Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the awesome people at The Broke and the Bookish
Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is blogger confessions. I've been really looking forward to this topic if for the primary reason of seeing everyone else's confessions. Here's mine:
1. I wasn't an English major. In fact not only was a not an English major but I was thrilled to be done with the 3 English classes I had to take as a Computer Science major. My professors were fine but discussing symbolism and true meanings makes me want to run at top speed into the nearest wall. If I went back to school to get a degree in something purely for fun it would be history which I adore.
2. I don't like Feels reads. I know when someone says something along the lines of "I cried buckets with this one" people line up to read it. I'm not one of them. I hate to cry or have a gut wrenching read. If a book is strongly recommended enough I might cave but it's reluctantly.
3. I read fast. Like freakishly fast. It's a handy skill particularly now that my reading time has been significantly cut down. I got self conscious about it because in elementary school my teachers couldn't believe I could read as fast as I was and comprehend things despite the fact that my grades in subjects that relied on reading comprehension were excellent. It wasn't a lot of fun. There were parent teacher conferences about it and 1 teacher who had absolutely no business teaching children tried to trip me up in class about it basically constantly.
4. I watch a lot of TV. I really like TV and watch a pretty good bit of it. I watch Netflix while I'm cooking dinner (getting through the series Numbers right now) and at least a show while I eat lunch and another before I go upstairs at night. There's not a food competition show I haven't tried and my list of crime shows is pretty complete - NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, CSI, Criminal Minds, Unforgettable, Elementary. Then there's Doctor Who, Torchwood and Sherlock (though since that's only 3 shows every 2 years I'm not sure it counts). As well as The Big Bang Theory, The Bachelor/Bachelorette (which I watch with Emma which is pretty entertaining to hear her take on it). Then there's the whole Investigation Discovery channel showing true crime shows. It's a problem! I wasn't allowed to watch TV at all when I was a kid so I'm making up for lost time now I think.
5. I have a lot of review books. Like a lot. Like over 60 currently to review. It's a problem. Moderation has never been my strong suit when it comes to books and I had a lot of fun with NetGalley. I'm working to get it under control and luckily I don't view review books like homework so that helps.
6. Only a very few people that I know in real life know about this blog or really how much I read in general. Pretty much there's only my immediate family and 1 other friend.
7. I don't really like blog tours unless they're accompanied by a review. I like to read about books people are waiting for or excited about but if it's just general information on a book or a press release than I skip over it.
8. I love comments! Every time a comment shows up in my email it gives me a little mood lift!
9. I suck at tags and cross-posting. I really want to be more organized on both but so far I haven't been great at follow through. At some point I'm going to get all my posts tagged and all my reviews cross-posted on goodreads and amazon but today is not that day.
10. I'm really bad about staying completely in my rather narrow comfort zone. Blogging has helped a bit because it's exposed me to new and different books that I wouldn't have even seen if it was for people writing about them. Even with trying new and different genres there are still a few subjects I tend to avoid because they make me uncomfortable. That's chicken I know but I'm still in baby steps here!
I, too, read ridiculously fast. Of course, that combined with the fact that I do not watch TV anymore means I just read A LOT of books. So I'm not complaining, especially with a TBR that's totally out of control. It didn't make my list, but I totally love comments. Who doesn't? As long as they're unique and thoughtful and not cut-and-paste advertising of your own blog, I'm all about it. I try to reply, but just don't always get it done. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my bookish confessions!
I am enjoying reading everyone's confessions today. :-)
ReplyDeleteI wasn't an English major either--and like you, if I went back to school, think I would study something like history. :-)
I am not a fast reader, although I wish I was sometimes. And I do like to read books that draw out strong emotions from me. But then, I'm a cry baby anyway and cry easily when I read.
I'm terrible at tagging too. I'm not consistent about it like I know I should be. :-(
Love the photo of your kids!
I was an English major for about six moths; it was m y second major. :D I finally graduated with a degree in philosophy and religion and a minor in psychology.
ReplyDeleteI'm not a speed reader but I can read pretty quickly, when not distracted by social media. The downside of a smart phone!
NetGalley and Edelweiss are candy stores that give out free candy. Sooooooo bad for us. :D
Interesting post, thanks!
Netgalley and review books. You are far from alone. It's seriously something I've had to get under control too. I barely go on NG anymore for that exact problem.
ReplyDeleteI wish I read freakishly fast. I think I can read above normal pace(depending on the font and book too). But to read freakishly fast would be great. Lol!
Great list!
Happy reading!
Brittany @ This is the Story of My(Reading) Life
I was a theatre major. I don't think being an English major is a prerequisite to book blogging! I used to be a speed reader and still read quite fast, but aging eyes start taking their toll. When I was in sixth grade, there was a program or perhaps a study to see if some of us could be trained to read faster. After they tested me, they took me out of the study and said their program wouldn't do me any good; I was already at the upper end of what it would do.
ReplyDeleteI don't gravitate toward books that make me cry, either. I like nice, satisfying, generally happy endings.
And as you know, I completely relate re the NetGalley/Edelweiss problem. ;-)
As for people in your real life knowing about your blogging -- I haven't hidden it from my friends and acquaintances, but I have tried to keep my blogging life somewhat separate from RL and from my work as an indexer. For instance, Lark is a nickname I use for blogging and other online stuff; in real life, my friends call me something else. But I'm not totally hiding my "real" identity, either, and my real-life friends know I write a book blog. A few of them actually follow it, though not that many. And hardly anyone in my family reads it except my daughter!
Your #5 made me chuckle. Sixty review books is nothing, believe me. I have THOUSANDS. Not even joking. Be glad you only have 60 :)
ReplyDeleteHappy TTT!
I wasn't an English major either, but took every kind of chemistry known to man, lol!
ReplyDeleteAnd I really wish I could read faster... good think I don't watch much television or I'd never finish a book ;-)
Such a cute picture of the kiddos! But 60 review books makes me want to have a panic attack. I mostly had to stop accepting books because I rarely ever read them (I refuse to look at Netgalley) and some of them have been sitting on my shelf for years. Bad Trish!
ReplyDeleteI'm a slow reader. And very easily distracted. I have to keep my phone away from me otherwise I'll just get on twitter when I should be reading. I waste so much time doing that. Should have been one of my confessions. ;)
Fun reading these!
Comments make me happy too <3 I'm a TV show addict as well! I have a list of airing TV shows and I always like to binge watch the complete once. This year I saw The office and Breaking Bad, which was epic. Sherlock is fantastic, I follow Big Bang Theory too and I'm waiting for Game of Thrones.
ReplyDeleteMel@thedailyprophecy
5, 6,7,and 8 could be me. I like the feels, but am leery of the ones that make me curl into a fetus position and cry like a baby...Fantastic post!
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, lets not talk about tags, ugh lol. I started and then I totally gave up on it :p
ReplyDeleteI watch alot of TV too. It's so hard to juggle TV and reading, though. LOL
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear I wasn't the only one in school who got on trouble about reading too quickly. I also had some teachers who tried to trip me up, but others were far more understanding. Once I'd exhausted all of the books in our classroom library and next-door classroom's library, I was then let loose on the school library - bliss!
ReplyDeleteThe problem is, I wish I could review as fast as I read...
I'm an English major! LOL :) But it wasn't the reason I started my blog hehe :) I love watching TV shows too but they're only a few I really do enjoy watching. I love NCIS and the Big Bang Theory. And my latest obsession is The Mindy Project. :) I do get super excited about receiving comments. It leaves a very great feeling in my heart. :) Thanks for sharing and for stopping by.
ReplyDeleteOh god, I can identify with #1 so much. In fact, I was an English major (and a German minor because I needed one and I was really only at uni because I didn't know what else to do) and I hated it. Linguistics classes? Awesome. Literature? Oh god, shoot me now please. Which is totally half of the reason why I quit uni after two semesters.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy reading and I enjoy deciphering subtext and fangirling and obsessing, but only when it's on my terms. Being forced to analyse and interpret texts? I suck at that and it made me really really dislike ~literature~ as a whole. I'm not very good at it on command and it showed in my grades during high school, tbh.
I'm glad to see somebody else who watches a lot of tv. :D Or rather, I don't because I'm picky but I find that I obsess over certain shows a lot (Orphan Black for one thing, Great British Bake Off for another) and that's great. :D I love television and anyone who trashes it can get out of my sight.
Ugh, I have way too many books on my iPad thanks to NetGalley. That doesn't stop me from requesting a few more though :) I also don't talk about my blog a lot to others. My family knows about it but I don't really bring it up to others that often. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI can't believe the teachers made you feel bad about reading so fast! What a great talent to have. I read some of the "feel" reads but I have only ever actually cried with two or three books. Although there have been several that broke my heart. And some that scared me so much I had to stop reading them.
ReplyDelete