PIEN HUANG, HOST:
Are you in a reading rut? Are you unsure how to find books that you'll love? Well, there is a path out of that. Marielle Segarra, the host of NPR's Life Kit, has more.
MARIELLE SEGARRA, BYLINE: When I was a kid, I was a beast when it came to reading. I was gulping down books by the dozen. Reading transported me to another world filled with magic and adventure and possibility. Plus, I had a lot of time on my hands. As an adult, I've lost some of that magic. I get into reading ruts because my time is limited, and I'm not sure what books I'll even like. Traci Thomas is the creator and host of "The Stacks," a podcast about books. She says if you're in a reading rut, get yourself to a bookstore or a library. Wander around. Look for inspiration. See what catches your eye. And ask questions.
TRACI THOMAS: Booksellers and librarians are book matchmakers and sort of magicians. You can go in and say, I read this and this and this, and I loved those three. But I also read this other book that I hated. And I'm in the mood for something that feels like, you know, a long drive on Christmas Eve. And they'll be like, oh, here you go. And they always come up with something.
SEGARRA: Thomas says there are lots of ways to describe books you might like.
THOMAS: What it's about, what genre it is and then also sort of how it makes you feel or what it feels like.
HUANG: You can also consider writing styles. Obviously, there's prose, and then there's poetry. There are plays, graphic novels, workbooks.
THOMAS: I think most people have a sense, you know, a broad sense, like, do I want to read a novel? Do I want to read a play? Do I want to read a collection of poetry? I definitely think if you know for sure you don't like poetry, then no point browsing the poetry section, though I would challenge people to try to read poetry. I am in my trying-to-read-poetry phase, and it's a really great, exciting challenge, even though I don't always get it. And I'm told that that's fine, too.
HUANG: Let's say you want to try something new. Like, Thomas is a nonfiction fan, but if she wanted to try fiction, she'd look for a fiction book that's based in reality.
THOMAS: So I would ask someone or I would look around for a book that is in, like, maybe literary fiction or general fiction, as opposed to genre fiction, which is, like, thriller, mystery, horror, romance. They call that genre fiction. And then general fiction is sort of more realistic, everyday life.
SEGARRA: Once you get your hands on a book that you think you might like, Thomas says read the jacket copy, and read a few sentences to get a sense of what the book is about and if it grabs your attention. Another piece of advice - don't think you have to read or like a book just because it comes highly recommended.
THOMAS: I know so many people who get in reading ruts because they try to read whatever they saw in The New York Times or on Oprah's Book Club or whatever, even though it's not anything that they would normally want to read. I encourage folks to trust what you like.
SEGARRA: Also, Thomas says it's OK to like books that other people say are corny or that other people review badly. If you love it, that's what matters. Now, once you start reading, don't force yourself to finish books you hate.
THOMAS: If you're falling asleep while you're reading it, that's a good sign that maybe you don't like it. If you are constantly checking your phone while you're reading that, that might be a sign that you don't like it. I think that if you are rolling your eyes as you're reading the sentences, that might be a good sign that you don't like something. I think it's like everything else. You know what is not for you.
SEGARRA: It's OK to put that book down and find another one.
THOMAS: Save yourself. There are too many books in the world to read books you do not like.
SEGARRA: She says if you're not finishing a book, that's also called cultivating taste. For NPR News, I'm Marielle Segarra. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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