Personal Reading Profile

Bibliophile: (noun) a person who collects, or has a great love of books.

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Personal Reading Profile

I have loved reading all my life. The first word I recall reading is cat. I enjoy reading for the sake of reading. I use it for gathering information, engaging in immersive experiences in fiction, and delving into  non-fiction topics and histories with biographies, large sweeping histories and detailed specific topics of history. I also enjoy reading cultural commentary, feminist theory, intellectually challenging scholarly work, literary fiction, trashy time travel romance, good time travel, science fiction (not hard), speculative science fiction, some fantasy, newspapers (present day and vintage), Twitter, just about anything. But because my leisure time is limited, when I devote energy to a book, it has to be exactly the reading experience I’m seeking.

My reading tastes are somewhat eclectic. To create my personal reading profile, I began by writing down some of my favorite books. (Warning, the list is very long!) “Favorites” does not always mean I remember every word or incident in a book, or loved everything about it and would read it over and over again on a desert island. It means that it stayed with me, in some form or another, and the memory of the reading experience was positive, enjoyable or in some cases, life changing.  Absolute favorites are read over and over again, and I get something new out of each reading. Another component, or appeal factor, of a favorite book is that it is part of a series than brings anticipation and excitement with each new installment.

The list of favorites was then broken down into genres, and appeal factors. Many overlapped. Writing the list made me realize that some of favorites are mash-ups, or appeal factors and genres overlap successfully. An alternate history with Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I: perfect! Yay! Feminist historical fiction with orphans and reproductive rights! Heck yeah! Reincarnation with Anne Boleyn, awesome!

Appeal Factor Reflections

The appeal of books can change based on one’s moods or current reading patterns. You can get tired of historical fiction and want something completely different. But for me there are constants in appeal factors that always apply. To reflect on these constants, I addressed the appeal factors defined by the St. Louis Public Library staff (n.d.).

Character: I enjoy reading about women who are the main characters. I seek out strong female characters, with clear ideas, strong wills, survival instincts, cleverness, humor and resilience. Marginalized women are always interesting to me. Though I enjoy anti-heroes on television shows, I rarely seek out characters who disgust or revolt in the extreme. (For example, I love Dexter on TV, but doubt I’d read the Dexter books.) I do however enjoy conflicted characters, Prince/King John in the historical fiction of Sharon Kay Penman is compelling and fascinating. So yes to Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, but no to books about serial killers.

Plot: Books that bottom out on plot disappoint. I lean neither towards action or character driven. I do like a complex satisfying plot. Sometimes historical fiction on a familiar subject can become boring because I already know how it ends, so it’s important to have fresh and interesting elements, such as Queen Elizabeth I as a detective.

Setting: Always, frequently, never, almost never, sometimes. Always the UK, frequently dystopic, almost never the Old West, never some generic fantasy world with elves or spaceships, sometimes supernatural world like our own.

Language: English. That’s the extent of my limit. Anything goes.

Genre: Just about anything, if other appeal factors are there.

Time Frame: Anytime past, present or future. Though I do enjoy historical fiction best, even if it is only fifty years in the past, it adds something to the story for me.

Pacing: Open to all pacing.

Mood: Open.

Relationships: Relationship elements are of high value to me when choosing a book. Emphasis on the connections between people are very important to my enjoyment, whether it is a friendship, romance, parent, siblings, whatever.

Ideas: Ideological and philosophical aspects are very important to me as a reader. I'd rather not expend precious spare time on an author who is known to espouse views that are in opposition to my own, in a serious way, that I consider to be oppressive, racist, hateful etc. For example I avoid Orson Scott Card because of his opposition to marriage equality. I'm not putting money in his pocket. The Left Behind books do not appeal to me. Though I love a challenge and exploring new ideas, when it comes to leisure-reading, I'm not looking for "elevation" (Saricks, 2005). That's not leisure reading. That's not fun. Gee, I'm on the beach, how about Atlas Shrugged? Not gonna happen!  

Authenticity: This factor is very important, this is why I avoid Phillipa Gregory like the plague. If a character is written against the grain, fine, but if they are completely inaccurate, unbelievable and ridiculous, what's the point?

Sexuality: I don’t give this element much thought, but do recall there was a supernatural series I enjoyed for a while until the author (Laurel K. Hamilton) started getting a bit weird for me. As in, "I'm not even sure what is happening here. And I don't want to!" Done. Consideration of this appeal factor never occurs to me when choosing a book. It is what it is, in my view. 

Violence: Depends on the violence. I once dropped a detective series due to disturbing imagery. I don’t want to read about real world violence towards anyone, especially children or women, or wait, anybody. But don’t try to take my Game of Thrones book, or there might be violence.

Profanity: Anything goes.

Length: I prefer long well written books. But I also enjoy short stories, preferably in long books.

Format: I haven't listen to an audiobook in twenty years. I don't use e-readers generally. An exception might be a hotly anticipated book that I want now. For example, I’m considering downloading Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury.  It's possible an audiobook read by a reader with a beautiful voice, or a talent for story telling might be given a chance. Generally, the idea of an audiobook bores me. The prospect of just sitting and listening to someone read  is far too passive. I'd rather do it myself, and engage my imagination, read at my own pace, control the experience etc.

Writing Style: Anything goes. Except very very bad.

Genres List

Genres - subgenres

Fiction

Fantasy, Fairy Tales, Folk tales

Alternate Histories

Fantasy, folk tale, fairy tale based, feminist oriented

English literature classics

English literature retellings

Historical Fiction

Mystery  

Mystery-Historical fiction

Mystery-women detectives

Mystery- famous authors as detectives

Mystery- famous female authors as detectives

Science Fiction (Whimsical, humorous, never hard science fiction)

Science Fiction – Time Travel

Science Fiction – Feminist

Horror, fantasy – (Sometimes but rarely)
Humor

Westerns (Almost Never)

Exception: Lonesome Dove, Buffalo Girls -Larry McMurtry

Non-Fiction

Auto-biographies

Biographies

History

Feminist Cultural Commentary

Pop Culture

Favorites by Genre

Fantasy

The Fire and Ice Series – G.R.R.Martin

The Blue Sword – Robin McKinley

The Mists of Avalon -Marion Zimmer Bradley

Tehanu - Ursula Le Guin

Science Fiction

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency- Douglas Adams

Kindred – Octavia Butler

Parable of the Sower – Octavia Butler

Lilith's Brood - Octavia Butler

Woman on the Edge of Time – Marge Percy

(Short stories, particularly with female protagonists or time travel)

Related to fantasy, and science fiction, but neither:

Fiction: Reincarnation

Fiction: Past Lives

Threads: The Reincarnation of Anne Boleyn - Nell Gavin

Women's Fiction

(Fiction about women written by women, fiction with strong female protagonists, speculative feminist science fiction)

The Color Purple – Alice Walker

The Blind Assassin – Margaret Atwood

Lady Oracle – Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid’s Tale – Margaret Atwood

Parable of the Sower – Octavia Butler

Lilith’s Brood – Octavia Butler

Kindred – Octavia Butler

Fingersmith – Sarah Waters

Tipping the Velvet – Sarah Waters

My Notorious Life – Kate Manning

Outlander – Diana Gabaldon

The Bluest Eye – Toni Morrison

Silver Metal Lover – Tanith Lee

The Blue Sword – Robin McKinley

Anne of Green Gables – L. M. Montgomery

Historical Fiction

(Historical fiction particularly with emphasis on British history, dynastic struggles, strong family drama, romance, tragedy, sweeping epics, Tudors, particularly Tudor women, medieval queens, ancient Rome, ancient Egypt, Victorian, super long books.)

Outlander – Diana Gabaldon

Welsh Princes Series, The Sunne in the Splendour, Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine Series –Sharon Kay Penman

Sarum – Edmund Rutherfurd

Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantel

Fingersmith – Sarah Waters

Tipping the Velvet – Sarah Waters

My Notorious Life – Kate Manning

Outlander – Diana Gabaldon

Anne of Green Gables – L. M. Montgomery

The Raj Quartet - Paul Scott

The Regeneration Trilogy - Pat Barker

Music & Silence - Rose Tremain

Through a Glass Darkly - Karleen Koen
Follow the River - James Alexander Thom

Various fiction titles, by Alison Weir, Elizabeth George, Robin Maxwell, Vanora Bennet for example.

Historical Fiction – Mysteries & Series

Marcus Didius Falco Series by Lindsey Davis

Charlotte and Thomas Pitt Series – Anne Perry

The Daughter of Time – Josephine Tey

Mistress of the Art of Death – Ariana Franklin

Justin de Quincy Series – Sharon Kay Penman

The Midwife Series - Sam Thomas

Mysteries -Historical fiction –with authors as detective

Various

Time Travel/Alternate History

11/22/63 – Stephen King

Making History – Stephen Fry

A Knight in Shining Armor- Jude Deveraux

Slaughterhouse – Five – Kurt Vonnegut

To Say Nothing of the Dog – Connie Willis

Outlander – Diana Gabaldon

The Company Series, by Kage Baker, which includes titles, such as In the Garden of Iden, Mendoza in Hollywood, and Sky Coyote.

Ruled Britannia - Henry Turtledove
Time and Time Again - Ben Elton

English Literature - Classics

Wuthering Heights – Emily Bronte

Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte

Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen

I, Claudius – Robert Graves

Howard’s End – E.M. Foster

A Room With a View – E.M. Forster
Jeeves and Wooster books - P. G. Wodehouse

All Things Austen

Longbourne -Jo Barker

Death Comes to Pemberley -P. D. James

Fiction About Authors

The Hours - Michael Cunningham

The Death and Life of Miguel De Cervantes - Stephen Marlowe

The Lighthouse at the End of the World- Stephen Marlowe
Anything with Austen or Bronte

Children’s/YA Fiction Classics 

Anne of Green Gables Series – L. M. Montgomery

The Blue Sword – Robin McKinley

A Wrinkle in Time - Madeline L'Engle
Alanna: The First Adventure - Tamora Pierce

History

Subjects: History: Plantagenet, Tudor, Elizabethan, Women’s, African American Women, American, Cultural, Royal women, gossipy

Divorced, Beheaded, Survived: A Feminist Reinterpretation of the Wives of Henry VIII - Karen Lindsey

The Creation of Anne Boleyn – Susan Bordo

The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn – Eric Ives

Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII - David Starkey

White Trash: The Untold Story of Class in America - Nancy Isenberg

Cleopatra: A Life - Stacy Schiff

Alexander Hamilton - Ron Chernow

Cultural Commentary

God is Not Great - Christopher Hitchens

Why I Am Not A Christian - Bertrand Russell

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons From the Twentieth Century - Timothy Snyder

Raising Free Thinkers - McGowan, Matsumura, Metskas, Devor, Ed.

Parenting Beyond Belief - McGowan, Ed.

Feminist Theory

From Margin to Center – bell hooks

Unbearable Weight - Susan Bordo

Nickel and Dimed - Barbara Ehrenreich

My Mother's Garden- Alice Walker

To learn more about my reading habits, check out my Goodreads profile.



References

NoveList Editorial & St. Louis Public Library Staff (n.d.). The appeal of books. From the NoveList database.
Saricks, J.(2005). History and introduction. In Readers' advisory service in the public library. Chicago: ALA. pp.1-13.