Until I became an author and joined various reading groups, I was definitely a lone bookworm. I shared some books with a few family and friends but basically kept my reading to myself. In all fairness, I’m a bit of a loner in most areas of my life, but I digress.

Authors are told to know who our readers are to know how/ where to reach them. As a struggling writer, I’ll admit I haven’t worked that out yet. However, I have made great progress on knowing what type of reader I am.

I am a bad reader.

I owe it all to social media for helping me realize the error of my ways. In case you don’t realize you’re a bad reader (yet), I’d like to share a few things I’ve learned:

–Did you know if you read/ enjoyed Twilight or 50 Shades of Grey that you clearly don’t know what good books are?
–How about that if you’re reading to escape reality then you’re doing it wrong?
–Maybe you already knew that listening to audiobooks doesn’t count as ‘reading’?
–Do you use a bookmark or turn the corners down? Think hard as there is a right answer.
–Paperbacks or ebooks? Not all formats are created equal.
–Do we really need to mention that only ‘classics’ count and the number of them that you’ve read is very important??
–It’s also very important to read the right number of books…too many and you aren’t immersing yourself properly and too few and you aren’t a bookworm.
–However, if you count the number of books (or don’t count them) then you’re also a bad reader.

I didn’t know these things until I joined readers groups and I was quite frankly astounded. I’ve violated so many apparent reading rules throughout my life. These examples are just the tip of the iceberg for the judgments I saw too. Jokes aside (and I truly hope some of the posts I saw were jokes), I would like to encourage fellow readers to embrace their bad reading style!  

I am a bad reader and I’m good with that!

I will skip to the end of the book and I don’t feel the need to explain why.
I embrace comfort reads and have read several books multiple times.
I read both traditionally published and indie authors.
I buy from Amazon and from a local bookstore.
I will read a book in a day…or take months…or DNF (did not finish) it.
I read some popular books and some that aren’t.
I do read the reviews and I write my own.

I am a bad reader…and I bet you are too! Feel free to share your reading quirks here and I’ll try my best not to judge. 🙂

Let’s be serious for just a moment. I do believe reading has made me a better person. It’s certainly allowed me to escape the mundane and encouraged me to stretch my wings beyond my normal. It’s inspired me to be brave and kind. It’s made me feel more connected to others. Reading has improved my life. It also brings me joy. Even being a bad reader has brought good things into my world.

If you read, please embrace your reader quirks and enjoy yourself. If you don’t read, try it out in ways that appeal to you. Don’t let the judgments of others steal the joy of reading from you.

Going a step further, I’d like to help fellow bad readers find new things to read. I just shared a book list for fantasy characters I love – LINK HERE! The truly beautiful thing is my list is definitely not the only one on that website. If my list doesn’t work for you, I bet you can find others that will! However, if you want to embrace even more fantasy, feel free to join my monthly Book Chat and here’s the POST with that schedule. And yes, you can be on social media and make some wonderfully kind reader friends to share your joy with too! Of course, furry babies make reading more enjoyable too so here’s a shot of one of my kitties!

Conclusion: Get on with your bad self and read however and whatever you want.
Bad Readers Unite!