7 Things that Readers/Book Lovers Dread

Okay, full disclosure. The title of this blog-post should have been 7 things I dread as a reader/book lover. So I apologize in advance for the ‘click-bait’ title.

I might be the only who dreads all the below-mentioned things. But, no harm in reading about them, right?

Here we go.

Photo by Clarisse Meyer on Unsplash

Someone asking for book recommendations

There is nothing like someone asking for book recommendations to remind me that I have read only a few books so far. It always reminds me that I am not qualified enough to suggest book titles to anyone.  I become strangely aware that my ‘read’ list is too small and not very versatile. For instance, the last time someone asked me to suggest a few ‘quick, funny and light reads’, I realized that all my favourite books were sad or depressing reads. LOL!

People who ask if they can borrow my books

I dread this the most. ‘Will they read it?’, ‘Will they return it?’ are the questions that haunt me. And the less said about the awkwardness of asking the book to be returned, the better. And more often than not, people who have no desire to read the book ask to borrow it. Why?!

Being asked, ‘What am I reading currently?’

It is a harmless question, really. And a nice one, too. Who wouldn’t love to talk about books and discuss the ones they are reading currently. But what if you momentarily forget what you are reading? Sometimes, no matter how hard I try, I fail to recollect the name of the book or the author. It is almost as if Will Smith erased my memory with a neuralyzer! The icing on the cake is the hours spent later obsessing over how others might think that I was ‘pretending’ to read a book and not really reading it. Sounds fun, right?

So who’s your favourite author?

Again, this has to do with my limited ‘books read’ pile. I started reading quite late because I discovered it as a hobby quite late. I grew up in a social environment which didn’t encourage leisure reading. So, there’s a lot of catching up to do.  As a result, I have favourite books but not favourite authors. Although, I have liked all the books that I have read (3) written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

Reading ‘some’ books in public and being judged for it

I would have loved to claim that I don’t care what others think. But there are books that I’m embarrassed to read in public. Mostly, books about sexual adventures and fantasies. I never took out or carried Fifty Shades of Grey in public. Babyji by Abha Dawesar was another book that I read in public only after covering it with a newspaper! LOL! I think books with explicit covers or titles would also fall in this category. There was a phase, when I felt a bit self-conscious while reading authors/books that were looked down on. Fortunately, I grew out of that phase and realized that it is foolish to look down on any genre, book or writer.

Reading slump

I wrote all about my current reading slump. I absolutely dread it. I am cooking, listening to music and making bookmarks to break this reading dry spell.

Not being able to afford/buy books

I wouldn’t have been able to read the books that I have, if not for my boyfriend and libraries. He not only gifts me books often, but also gifted me a Kindle. His generosity has allowed me to read more books. Being a freelance writer means being broke nearly 45o days in a year out of the 365 days! LOL! Therefore, I am always anxious about the time when I won’t be able to afford any books. I hope that day never comes.