What Type of Reader Are You?

By Maureen L. Bonatch

Readers. We may all love a good story, fangirl a little over our favorite author and occasionally have more books than friends (who needs them when you have books?), but we are all unique in the way we read. 

But…just what type of reader are you? Take this quick quiz and find out.

Nibble or Gorge?

1.  I nibble and savor a story. I like to sneak in little bits when I have a few minutes.
2. I find a new author and buy ever other book they wrote and read them in order.
3. I devour books as fast as possible.

Use a Bookmark or Fold the Corner?

1. I use a real bookmark with a print book.
2. Any old scrap of paper, gum wrapper, napkin or string will save my place.
3. I mark my territory on a book by folding down the corner.

Print book, eBook or Audiobook?

1. Print books- I like to hold it in my hand.
2. eBook- I like access to a ton of books in my reader
3. Audiobook- I want to hear the characters.
4. All of the above- if it’s a book, I’ll read it.

Nighttime, Seasonal, Holiday—or Anytime?

1. I sneak in a few chapters before falling asleep—or end up reading half the night.
2. I usually read more on vacation, during holidays, or specific seasons of the year.
3. I read any spare minute, even when I should be doing other things.

One Genre or The More the Merrier?

1. I’m faithful to my favorite genre.
2. I don’t discriminate, I read many genres.
3. I will read anything I can get my hands on—recipes, instructions, just give me words!

Does Size Matter?

1. I like big books and I cannot lie.
2. Short and sweet are great to fit in my busy schedule.
3. Size doesn’t matter if the story is good.

Buy, Borrow or Library?

1. I borrow from friends and family.
2. To afford my reading habit, I use the library.
3. I must own all the books.

Persevere or Bail out?

1. Even if the story drags, I hang on to see if it gets better.
2. Have me at hello or I’m done.
3. I have multiple books started and go from story to story when one gets slow.

What Type of Reader Are You?

Mostly 1’s? 2’s? or 3’s? Whether you're a Nibbling Nancy, a Methodical Melanie or a Gorging Gloria, no matter what your score or your reading style, you are fabulous—just like all readers.

Just how Big is Your—TBR List?

Looking for Love?

The month of love is just around the corner. Forget Me Not is a sweet, short read to get you in the mood for love.

If Cole can't believe she's a changed woman, can Sabrina accept the only second chance she has at love exists in her memories?

Author Bio: Maureen Bonatch grew up in small town and her love of the four seasons—hockey, biking, sweat pants and hibernation—keeps her there. While immersed in writing or reading paranormal romance and fantasy, she survives on caffeine, wine, music, and laughter. A feisty Shih Tzu keeps her in line. Find Maureen on her website, Facebook & Twitter

Book Binges, Gloms, and Serializations

Since Netflix started releasing entire TV seasons at once, people have started commenting on the phenomenon of ‘binge watching’—basically sitting down and watching episode after episode in a short period of time. Lately I’ve seen some articles like this one You May Soon Binge Books Like You Do Netflix talking about serialized fiction.

These articles make me laugh. Dude, seriously please: I’ve been book bingeing forever and so have most other bookworms. For evidence I submit the following Dear Author article dated 2013 The Science of the Glom 

I don’t want a ‘serialized’ novel that I have to shell out money for only parts of a book. What I do love is discovering new series with numerous books already out and glomming onto the series or sometimes a new author and glomming their backlist or both.

Here’s an example: by the time I read Moon Called, the first book in Patricia Brigg’s bestselling Merecedes Thompson urban fantasy series book three was already out. I liked book one so I picked up books two and three, which were even better. Now officially hooked, I had to wait for book four. Looking around for more of her stuff, I discovered On The Prowl a collection with a novella by Patricia Briggs called Alpha and Omega, which was in the same world as the Mercedes Thompson series, but featured different characters. I loved the story and was delighted when it spun off its own series. Around the same time, her clever publisher re-released all her older backlist titles with new paperback editions. I bought them all. I remember driving across town for one because my local bookstore didn’t have the title, but one of the other bookstores in the city did.

Once I’m caught up in a series, I don’t whine and gnash my teeth waiting for the next book to come out--which isn't to say I'm not highly anticipating the next one--March! Silence Fallen!--but that I read a lot of authors and series to the point where there's almost certain to be one or two releasing in a given month. And if I run out of current ones I start looking for my next series/glom.

Last year I glommed Gini Koch’s Kitty Katt campy alien series and Brent Week's epic fantasy Lightbringer series.

This year I’m glomming Laura Resnick’s urban fantasy Esther Diamond series.

What books and authors have you glommed onto lately? (And if you're in a reading slump, check out yesterday's post by Marie Harte.)

Jane's January Book Binge

For some reason, this is a thing I do. I often go for months without reading because I can barely manage to get in my 1,000 words a day of my own writing. And then something seems to happen after the holidays. All I want to do is read, and usually it’s passionate m/m romance I’m after.

So far this month, I’ve read ten novels (two were rereads) and five novellas, and this lust for other people’s words doesn’t show signs of stopping any time soon.

Part of it, I think, is that I finished writing my last manuscript at Christmastime, and I’ve been in a huge postpartum funk. As a writer, I carry these characters around with me all day and all night the entire time I’m writing their story. I go to sleep “writing” in my head. They’re my constant companions. And then I get to the last page and they aren’t with me anymore. It’s like having your closest friends and lovers abandon you after spending every waking (and non-waking) moment with you for months—and right after the best moment you’ve spent with them—that climax, that, yes, often lives up to its euphemism.

So in solace, I dive into other people’s stories, but they only last a day, or at most two. (I find it almost impossible to put a book down at night unfinished, so at this point, I’m obviously short on sleep.) The books are my drug, and I need another fix, and another to maintain that high.

So what have I been reading this January to keep me company in bed? KJ Charles’s A Charm of Magpies series tops the list. Hot, domineering, former Shanghai smuggler returned to Victorian England after years of exile to take his place as a reluctant earl, paired with a powerful but unassuming magical practitioner who’s submissive in the sheets? Complete with magical tattoos? Yes, please.

I also finished up Joanna Chambers Enlightenment series, a Regency Era romance set in Edinburgh. A secret romance between a lowborn lawyer and a world-weary earl, also hot and domineering. Okay, I’m in.

I read a few books by JL Merrow, whose contemporary m/m romance tends more toward the sweet than the hot (not that there’s anything wrong that!), and especially enjoyed the short novella Trick of Time because I can’t get enough of Victorian rentboys. Plus time travel? Please and thank you.

And then I stumbled on Ava March’s delightfully dirty Brook Street Regencies. More Victorian rentboys and thieves! Woohoo! And lots and lots of no-holds-barred m/m sex that is not kidding around. I think my favorite of the lot were the Rogues, a pair of notorious rakehells who haven’t quite figured out that they’re made for each other. Hot, angry sex between two dominant lords. What’s not to like?

Ahem. So…what have you been up to? Read anything good lately?