Reading Inspiration

January 22nd, 2009 by monnibo | Alongs, Booking Through Thursday

Since “Inspiration” is (or should) the theme this week … what is your reading inspired by?

This is such a fantastic question, but I’m a little ashamed of my answer. I’m heavily influenced by media, rave reviews, and recommendations. It’s not that embarrassing as it can be a great way to get book suggestions; however, I used to just go to the library/bookstore and pick what looked interesting. Nowadays I am wary of wasting my time and money on something that doesn’t bring enjoyment.

In the past year or so, as I’ve gotten more involved in the book blogging and publishing communities, I have found I’m reading more popular fiction. Because of the line of work I’ve gotten into, I’m being exposed to more local British Columbia and Canadian authors. This is absolutely fantastic actually. There are a number of books I hear about in the book blogging community that just don’t tickle my fancy, and I do use my personal judgement when it comes to reviews and media attention. I guess I’m just not finding as many “unknown gems” as I used to.

On the flip side, my reading is inspired by the stories, the journey, and the love of words. When I read an extremely well written book, I always feel inspired to write my own hidden novel. My reading is inspired by books; as soon as I finish a story, I’m already considering what I want to read next. I tend to enjoy variety (unless it’s a series), so if I read a fantasy novel, the next novel I choose might be something historical.

I could go on and on and on about reading inspirations and inspirations to read… but I have to get back to work. This has been a long bathroom break. ;)

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 at 2:54 pm and is filed under Alongs, Booking Through Thursday.
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4 responses about “Reading Inspiration”

Staci said:
January 22nd, 2009 at 5:17 pm
Don’t be ashamed…we all do it!!

great post!
Aunt Kathy said:
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:55 pm
I want to write a novel as well. And a motivational book, like Barbara Johnson type of book… I even started a few chapters. of course they are lost on my fried laptop… grrrr
Literary Feline said:
January 22nd, 2009 at 11:09 pm
I am still working on my response for this one. I thought you did a great job of answering it, Monica. And as the others said, you shouldn’t be ashamed. I think just having a blog and being a part of the book blogging community lends itself to being more aware of the more popular or well known books.

I like to mix up my reading as well. Sometimes I do go through a phase where I read certain themed books back to back, but it rarely lasts long.
Chan said:
January 23rd, 2009 at 6:57 am
Of late, I’m inspired to read whatever a friend tells me to. It’s not my deepest way to pick a read, but whatever.