When I was a little girl around the age of 10 I devoured books. Together with a friend, we visited the 'biebbus' translated into 'library bus' every week. In this bus, you could loan new books and bring back the ones you had finished. I eventually got to a point where I read about a book a day. Of course, these were all children's books but this was the start of my future reading life. Yet, in secondary school, I did not read that much. Only those books I needed to read for assignments and sometimes some for myself. But during these years I still read the Hunger Games books (for example) and I discovered my love for fantasy. I did not read consistently but when I read, I often read many books in a few weeks. When I fall for a book, the only thing on my mind is to read further. So I often finish books fast.
I read books in Dutch, as that is my native language. But after two/three years of secondary school, I had bad grades for my English classes, and I did not receive the help that I needed to pass the course. In my third year, I decided to do something about it: I started reading English novels, I changed the subtitles in films to English and I even changed my phone to operate in English. This was a challenge, but by doing so I learned the language quickly. I wasn't the best in my class, but I did way better than before. Fun fact, the first novel I read in English was the first Hunger Games novel, I had read it in Dutch many times before and I have seen the film so I knew the story. This made it easy for me to read it in English. I still find this a valuable tip for anyone that is struggling in learning a language.
Once my English skills started to get better, I started reading more and more in English. The first English novel I bought was John Green's The Fault in Our Stars because I really loved the film. Slowly I started feeling more confident in reading English novels, but it wasn't until 2018 that it finally clicked. During my gap year, I started reading more and more, only English novels too. This was when I decided to study English literature and delve deeper into the book world. As a child I have also always written, I like(d) making up stories. Now I know that I want to become an author and do something with this passion. During my first year of studying English literature, I found out that I am more of a prose kind of girl than a poetry kind of girl. My goal for the next years of my Bachelor's degree is to learn as much as possible about books and writing. I am very excited about the creative writing course I will follow at the end of this year!
But enough of that, on to my reading style. I am the type of person that gets hooked into novels. When I have found one that I enjoy I always finish it too fast. Not long ago Sarah J. Maas's novel House of Earth and Blood made sure that I missed a night of sleep. I was so into the story that when I checked my phone for the time it suddenly was 5 am in the morning and I had to work in 7 hours. I can also be a little perfectionistic when it comes to certain editions. I want a series to be all matching and the same size, otherwise, I will just not buy the book. I also like books that show that they've been read. So I do not mind a broke spine, dog ears and yellowy pages. I'm sorry if I have offended anyone reading this.
My reading still fluctuates, I do not consistently read a book a week. Sometimes I read 3 in a week, sometimes 1 in a month. It depends on my mood and on how busy I am. But by starting this blog, it has motivated me to read more. Not just because I will otherwise run out of books to review very fast. But also because diving deeper into the book world, it has made me curious about a lot of books and I have realised that I still have so many books on my to-read list.
I hope you liked this post! I definitely enjoyed writing it. If you want to know more about me I still have another blog that is kind-of on pause right now, but it still contains more info about me! I would love to know what your reading style is, do you read consistently or do you want to read more? Let me know in the comments and I will see you in the next one!
Keep reading,
Julia
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