mooncyclereader

[mooncyclereader]

FINISHED!!!

Coming down later with the review!!

Trying to finish my current read todayyyyy!!!

[mooncyclereader]

narnia has actually way too many completely devastating concepts in it that are not explored At All

[mooncyclereader]

Ok didn't finish it but i have like 3 chapters left let's do this

Trying to finish my current read todayyyyy!!!

[mooncyclereader]

Trying to finish my current read todayyyyy!!!

[mooncyclereader]

i loooove reading . do you know how many lives i have lived

[mooncyclereader]

obsessed with mass market paperbacks. their pleasing rectangular proportions. how they fit badly in a hoodie pocket so you can drag them around everywhere with you like a temporary little buddy. the way they fit in your hand because they're MADE for human hands and not as bookshelf decoration. the way the pages feel when you riffle them gently with your thumb. How pristine and crisp they look when you get them and how creased and folded they look when you're done, even if you try to be nice to them. how that wear is okay, how that's correct actually, because they're made with the philosophy that books aren't meant to be PRETTY, they're meant to be read. that little ripple new ones get on the left side from where you hold them when you're reading, the way the ripple only goes as far as you've read, because u change stories by reading as they are changing you. how you can find thousands of these creased and folded and loved little dudes in every thrift store and used book shop and neighborhood library and you can instantly see the ones that someone carried around in a backpack for weeks or read to pieces or gave up on halfway through because they wear being read like fresh snow wears footprints. I love these poorly made, subpar little rectangles so much. truly the people's books.

[mooncyclereader]

how to start reading again

from someone who was a voracious reader until high school and is now getting back into it in her twenties.

start with an old favourite. even though it felt a little silly, i re-read the harry potter series one christmas and it wiped away my worry that i wasn't capable of reading anymore. they are long books, but i was still able to get completely immersed and to read just as fast as i had years and years ago.

don't be afraid of "easier" books. before high school i was reading the french existentialists, but when getting back into reading, i picked up lucinda riley and sally rooney. not my favourite authors by far, but easier to read while not being totally terrible. i needed to remind myself that only choosing classics would not make me a better or smarter person. if a book requires a slower pace of reading to be understood, it's easier to just drop it, which is exactly what i wanted to avoid at first.

go for essays and short stories. no need to explain this one: the shorter the whole, the less daunting it is. i definitely avoided all books over 350 pages at first and stuck to essay collections until i suddenly devoured donna tartt's goldfinch.

remember it's okay not to finish. i was one of those people who finished every book they started, but not anymore! if i pick up a book at the library and after a few chapters realise i'd rather not read it, i just return it. (another good reason to use your local library! no money spent on books you might end up disliking.)

analyse — or don't. some people enjoy reading more when they take notes or really stop to think about the contents. for me, at first, it was more important to build the habit of reading, and the thought of analysing what i read felt daunting. once i let go of that expectation, i realised i naturally analyse and process what i read anyway.

read when you would usually use your phone. just as i did when i was a child, i try to read when eating, in the bathroom, on public transport, right before sleeping. i even read when i walk, because that's normally a time i stare at my screen anyway. those few pages you read when you brush your teeth and wait for a friend very quickly stack up.

finish the chapter. if you have time, try to finish the part you're reading before closing the book. usually i find i actually don't want to stop reading once i get to the end of a chapter — and if i do, it feels like a good place to pick up again later.

try different languages. i was quickly approaching a reading slump towards the end of my exchange year, until i realised i had only had access to books in english and that, despite my fluency, i was tired of the language. so as soon as i got back home i started picking up books in my native tongue, which made reading feel much easier and more fun again! after some nine months, i'm starting to read in english again without it feeling like a huge task.

forget what's popular. i thought social media would be a fun way to find interesting books to read, but i quickly grew frustrated after hating every single book i picked up on some influencer's recommendation. it's certainly more time-consuming to find new books on your own, but this way i don't despise every novel i pick up.

remember it isn't about quantity. the online book community's endless posts about reading 150 books each year or 6 books in a single day easily make us feel like we're slow, bad readers, but here's the thing: it does not matter at all how many books you read or what your reading pace is. we all lead different lives, just be proud of yourself for reading at all!

stop stressing about it. we all know why reading is important, and since the pandemic reading has become an even more popular hobby than it was before (which is wonderful!). however, there's no need to force yourself to be "a reader". pick up a book every now and then and keep reading if you enjoy it, but not reading regularly doesn't make you any less of a good person. i find the pressure to become "a person who reads" or to rediscover my inner bookworm only distances me from the very act of reading.

[mooncyclereader]

You have been greeted by the book frog, he wishes you well in your reading jouney.

[mooncyclereader]

It's not about the tag of specific books, I'm talking about more broader discussions, every time i go on the tag "Bookworm" or "Book Reader" and such on Tumblr it's always a bunch of aesthetic pictures and quotes.

And i sneer because those kind of people have always been putting me down, picking at me for being a slow reader sayings i must not really like reading if i can't get through a book per month. And as stated in my post so many of them admit on skipping pages, which personally tells me everything i need to know about the type of readers they are. If they can even be called that.

I'm sorry you felt called out i don't know you, but this is the experience i went through.

Why the hell all the bookish tags are filled with anything *but* actual book discussions?? It's like 60% pictures of books and libraries, 20% random quotes and 20% writers talking about writing.

I wanna engage with other readers talk about the political act of reading, complain about those people that read 300 books at year and clearly only looked at the pages and didn't actually read shit just to achieve an absurd goal!

I want to hear about other people's opinions on audio books, piracy and what annotating system do you use and why.

I'm so freaking over all these dumb aesthetic reading blog give me some substance people!!!

[mooncyclereader]

Why the hell all the bookish tags are filled with anything *but* actual book discussions?? It's like 60% pictures of books and libraries, 20% random quotes and 20% writers talking about writing.

I wanna engage with other readers talk about the political act of reading, complain about those people that read 300 books at year and clearly only looked at the pages and didn't actually read shit just to achieve an absurd goal!

I want to hear about other people's opinions on audio books, piracy and what annotating system do you use and why.

I'm so freaking over all these dumb aesthetic reading blog give me some substance people!!!

[mooncyclereader]

Me: I want to live in a crumbling library and fall in love with someone whose soul aches like mine.

Also me: Can't answer emails without crying.

[mooncyclereader]

banned books you need to read

with everything going on in the world, it's so important to stay educated. a lot of these books are banned because there are parallels to dystopia and today. these books are just some that i have read, and i'm working on reading more banned books, so drop your recs below!

1984 by George Orwell

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

The Giver by Lois Lowry

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

You're the Only One I've Told by Meera Shah

**note: by the term, "banned books", it means that these books are frequently challenged, usually by conservative groups, and as a result, these books have been banned in some schools and libraries across the US. so these do NOT mean they are banned everywhere.

BUT the trump administration is aiming to ban A LOT books across the US, and most of the books on here are on their list.**

[mooncyclereader]

i love reading, i love thinking about what i am currently reading, i love thinking about what i am going to read next, i love being privileged enough to be able to read, read, read, and read so much that i never tire of it

[mooncyclereader]

just cracked open my thrifted copy of Crime and Punishment to discover that it’s been previously annotated. i absolutely adore when this happens, it’s like connecting with the previous owner of the book and getting to know them a bit via their annotations.

[mooncyclereader]

(I lent a book to someone the other day and said “just ignore my notes, I wrote another book in there.” This made me laugh so hard)

[mooncyclereader]

You can time-travel to the release date of any book to experience the hype. Which book are you choosing?

[mooncyclereader]

heyyyy so since duolingo is replacing all its staff with ai nows a good time to get a library card and use the Mango app to learn languages :) it actually helps learn them too instead of just being a little game that rewards you for using it every day without teaching you anything :)