My Reading Life : Reality and Bookstagram

I was an avid reader as a child. Then I had this whole Mills and Boons phase when I was in college. And then there was this huge decade long gap when my reading was restricted to work emails and text messages.

Fast forward to 2016 when I became a mom and had a lot of ‘sitting time’. And when Facebook was on the rise for me too. I re-discovered my joy of reading, which now, five years later has turned into a very healthy obsession, I would say. However, now I also have a very active online reading life, which is also called ‘Bookstagram’.

I posted the picture above this morning on my Instagram/Bookstagram account with a question – what do you see when you look at this picture? Do you see a reader who was caught unawares on the shutterbug, or do you see a poser? 😉 I’d like to read your thoughts in the comment sections on that too.

Interestingly, most of my reader friends were able to guess the reality behind this picture. Looks like we’re all in the same boat 😀 So, here are a few things that are not quite as they seem to be as per my social media bookstagram account 😉 😀

First and foremost, if you ever see a picture of me reading a book on social media, then yes, you’re right – I have either had that picture taken using my phone’s timer option, or asked my five year old to click a dozen pictures before I get to one that looks decent enough to be posted, or I have cornered my husband into taking one in order to show his support for his wife’s reading endeavour, or I have caught an unsuspecting stranger to take a picture of me with the book as the prop. The last one usually never happens, but one can dream right?

If you think my ‘To-Read’ list and ‘Books-I’m-Supposed-To-Have-Read-This-Month-As-Per-Plan’ are all under control from my Bookstagram feed and that is making you hyperventilate about your own hot mess of a reading life, then let me break the truth for you here and make you feel better. I am a hot mess of a reader myself. I’m constantly changing my TBR at any given point in time and trying to read books in parallel and eventually end up reading nothing as per plan. But I guess that’s fun in a way?

My Bookstagram book mail posts scream that I support Independent stores and only buy books from them. Which is true, thank goodness, 90% of the times. But sometimes, I confess, I have given in and bought books from Amazon because I couldn’t wait or because a well meaning friend have given me an Amazon Gift Card (shrugs!). I know, I have sinned..

I maintain my book log in almost five different places – I have a notebook where I note down initial thoughts, then I update my reviews and currently reading status on Goodreads and Storygraph, then I add a video of random ramblings about the book I read on Instagram stories and finally I post a pretty picture of the book with my review. And yet, when I’m on a group discussion with my other bookish or non bookish friends and they ask me what I read recently or a book recommendation on a certain subject, I’m tongue tied. It is much later in the night, that the answers come rushing to me like the Randha Falls in Maharashtra. Sighhh..

My book hoarding habit is fuelled by Bookstagram. I see all those beautiful, aesthetic pictures by bookstagrammers and then the independent book sellers post pictures of beautiful covers of upcoming releases from my favorite authors or new authors to check out and I’m sold. Take my money, book capitalism!!

I have a few more confessions to make, but I’m not going to let all my secrets out of Pandora’s box now am I? Hehehe..How about you? Any bookish confessions you’d like to make in the comments about the truth about your Bookstagram/Online Reading Life? Go ahead, I won’t judge 😉