Being an avid reader is a very rewarding experience. You get to dive into all these fantastic worlds and see life through vastly different perspectives. For many collegietes, reading is a welcome escape and a way to gain insight into how others understand the world they live in. But if you’ve ever lost precious hours of sleep because you were binge-reading a soul-consuming book, you’ll know that loving books comes with its own set of struggles. So I listed some of the most common bookish problems I’ve faced!
1. Finding the Right Spot:
You settle down in a chair and your back hurts after ten minutes. Then, you go outside and realize it’s nothing like it looks on Tumblr/Instagram because the wind keeps moving your pages, the sun is in your eyes and mosquitoes are everywhere. You sit on your bed and you’re asleep thirty minutes in.
2. The Procrastination:
There’s nothing like picking up that book that you’ve been dying to read, settling in at just the right spot, starting on the first few sentences and feeling your homework staring you down like the shit procrastinator you are. Sometimes, it gets so bad that, instead of reading or doing your work, you just sit there reflecting on your existence while feeling progressively more anxious.
3. The Interruptions:
You’ve just gotten to the part when the main character’s friend turns out to be the villain and they’re about to reveal their betrayal in a soul-crushing act that’ll- “Hey, how’ve you been!?”…. Because there’s no suffering like placing the bookmark on a great part when someone comes to talk to you while you’re reading in public.
4. The Company:
You’ve just read the most mind-blowing trilogy, you’ve scoured the internet for all the fan-art you could find, and you’re considering just diving head first into fanfiction bliss, but you need someone to share your theories and incoherent gushing with! But when you mention it to everyone, not a soul has ever heard about it… Ah well, you must content yourself with aggressively recommending it and seeing if someone volunteers to cry with you.
5. The Guilty Pleasures:
Everyone has that one genre or trope that they love but don’t mention too liberally. From erotic romance novels to dystopian love stories, from vampires to frustrating love triangles, there’s a bookish guilty pleasure for all kinds of readers. Though since most people have them, we should all pay it no mind and read what we want. So go ahead and enjoy your 50 Shades of Grey in peace.
6. The Favorite Character:
You’re just minding your own business reading along when suddenly, one character comes in and has the audacity to make you feel things. Their personality and actions just keep growing on you until you’ve already developed a clear image of them in your head. They are your sons or daughters and you must protect them from the author’s making them suffer (and sometimes even killing them off but we’re not gonna think about that) and your other reader friends who don’t like them.
7. The Wait:
It’s a pretty special feeling when you find a great new book series that you can really get into. That is, until you get to the last page and see that the next book is set to be released more than a year from now. And that’s if you’re lucky; sometimes the next book hasn’t even been named yet.
8. The Movie Adaptations:
Every so often you read a book that you genuinely enjoyed, only to later find out that a company already has the rights to a film adaptation or that one’s already in the works. There’s usually some hopeful anxiety that comes with finding out your favorite characters and scenes may be brought to the big screen. Who will they cast? Will they stick to the book’s plot? Will they treat your children like they deserve to be treated? But hey, at least you’ll get to give out your analysis when someone that knows you read the book inevitably asks if the movie matched up to it.
But in the end, reading is its own reward and some of the best conversations I’ve had came from book discussions. So, read on, everyone. And may your next book be absolutely addictive! These were a few of the most common struggles I know of, but I’m sure there are many more.