Personal Reading Profile

My personal reading profile is fairly consistent. I love fantasy and science fiction. I’m not much for robots and such, but if an author makes up a bunch of difficult to remember names that require me to create an index to keep them straight, I’ll probably be hooked. One of the first books I read and fell in love with was A Wrinkle in Time, and then quickly devoured anything else Madeline L’Engle that I could get my hands on (note: her adult fiction is not particularly appropriate for fourth graders). The Wheel of Time series enthralled me in middle school, as well as Tamara Pierce’s Lioness series. I was instantly hooked on the Hunger Games and absolutely adore anything and everything written by Scott Westerfeld. I’m particularly attached to anything young adult. I really love the feeling of adventure and diving into a completely different world; these books give me a chance to escape from an agreeable but monotonous Midwestern life.

In contrast, there was also a point in time in which I read only non-fiction. I am truly one of those nerds that loves to learn things, especially when I get the option to choose what I’m going to learn. As I was a sociology undergrad, I really enjoy anything that is sociologically or psychologically related. An autobiography that deals with some very strong mental health issues that the author’s mother suffers from that is dark, enthralling, and something that I would definitely recommend is Her Last Death. Another non-fiction book that I read recently and loved was The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, it was a nice combination of science and biography and truly read like fiction (the science was very well explained, which was necessary for me).  Snarky autobiographies also hold a place in my heart, and I will unabashedly laugh out loud when reading anything written by Jen Lancaster or Laurie Notaro.  Non-fiction needs to be filled with witty personal life stories or full of facts that can somehow relate to my life in order for me to find it interesting. I read non-fiction for pleasure rather than instruction.

I also loved Wuthering Heights and detested Pride & Prejudice. 

P.S. In books and movies I love to have a terrible, heartbreaking ending. One Day by David Nichols? Loved it. Also, The Departed and Sweeney Todd didn't end particularly well for anyone, but I also loved them.