Buying books

What is it about shopping online?

Buying books for me is more than just the excitement of having the book in my hands. The smell, the weight of the book in my hands, the aesthetic cover and spine. Even the perfect fit on my shelf.

Buying books should be listed on my list of hobbies because it sometimes brings me more joy than actually reading some of those books.

Honestly, I enjoy about 95% of the books I buy myself, its sometimes the older classics which I find I cannot particularly mesh with but that’s on my personal taste in books.

My ideal book has my favourite tropes, whilst disassociating those toxic stereotypes: independent women, vulnerable men and a range of stories. I want to be able to hear from all of the characters in the story, rather than simply the single protagonist. Many popular ‘mainstream’ books follow the typical POV of the protagonist but I love when writers shake it up with a change. Omniscient narrators and multiple perspectives are always going to be more interesting to me.

Practising using these writing styles myself has shown me how much more intricate a story can be in weaving clues and quality into a piece. Narration, world building and character development are essential to convincing the reader of your world.

While I still enjoy books like Harry Potter, Harry isn’t the most trustworthy narrator, as everyone notices upon reading the books. What I love about massive casts of characters is the PERSPECTIVE were gifted with. Rick Riordan effectively portrays this within his Heroes of Olympus series. As the reader, your provided with insight into all seven heroes rather than simply Percy’s.

I love books with nostalgia, magic, wonder, action, slight romances, trauma, angst, tension.

Books that come to mind under this description include my favourite fantasy and historical fictions such as…

• Six of Crows
• Vicious
• A Darker Shade of Magic
• An Ember in the Ashes
• Nevernight
• Percy Jackson
• Chain of Gold
• The Huntress
• The Nightingale

Collecting books and purchasing them is what gets me excited to read again. The feeling as you get closer to the end and unravelling the mystery. Its the anticipation and excitement which is what motivates me to continue.

In 2020, I certainly re-read a lot books with only a few new arrivals, however, I still enjoyed the reading year. I had time to revisit my old favourites and nostalgic points whilst hitting all of those dark academia aesthetic points. From now, I’m waiting for new releases so all of my content will start to be a mixture of lifestyle posts, my other interests, and of course, BOOKS!