Comfort books. It's really as simple as that. I know a lot of people favour short, cute reads over the summer, but that's when I'm more likely to pick up something dense. I find that the dreariness of the season (I live in Canada, so let's not even get started talking about our winters, haha) can really affect me, so I want things that make me happy and are soothing.
I often during this time will pick up books I have read before and loved. It's not an uncommon sight to see me sitting on the floor in front of my bookshelf, reading something unintentionally. I'll have started browsing through my books, flip through to read a single passage, and end up there for 45 minutes pouring over the whole book until I realize my back has cramped up.
When not rereading a favourite, I am likely to pick up something cute. Think, a Sarah Dessen or Jenny Han sort of book. Occasionally I make the mistake of picking up something more intense, and it ends up affecting my mood in my every waking moment. For example, when I was in university, I started to read Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Now, this is a book that I absolutely love, but it was my first Hardy novel, and it's not only wordy, but depressing and intense. I started realizing that with the darkness of the season, and the stress from school, the book was actually making me rather depressed. I put it down, and picked it back up again several months later. I was able to enjoy it, and absorb it much better so that it has become a favourite. (And yes, I can put down a book I am halfway through and pick it up months later without having to recap too much of it - it's my weird talent).
Sometimes though, I just don't really read too much in the winter, and choose mostly movies instead. That's currently what I've been doing, but I'm hoping to find a light, enjoyable read soon...but I have so many intense novels I want to start!
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What kinds of books do you typically pick up in the winter? Are you a mood reader, or do you read a book regardless of the season?
I normally read an influx of fantasy books in the winter. Currently I’m reading The Shadow and Bone series. Idk why I do it, I think it’s mostly because they’re longer, so they help me get through the long winter.
ReplyDeleteMakes sense!
Delete"(And yes, I can put down a book I am halfway through and pick it up months later without having to recap too much of it - it's my weird talent)".
ReplyDeleteLOL, that's a useful talent.
I understand your reasoning (and I suppose that, if you're prone to depression or something along those lines, you have to be careful with your choice of books when the weather is affecting your moods), though I'm not a seasonal reader - like, at all. For once, I don't like beach reads, and I don't go out of my way to read books set around Christmas (the few I've read are actually detective stories with a murder or more in them LOL). You could say I'm season-blind as much as I'm cover-blind 😂.
And I meant "for one" of course...
DeleteBeing season and colour blind isn't a bad thing!
DeleteI'm not really a seasonal reader but I'm always in the mood for a comfort read year round.
ReplyDeleteThis is my first cold winter though so maybe that will change.
Karen @ For What It's worth
It'll be interesting to see if your reading habits change with the change in climate!
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