Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Tiara Talk: A Balanced Diet

It's been awhile, hasn't it?

Though I do love participating in Top Ten Tuesday I had never meant to make it an all the time thing on Typing Tiara, at most just a couple times a month...you know, an every other week sort of thing...but then I started loving the topics and I just couldn't resist...and I didn't really have much to talk about, at least as far as Tiara Talk topics go, and so I continued. However, I do have some ideas buzzing around in my head, and provided school doesn't kick my royal arse, I'd like to get back into the habit of posting a Tiara Talk every now and again.

Sound good?

A'ight.

This week I'm wanting to talk about balanced diets...and no, I don't mean getting your fill of whole grains and vegetables! I want to know how you manage, if you manage, to balance your reading diet.

You see...I am a literature major, which means I have TONS of required reading for the various classes I take every semester. I also, in case you haven't noticed, run Typing Tiara which is a young adult and middle grade blog. In my free time (HA! What a joke!) I read pretty much anything else I can get my hands on...including my biggie love of comics, graphic novels, and manga. 

All of which don't always blend easily. Especially when I'm constantly getting new recommendations or requesting new reads from publishers/authors [or accepting them when approached!] and so on.

The worst part? I can't do it all. So without fail, year after year, a lot of reads fall to the wayside. Whether it means I've fallen behind in reading YA/MG books so I have no reviews, haven't read a single comic or adult book or fantasy or historical fiction or romance or any other genre I'm desperately craving...it happens and it sucks.

I want to be a balanced reader. I don't want to pigeon-hole myself into a single genre. There is SO much out there and I love so much of it. I want to try it all. And I don't want to face the dreaded burn-out that comes from reading too much of any one genre. 

How do you guys manage it? Reading challenges? Lists? Pie charts? How do you make yourself a balanced reader? How do you satisfy all the cravings, or as many as you can, of the various parts that make up you?

I signed up for a couple of reading challenges this year, first time ever I might add, mostly because I wanted to try and tackle my own personal TBR pile. I challenged myself to read 285 books on Goodreads...more specifically, ten fantasy novels [Easy-peasy, right?] and ten classics...plus whatever else it takes to hit the mark.  But still, I feel overwhelmed. 

What about you guys? Are you feeling overwhelmed? Or, have you found a book diet that makes you a successfully balanced reader? DISH! ;]

6 comments:

  1. I know I'm feeling overwhelmed. I'm having much less time to read because of my regular life stuff. I'm still trying to read YA and adult books because I found I was getting burnt out just on YA, but I'm not having hardly any time to read at all! Just a little bit at bed time!!!

    I've only managed to read 4 books this whole month!

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    1. I'm pretty sure regular life is out to get us all. -.-

      I was getting burnt out on YA too. Which is not good for the galleys on my Kindle...I switched to reading comic books and some fantasy for a bit and I seem alright now.

      The only reason I'm having time to read is I'm neglecting other things...which now that school has started again I'm not going to be able to get away with for long. Sigh.

      OUCH. Sending virtual hugs your way. Also, a universal remote so you can freeze time and get some reading in!

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  2. Honestly? This post is making me break out in a sweat because it reminds me of a problem I try to think of as rarely as possible: I will die. And when I'm dead, there will still be millions and millions of books I have never, ever read and then I won't get the chance to :) So, I guess you already know my answer - this is the question I guess every avid reader faces and I think I'll just have to try to live with it :) However, I do try to make myself branch out a bit. Especially, of course, by reading from the different YA subgenres, but also by just randomly checking books out of my library that look interesting to me. I'm having a particularly hard time with adult books, though. I just can't make myself read them...

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    1. I think we all feel that same way. I keep looking over at my TBR pile...which is a mess I might add...and it is just SO DISCOURAGING and anxiety inducing.

      I'm trying to make myself branch out too! I'm trying my best to read more classics and adult novels this year. I think I'm balanced-ish so far. Maybe. Probably not, but for the most part I'm okay with what I've read so far in 2013.

      Adult books are challenging. Its hard to find the right niche. I just keep bouncing around and trying a little bit of everything. Maybe try an adult version of a genre you love?

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  3. I feel like I typically go through genres in rounds--so instead of a "balanced diet", it's more like one month I gorge myself on the book equivalents on carbs, but then the next month I'm a total vegetarian, etc. I also have lots of literature to read for classes, and I've just begun in the past year to read for fun again. I'll admit that sometimes I put my schoolwork books off in favor of my "fun books", but I don't feel as bad, because that's how I keep myself stress-free.

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    1. I love the way you just ran with the whole "balanced diet" analogy because it just works SO WELL. I'm a gorger too. Right now I've been inhaling fantasy novels like a mad women, particularly The Song of Ice and Fire series...now I'm wanting more science fiction in my diet. Before both of those I was wanting contemporary.

      And I too am guilty of putting off school books, like right now when I'm catching up on comments and reading A Feast For Crows instead of Beowulf. xD

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