Book thoughts

As I write this, today is the 131st day of 2025. And I’m currently reading my 138th book. Last year I read 362 books, so just four books shy of a full book per day. My mother, who happens to be a librarian, recently told me that she’s worried that I’m reading too much. 😳 My mother was the person who, when I was young and said “I’m bored,” ALWAYS responded with “go read a book.” So the concept of reading too much is really odd to hear coming from her.

When people hear that I read so much, there are always a standard set of questions that I get. Let’s get those out of the way first and then we’ll talk about authors:

• How do you possibly read so much?

  • I’m retired for the most part, and I don’t really watch TV anymore. My husband, Ross, will always have have local Philly sports on, which I love, but I’ll still have my book open with the Phillies on in the background.

• How do you afford all those books?

  • I read exclusively on a Kindle, and I use Kindle Unlimited, so most of my reading costs me just the cost of that subscription. If I love a book that I read on KU, I’ll buy it to keep and re-read, but then it’s usually heavily discounted. I have Spotify premium and I’ll download audio books on there as well (for free), but you are limited to how many hours you can listen each month on there. I do like listening to a book, maybe one per month, while I’m driving back and forth from the beach or while I’m on morning walks. I use Audible, too, but I wish it weren’t so expensive. I definitely prefer reading to audio books, though, but that’s just me.

• How many pages do you read a day?

  • According to my stats from 2024, I averaged about 370 pages per day. I’m still on that pace this year, too, so I guess I’ll just keep on reading! Yes, I admit that’s a lot. And yes, I do read pretty fast. I read for probably 4-5 hours a day. (Some people watch TV for that long, I read instead. It’s a hobby, what can I say?)

• Were you always a big reader?

  • Not like this, no. I think I’ve always had somewhat of an addictive personality. When I find a show I liked, I would binge watch it. When I used to smoke cigarettes, I would chain smoke until the pack was gone. And now reading seems to be my vice. (Hey, it’s better than smoking, right?) Whenever I found a new book to read, I avoided most of my other duties until the book was done. That wasn’t really conducive to “mothering” so reading definitely had to be an occasional activity for me. I just can’t make myself put a book down once I pick it up.

• What do you like to read?

  • Right now, I’m 99% a fiction reader. I read the Harry Potter books years ago and loved them, and I’ve read the ACOTAR series and enjoyed them as well. Fantasy books aren’t my go-to genre, but I have enjoyed them. I like romance books, I like thrillers, I like legal fiction, I like historical fiction. Some days I just want a quick escape and don’t want to think about anything while I’m reading, and some days I long for a gut-wrenching story about heartbreak or loss. So I’m all over the place with what genres I’m reading. But I do tend to stick with a particular genre for a while and then I’ll do a firm 180 and jump into something really different for a while. That’s just my brain’s way of staying active I guess.

• What did I used to do with my time before I started reading this much?

  • I ask myself that a lot. I watched TV a lot more, I was on my phone a lot more, and I worked more. Now that I’m working fewer hours, it was an easy decision to trade TV and phone for reading instead.

• Do I feel like I’m missing out on other things by reading so much?

  • Of course there are other things I could be doing in the day, but am I unhappy? Not even a little bit. I’ve always been an introvert, and living within the virtual pages of a book is really gratifying. I tried playing golf and I didn’t love that. I’ve run half and full marathons, and that wasn’t sustainable for my knees. I love that reading is something I enjoy and can continue to do for years to come.

• What are you reading right now?

  • Today I’m reading If This Is Love by Jewel E. Ann. I’m about 30% into the book and I’m liking it so far. This is only the 3rd book I’ve read from this author and I’m liking her writing. I think I’ll be reading more of hers in the months to come.

Who are my favorite authors?

I have lots of favorite authors, but since today is Mother’s Day, I’m going to focus on a few of my favorite female authors. Enjoy!

1. Sue Grafton. Best known for her “alphabet series” of detective novels. She started this series in the early 1980’s and all of the books take place in the 1980’s, each book being set within just a few weeks of the previous book. She made it up through the letter Y before she passed away in 2017.

2. Patricia Cornwell. I like forensic dramas. Before I started binge reading, I was a binge watcher of Law & Order and SVU. It was always on, keeping me company while I worked on the computer. So some of my early reading in 2023 and 2024 were about Cornwell’s fictional medical examiner named Kay Scarpetta. I think there were nearly 30 books in this series, so plenty to choose from there if that floats your boat!

3. Kristin Hannah. It would be unfair not to mention Kristin Hannah in my list of favorite authors. Her writing is fantastic and her ability to transport the reader into any number of amazing locales is spectacular. Night Road is my favorite KH book that I’ve read so far.

4. Mariana Zapata. All of Zapata’s books are slow, slow, slow burn romance books. I’ve enjoyed the writing a lot, I like the banter between the characters, and I like the variety in her stories - no two are remotely alike. Her most recent one has just come out and I hear it’s a fantasy book, which is way out of her typical wheelhouse. I’m going to look at some reviews before I get that one and see what people think, but I’ll probably still give it a try.

5. Scarlett Drake. I mentioned this author in my April reading newsletter but she bears repeating again. Her book Oleander was just so good. I read it and immediately purchased it so I could re-read it. And then I downloaded the audio and I think the audio is spectacular. The writing is just perfect in this book. This is a MM romance, so certainly not in everyone’s comfort zone, but I just adore the book and the writing.

And that’s this week’s take on reading. If you have books or authors you think I should try, I’d love to hear from you! Email me at [email protected] or message me on instagram (@kdesimom). Thanks for joining!

Love, Karen