My Reading Profile

Although I have always enjoyed reading, I cannot say that I always read for comprehension when I was younger. That has since changed over the years, but have to admit I am still discovering new authors and genres. 

As a kid I grew up participating in the IndyPL Summer Reading Program every year and always set my goal to win Indianapolis Indians game tickets (summer=reading=baseball game). After starting middle school it was much harder to find books that I enjoyed reading. Throughout the school year I found myself busy with school assignments and hanging out with friends instead of reading for pleasure like I once had.

My interest in reading over the last 10 years has been for somewhat practical information and knowledge. I fell in love with Malcolm Gladwell late in high school and devoured Thinking, Fast, and Slow by Daniel Kaneman in college. I could not get enough of the readings from my college courses Philosophy of Sex and Gender and Existentialism. These readings fueled me not simply because they were enjoyable, but because they showed me a deeper understanding of the world around me. They were logical, or forced me to think with new perspectives... but they aligned with some of what I needed in life at the time. My significant other knows how much I enjoyed some of these works. For my birthday this past year he bought me Essays in Existentialism by Jean-Paul Sartre, a book that I rented in college for class but had on my list of books to purchase. What can I say, I just really enjoyed it! 

I can't say I gravitate towards those same works with the same need and desire now, but rather enjoy reading for leisure and to escape my current reality. Most of the books I have read recently are either best sellers for popular fiction or are within the realm of magical realism. Some of my favorite recent reads include The Night Tiger and The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo. I also really enjoyed reading Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia! I believe I read The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende in high school, but have it on my list of books to read in Spanish. I majored in Spanish and have Mexican ancestry, so it is very important that I continue reading in Spanish. 

Overall I am still on a journey to find what works really speak to me and what I find most enjoyable. I really appreciated reading the introduction to our class textbook (The Reader's Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction) to learn more about the similarities between genres that appeal to audiences. This idea of the "Genre-Appeal Framework" (p. xvii), is exactly what I am looking for to expand my reading interests and become more familiar with the elements of writing that I enjoy the most.