Reading for Review and Reading for Fun

There was a time, a few years ago when Track of Words was still in its infancy, when I made a point of writing reviews for every book I read. That was great, but it did lead to some reviews which don’t sit quite so comfortably alongside the science fiction and fantasy that make up the majority of what I cover. These days, for various reasons, that’s no longer the case; instead, I only review some of the books I read, and not only does this keep me happy, but I’m actually reading more! With that in mind, I thought it might be interesting for this article to talk a bit about the differences between reading for the purpose of reviewing, and reading just for fun.

This article is a little more personal than what I often write, and I’ll touch briefly upon the impact of reading upon my mental health – nothing too detailed, but just worth pointing out in advance. I’ll talk about why I can’t – or at least I choose not to – review absolutely everything I read, why I don’t just read fewer books, and the different ways I approach reading depending on whether I’m planning on reviewing or not. I’m not trying to make any grand points with this, and really I’m just thinking out loud…but hopefully it might be of interest to a few of you, especially those of you who also write book reviews, or create any kind of regular content.

Why not review everything?

That’s a fair question. The simplest answer is that I LOVE reading and want to read as much as possible, but there simply isn’t time to review every book that I read. Consulting my handy Goodreads Reading Challenges, I’ve gone from reading 60 books in 2014 (the year I started Track of Words) to reading 122 in 2020 (and counting – it’s only the 9th December as I write this). I suppose in theory it’s possible to review 100+ books over the course of a year, but writing reviews usually takes me ages, and I need to fit them in around short story reviews, author interviews, blog articles and so on…not to mention real life outside of Track of Words!

My first ever post on Track of Words was, in fact, a review of Knightley & Son by Rohan Gavin – a novel for younger readers

So there’s the question of time, but also of genre. There are so many interesting genres out there to read within, but I think it’s important to largely keep Track of Words focused on science fiction, fantasy and horror – that’s the identity of ToW, and hopefully what people associate with the site. If you take a careful look through some of the older posts on the site you’ll find reviews for books about cats, about Egyptian mummies, about religion, poetry and even the history of Pixar, all from when I was reviewing absolutely everything. All of that is cool, but a bit off-brand, so for a few years now I’ve concentrated on just reviewing SFF. I’m still reading books from outside of those genres, but I’m not reviewing them – or if I am, I’m keeping to just a few words on Goodreads.

Why not just read less?

Well…like I said, I really love reading – and I imagine a lot of people reading this article will feel the same way! Since I started Track of Words, there have been times when I’ve wanted to read something but chosen not to, for fear of ending up with an insurmountable backlog of reviews to write. It’s not so bad having a couple of reviews waiting to be written, but any more than that and it starts weighing on me a bit much. I like to keep busy with ToW, but I’ve learned to be wary of putting myself under too much pressure to get content written – it’s just not a good idea. So under those circumstances I have ended up reading less…

At the same time though, I’m never really happy when I feel like I can’t or shouldn’t read. Without going into too much detail, I genuinely believe that reading is good for my mental health, while any time I find myself not having a book on the go, or not having time to read, I can almost always sense my mental health deteriorating. It took me a while to figure that out, but now I’ve recognised it, I can act accordingly. These days, rather than thinking “I shouldn’t pick up a new book because I’ve got a backlog of reviews to write”, I try to either sit down and make the time to clear that backlog, or pick up a book to read just for pleasure.

What’s the difference between reading for review and reading for fun?

At the risk of stating the obvious, it basically boils down to how much attention is required. That’s another reason why sometimes I’ll decide to read something purely for fun, even if it’s a book that I would otherwise have reviewed for the site – there are times when I’m tired, or fed up, or simply not in the mood to think, and all I want to do is switch my brain off, enjoy a good story and not worry about paying really close attention! After all, reading should be enjoyable, right? I’m not for a minute suggesting that reading for review isn’t enjoyable…but it requires effort and concentration over and above that needed simply to follow the story.

When I say it requires effort and concentration, what I mean is that as I’m reading I’m always on the lookout for themes, for interesting ideas, for elements that work (for me) or don’t work – that could be dialogue, prose style, chapter length, story structure…all sorts of things. I’m not saying that I always think as critically or analytically as I could (I do sometimes just get carried away by a really entertaining book), but I try to pick up on as many of these potential talking points as I can. Sometimes I’ll just make a note of them to remind me later on (I go through lots of little sticky notes!), and sometimes I’ll keep them in mind as I’m reading, to see how they play out as the book progresses.

All the sticky notes…

That’s a very quick, rough idea of what I’m talking about, but hopefully you get the picture. It’s important to try and find a balance between thinking analytically and just enjoying what I’m reading, but 99% of the time I think reading in this way is really enjoyable. If, like me, you’re naturally a fast reader, then slowing down even a tiny bit can be a real benefit, as it gives you the time and headspace to pick up on things that might otherwise pass you by. We’re certainly not talking the same level of analysis as studying a book for an English Lit course, but whether you’re interested in writing book reviews or just keen to get the most out of what you read, trying to think analytically can be really rewarding.

However…life’s all about variety, right? For all that I advocate reading analytically, there’s lots to be said for reading purely for the joy of it. Sometimes it’s nice to just switch your brain off, to just kick back and simply enjoy a great story. Other times it’s interesting to try something a bit different to normal, or to revisit an old favourite that you’ve read before and catch up with old friends among the characters. This might all sound incredibly obvious, but as someone who has spent a LOT of time writing book reviews over the last few years, I’ve had to remind myself of just how valuable it is to not just make a point of reading for fun, but also not feel guilty about doing so.

So comparing 2014 when I read and reviewed 60 books with 2020 during which I’ve read 120+, what’s interesting is that while I’ve reviewed a few more this year (70 so far), I’ve read LOADS more. Roughly speaking, the books I’ve been choosing to read purely for pleasure have been crime and thrillers, YA fiction, books I’m revisiting (many of which I’ve tackled in audio, which has been fantastic!), a few that I picked up just because they looked fun, and a handful that I read during moments when I simply wasn’t in the mood for writing. I’ve not gone wild or branched out all that much, but reading so many without the pressure of thinking about reviews has felt great. Perhaps it’s even helped to give me the headspace to write those extra few reviews.

I’ve particularly loved revisiting a couple of my favourite series as audiobooks of late

I guess this whole post is a (long-winded, perhaps) way of reminding you as a reader of Track of Words, and myself as the writer/curator of the site, that I do this for fun. I keep using that word, but it’s an important one! I do this because I think reading is awesome, and I love talking about great books – that’s what all book bloggers love, right? My tastes might change, and likewise the books I choose to read – only 47 of the 122 this year have been Warhammer books, for example (compared to 65 out of 88 in 2018) – but as long as I’m enjoying what I’m reading then I’ll keep writing reviews, and keep working on Track of Words.

After all, reading should be fun – and therefore my opinion is that talking about books should be fun too. Maybe that’s why I always look for the positives in what I read, rather than emphasising the negatives. You won’t find many outright negative reviews on Track of Words (there are a few, if you look carefully – but I’m not telling you which ones), but instead you’ll find lots of positivity!

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If you’ve got any thoughts, comments or questions about this topic – whether you’re a reader, writer, fellow book blogger/reviewer or anything else – I’d love to hear from you. Let me know in the comments below or find me over on Twitter.

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