Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl
This is going to be a hodgepodge of a post as I attempt to get as close as possible to the full ten answers over the next two months. (I started compiling this list back in November).
1. Hospitals Have Libraries.
Or at least the ones in my area do! I didn’t have a lot of time to browse through them while dealing with various medical stuff for myself and my family last year, but they seem like great places to not only find something interesting to read but also to enjoy some peace and quiet and maybe learn some more about the illnesses or other conditions that have lead you to spend time there.
While I hope that no one reading this post ends up needing this knowledge in 2026, please visit your hospital’s library if you do end up spending time there and need a restful place to unwind. I can’t recommend this resource highly enough.
2. Many People Still Die of Tuberculosis
“Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection” by John Green dove into why this happens and what we can do to stop it. I knew this disease still killed some people, but I didn’t realize how large that number is or how cruelly unnecessary the vast majority of those deaths are.
It some ways it reminds of how people living with HIV in wealthy, developed countries now have life spans that are nearly as long as those of us who are HIV-negative while those who are HIV positive and living in developing nations generally have much shorter lifespans.
Learning stuff like this is why I love reading nonfiction.
3. Sometimes I Like Literary Fiction
After many false starts, I now enjoy this genre on occasion. It simply takes the right plot twist for me to settle into the slower pace of these stories. This isn’t something that will ever be a regular part of my reading habits, but I’m proud of myself of continuing to try every so often until I found a few titles that work for my tastes.
4. BookTok Isn’t for Me
I’m sorry to say that I’ve loathed every BookTok book I’ve tried and at this point I don’t know that I’ll try again because I don’t seem to fit into that demographic group at all. Kudos to those of you who do, of course!
5. I Love the Idea of Silent Book Clubs
A Silent Book Club is a group of people who agree to meet up somewhere like a bookstore, library, or coffee shop and read silently each other.
This is exactly the sort of reading environment that I crave more of because you can pick any genre you like and bounce among them as often as you’d prefer. I just need to find one reasonably close to home and join in.
6. Bookstodon Is Essential
If you have a Mastodon account, I strongly recommend getting to know the @bookstodon@fedigroups.social community. There are readers of every genre there, and I’ve read and participated in so many wonderfully nuanced conversations about books with various folks there.
(My account is @lydiaschoch@mastodon.social if anyone wants to be buddies there!)