When it comes to food, the saying ‘You are what you eat’ means I must consist of 90 percent cake. I am one moving pile of sugar, butter and flour. If the saying applied to reading books then what would that make me?
Have you ever reflected upon the sorts of books that you are instinctively drawn towards?
Do these books actually reflect your daily life?
I thought this would be something fun to think about. Have a go at the following questions and you will see that I have noted down my own thoughts on each one, just for fun.
Do you like to make everyday situations into dramas?
Most people will know that I love a bit of healthy gossip. I was brought up in a rural village where my nan used to twitch the curtains and watch the world go by, looking for potential drama.
I have a tendency to find drama or seek it out. That’s just me. And therefore there is no surprise to the fact that I am hooked on contemporary drama novels by Joanne Harris, Celeste Ng and Liane Moriarty.
Were you the joker at school?
Maybe you were the class clown when you were younger. Or perhaps you are the office entertainer these days. I was not and am not but I love seeing people being silly and am always up for a laugh.
I suppose if the saying is true, then a person who makes others laugh probably reads comedy books all the time. Although I have read biographies of funny people like Mindy Kaling and Jennifer Saunders, I don’t read many comedy stories. Maybe I need to though.
Are there times when you live in an imaginary world?
When I was young I used to dream a lot about Narnia. I especially loved to imagine having adventures with Aslan the lion. I don’t normally visualise myself on another planet or in a Sci-Fi setting, but I know people who sometimes do.
Perhaps that’s why I don’t read much fantasy. I do however watch a lot of Sci-Fi movies and am a massive Star Wars fan.
This was just a short article to make you think about whether or not your personality or lifestyle links in any way to the books that your read. For a post about how interactive your reading is, click here.
I hope that you enjoyed this blog post about reading habits. If you liked it perhaps consider following my blog for similar future articles.
Such an interesting thought, but I really hope not. I read a good amount of thrillers and would prefer it if a good friend didn’t turn out to be a serial killer. So interesting to think about for other niches though, I’m also from a very small town and my nan is also a curtain twitcher who loves a bit of drama and I’m quite drawn to a little Celeste Ng too.
Celeste is amazing!
Great post! I definitely think my reading habits reflect parts of my personality as well as things I find most interesting. Thanks for sharing!
A very thought-provoking post! I lean towards fiction with strong female characters and I’ve always considered myself as a strong female. So I’d say yes!
I read a lot of thrillers and mysteries, but I like other genres thrown on on occasion too! Not sure what that says about me haha. I do love cozy mysteries though a lot as well and I think that’s reflective of my personality because I’m drawn to the cozy vibes, the small town feels and friends, and the food!
Haha yes especially if you like to solve a puzzle.
What does it say about me that I love a detective novel?
Haha erm…
Great post! I can relate to some of these things! I often read comedy or girly books so it reflects me a little!
Haha great! I am starting to thing this is a true saying.
This is 100% true. Jim Rohn said that “The fabric of our lives starts with how we think, and books are a massive what of constructing what you think”, paraphrasing, of course, and I really invite you in that. I have experienced that in the last 5 years of my life. I changed MASSIVELY due to the books I read. Like, to the point that I wouldn’t recognize myself after six months of reading a topic, entrepreneurship and money-related books. I learned SO MUCH that I changed the way I thought, and my thoughts directed me to making a completely different set of actions. I don’t speak the same way, I don’t think the same way, I don’t focus on the same things, I don’t even look the world the same.
Like, there’s a thing though: It’s good to read books that force you to change and show you things that you are afraid of, it makes you grow, and it helps, it’s always a great experience, instead of just reading what makes you comfortable, but this might just be me.
The thing is, one book can completely change who you are, and several books have done that to me, and I thank every writer that put his words down and sent me their valuable views on things, specially when they were outright shocking and counter-intuitive.
Nice article Jamie. Keep writing bro. @Julio_reviews @Scribble’s Worth
Thanks for the brilliant and thoughtful comment.
I love the idea that we are what we read! I am drawn to ripe historical fiction, literary memoirs, and real-life stories told in lyrical language. What this says about me is a study in myself. 🙂
It is interesting to make comparisons.
Interesting — and makes me examine the books that I am drawn to.
Definitely we are what we read. I have not been reading as much as I should like, like I did at a younger age. I really should start. It’s finding the time. Scifi intrigues me to…. any stories that take you to another world…….
I’ve never thought about this before but it would make sense! I love reading historical fiction and books that take place in faraway places…probably because I love travelling and things from the past?