A Realistic Guide to Being a Normal(ish) Reader

In which I respond to the excesses of the Bookstagram culture...

Good morning, all, and greetings from the desert!

As I write this, I'm sitting in an Airbnb in Yuma, Arizona, giving all praise and glory to Willis Carrier, the man who made it possible for people to build RV parks and casinos in previously uninhabitable climates.

We've been down here visiting my in-laws, in part because my son's family was scheduled to pass through Yuma on the way to his new post in San Diego. My younger son participated in that caravan as a backup driver, nephew entertainer, and assistant dog minder, so we were able to get a great picture of four generations of Davis men and spend time with the folks, the kids, and the grands.

As far as I'm concerned, there is absolutely no reason to be in Yuma in the summer unless it's for family. This is how much I love these people.

By the time you read this, I'll be back in the land of normal temperatures.

I will have more to say about this trip later, but this week, I wanted to share some thoughts on this video about reading as performance. It's less than 15 minutes, so I encourage you to watch it before you keep reading.

After I watched that one, the algorithm sent me another video about book behaviors social media influencers have tried to convince us are normal, and both videos got me thinking--how do people actually read? What does a functional bookish life look like?

Let me level set right off the bat--I know I am not an especially "normal" reader at this stage of my life. My kids are all grown and gone, so I have a lot more time to read than when I had littles. I have a fair amount of disposable income, so I can afford to buy books (more on that in a minute). And reading is both a hobby and a professional activity, so I make it a personal priority (just as I prioritize fitness and fiber hobbies).

All that said, I feel like I'm a much more normal reader than some of the folks highlighted in those two videos.

Here is what I think a normal(ish) reading life looks like.

A Complete Lack of Organization

My shelves are organized by the highly refined and detailed "where do I have room?" methodology.

I have one bookshelf in the living room, one in my office, and one in my upstairs hallway. None of these shelves match. One is from Ikea and two are from furniture stores, but they have different finishes and slightly different designs. I have books scattered across my desk and night table; occasionally, those random piles will grow quite tall for no other reason than laziness on my part.

In other words, there is no beautifully Instagram-worthy collection of books. And while I would love to have an actual room dedicated as a library, even then, I can promise you that the shelves would be utter chaos. There is no room for Dewey Decimal in my life.

Occasional Book Hauls of Reasonable Amounts of Money

Yes, I have been known to splurge at a Barnes & Noble, but here's the thing--we budget ourselves a certain amount of "blow money" every month. We started doing this when we rigidly adhered to the Dave Ramsey program many years ago to get ourselves out of debt. Back then, the budget was pretty small, and I mostly used it for an occasional fast food meal while I was running errands or emergency coffee.

The budget is bigger now, and since I don't get out much, it builds up over a few months at a time, so sometimes, I splurge in ways I wouldn't have when we had littles. There is no reason your splurge can't be $10 at a used bookstore. And speaking of used bookstores...

An Affinity for the Aroma of Dust and Lignin

Even though I have been known to splurge at Barnes & Noble, big box bookstores often annoy me. Small indie bookstores are always better, though their selection is more limited (if you're ever in Coeur d'Alene, check out The Well-Read Moose--highly recommend!). Yes, I do order books from Amazon, but usually only when I am looking for something very specific and need it in a timely fashion.

The best place to find great books (aside from libraries) is in a used bookstore, especially when it's one carefully curated by someone who genuinely loves books. Spend $100 at a used bookstore, and you'll come away with a lot more than you would at a new bookstore. And I promise you--you'll find things you would not normally read if you stuck to the eye-level options at Barnes & Noble.

Patronage of the Public Stacks

It seems to me that no one on social media has heard of these magical places called *checks notes* LIBRARIES.

Listen, y'all. There is no need to ever buy a single book if you can't afford it. Walk into your public library and acquire a library card. Not only will that give you access to the books in your local library, but it will often give you access to an enormous selection of online libraries where you can check out e-books galore.

And that's not to mention all the other benefits of the public library, including Wi-Fi, computer access, air conditioning or heat, a quiet place to meet or work or--dare I say--read, and community connection.

These Bookstagrammers need to get out more.

Curiosity About All the Things

I don't want to knock people who have their preferred genres--I am, after all, a fantasy and science fiction devotee. And I will confess that I do not spend any time looking for book recommendations on Instagram or TikTok. But it does seem like a really big chunk of book influencer culture centers around "Romantasy" and young adult and the places where those two intersect.

I get it. The influencers influence where the interest is. Most of social media is inhabited by the youngs. They are going to be mostly interested in a certain kind of book that I'm not particularly into.

I think the normal reading public, broadly speaking, has a wider variety of interests. My own interests run the gamut of non-fiction and fiction alike. While I love speculative fiction, I have a lot of other favorites, and I'm willing to try almost any genre or category that piques my interest.

If we only watched book influencers, we would be convinced that these books primarily aimed at the biggest consumers of social media are the only books that generate any interest. This simply isn't the case. There are a whole lot of other popular genres and categories that normal people read. Honestly, I had never even heard of Fourth Wing until I saw it in a comment on Substack.

Realistic Schedules

Most people do not read a book a day, even for just a month. I rarely read a book in one day; if I do, it's because I'm sick, stuck on an airplane, or engrossed in something reasonably short. I'm a fast reader, but I also have a life full of work, family, chores, and other hobbies.

Remember, most people don't read more than a few books a year. If you read even 12 books a year, that puts you in an elite percentile.

Unannotated Books

Breaking news:

Normal people don't habitually annotate books.

Maybe if you're in a book club or writing a review or reading something for your work, you might mark a few places or take some notes.

But honestly? Most people don't annotate their books.

There is no test. No one is going to ask you to write a paper on what you read. This isn't college.

Normal Snack Habits

I read in my office, my living room, and my bedroom.

In none of those rooms do I have a snack cart.

My house is not Buckingham Palace, and if I need a snack or a drink, I simply walk to the kitchen, get what I need, and return to the place where I'm reading. This is not hard. This is a normal habit.

Normal Book Accessories

There is nothing fancy about the accessories I use to read. I did recently buy a new Kindle--my first one in years--because I knew I had some travel coming up, and reading on the road is a lot easier with a Kindle. Plus, it does greatly widen the library options for e-books.

My other accessories consist of two reading lamps--one in my office and one in the living room--that also work for knitting and crocheting and one of those big pillows that allows me to sit up in bed comfortably when I'm reading before I fall asleep. That's it. That's the complete list of my accessories.

I think normal readers just need a comfy spot, adequate lighting, and a few bookmarks. And maybe reading glasses, if you're an old like me...

I'm not here to throw shade at people who have different habits than I do. When it comes to reading, you do you.

What I am saying is that social media isn't real, normal people don't look like Bookstagrammers, and it's okay--even good--to sit here among the normies with your unorganized piles of used, new, and library books and a snack you prepared in a different room.

Don't let social media ruin yet another good and important thing in this world. Just read!

See you next week.