing at that miserably. I say read whatever you want and let it make you feel however it does. To heck with everything else. If all you read is mostly winners, you’re doing better than the rest of us!

  25. I THINK BY NOW people trust your reviews! Especially some of your older viewers! SO THERE. And I AGREE WITH JAZMEN. Because I have also been picking the right kind of books, thanks to reviews from you and my other favorite bloggers, so that affects my average rating as well! Plus, I am also not as mean? Like if I don’t like a book, it will be 3 stars. Which is still good. So, yeah!

  26. Aw, no! I love glowing reviews & I love seeing my friends happily rave about books they love. I feel like I’ve become a harsher critic tbh. haha. I used to love books so much, and sometimes if go back to read my faves, I may somehow find a fault. omg that sounds horrid, but yeah. AND YESSSS. SEQUEL EXCITEMENT.

  27. When I started blogging, I loved everything!! Hell, even before blogging, as long as a book had romance and HEA, I would love it. I would never pay attention to the writing or any detail. Once I started blogging, I realized I had to change all of this and then, I was kind of picky. Now, it depends on how I feel while reading the book, plus the characters and/or story.
    But I trust your reviews completely! I love them and you’re very honest. You wouldn’t lie about a book so I trust your judgement 🙂

  28. I think it’s fantastic that you’ve been finding books you love lately! I’ve been the opposite – I’ve read a string of three star books – which, for me, is low – it takes a LOT for me to really, actually, completely dislike a book. Does that mean I’m too easy to please? I don’t know, I used to worry about that, but I’ve kind of given up on worrying about it. Why force myself to be more negative? I just can’t see a real reason for that in any aspect of life!

  29. I do think that sometimes we can be easier to please, I mean, I have a soft spot for some of my fave authors and struggle to not like their work, even if it’s weaker than other works by them, BUT, I, like you, enjoy enjoying books, so I can’t say I’m really feeling bad about enjoying and loving the books I read. Love this post Shannon, fabulous as always! 🙂

  30. Terrific post!! Oh, I know about getting books in a row that are either really great or …NOT!! But to me that is the joy of books, discovering what you like about each book!!

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