Read Around the Rainbow | This or That

It’s Read Around the Rainbow time, and this month, we thought we’d do a quick little This or That readers’ edition post. So let’s dive in, shall we??

LGBT self-discovery story vs. they’ve always known (or have already figured out) they fall under the rainbow umbrella

I am fully in the Already-Know camp. I want my characters to be adults, as in real adults, not some twenty-two-year-old kid running around like a headless chicken LOL. I want them to know themselves, and by that I don’t mean they have to be out, you can be in the closet and still be fully aware of who you are, but I want to be able to understand my characters, and I think I was born middle-aged 😆

No spice vs. all about the spice  

I guess it would be to cheat to say somewhere in between. If I had to choose (which, yeah, I know that’s what we’re doing today) I’d go with no spice. I want plot. I want character development. I want to get to know them as individuals. I don’t care about their dick size.

Speculative fiction vs. contemporary & historical   

Speculative! It’s what I write, and it’s what I read, with a few exceptions.

Pure romance vs. there’s a romantic subplot to the story  

Romance as a subplot. There are some pure romance books I enjoy, no doubt about it, but please give me a mystery, a monster to defeat, an enemy to outrun, or something.

E-reader/audiobook vs. physical book  

I read on my phone. Mostly ebooks, but lately I’ve listened to a few audios. I still vastly prefer ebooks, but there is no denying housework is a bit more fun with a book in my ears. I only pick up a physical book if it’s a garden book.

Read indoors vs. read outdoors  

Indoors! I live in Småland. If there isn’t snow outside, you’ll get eaten by gnats, so yeah, indoors.

Short book vs. long book  

Sometimes, I long for a lengthy book, to really get sucked into the world I’m reading about and digging deep into the characters, but for the most part, I prefer short books. And a short story done well is way more powerful than a novel.

1st person vs. 3rd person

3rd! There are books written in 1st person that I love, but I DNF a lot of books simply because they’re 1st person. I’m sure they’re good, but I simply don’t have the energy. I open the first page, skim it, close the book, and find another. An unpopular opinion, I know.

Series vs. Standalone  

Standalone. There are series I love, many series I love, but standalones are magical. And I’m the queen of reading the first book in a series and then never continuing on to the second.

Tearjerker vs. a laugh a minute 

This depends on what I’m in the mood for. I have a hard time picking. A laugh a minute, perhaps? If I’m in the mood to laugh…

Background music vs. silence

I use music to drown out the rest of the noise in my house. I don’t really listen to it; it just drowns out the rest.

You can only read new books forevermore vs. you can only reread books you’ve previously read forevermore  

Had someone asked me this question five years ago, I’d have gone with new books, but my brain has broken since then. Now I often reread old books simply because I don’t have the energy to take in something new. And there are so many good books! Many new books are awesome, but when you reread something, you know what you’re getting, and if you know what you’re in the mood for, you know which one to pick. So, yeah, I’ll only reread books I’ve previously read if I’m forced to pick 😊

Check out what the others have to say!

Nell Iris

Ellie Thomas

K.L. Noone

Addison Albright