So the other day I was going through my emails, and one from Oprah caught my eye. “What’s your reading personality?” the email asked. “Do you love to read, but aren’t sure what to pick up next? Answer these 10 questions to find out what type of reader you are and which books we predict you’ll love,” it went on to say.
Now I have such a hard time taking book recommendations (I was actually really “meh” about The Story of Edgar Sawtelle even), so I was interested to see what kind of reader I was. TELL ME, OPRAH, OH WISE ONE. Even if you were way off with Sawtelle.
I answered the questions, noticed a trend, and was presented with this:
And I have to say, it’s pretty spot on. I have read those authors, and I will read just about anything, if I’ve fallen in love with the way the author writes. If the way the words are put together are just so. I fucking LOVE an unlucky hero, if shit goes bad, and if the ending is bleak or unexpected.
I’ll never forget feeling like I was slapped when I was reading Gone With the Wind and came across the sentence “… for he was foppishly groomed, the clothes of a dandy on a body that was powerful and latently dangerous in its lazy grace.” A body that was powerful and latently dangerous in its lazy grace? Now that’s an effective description! Rhett Butler sounded exactly like a dude I’d want to pash (and yes, I’d like to be kissed, and often, by him because he knows how). I can get through an epic of a book with a heroine I’d likely punch if she ever opened her petulant mouth anywhere NEAR me, because of writing like this. Especially when the ending isn’t a happy one.
Now I want to know: do you love a happy ending in books? What’s your reading personality? Take the test and tell me!
Jo says
Your Result:
The Lionize
You bring an element of fiction to the way you see the world and the way you see yourself. To you, life is an adventurous novel that you create and change, day by day, taking inspiration for your own path from the actions and journeys of brave, determined people you know, or read about. The Goldfinch will intrigue you as much as A House for Mister Biswas; and for you, the slums of Behind the Beautiful Forevers or a biography of Thomas Jefferson will hold as much allure as the towers of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series. For you, a book is a passport to another place and time. Whether you travel much in your real life, you like books that transport you to terra incognita, like Land of Love and Drowning or Absurdistan. In your dreams Cloud Atlas is your diary. Nonfiction books hold your interest when they describe personalities and situations that demonstrate the mutability and drama you crave. You likely harbor a passion for classic children’s literature, too—that’s the Lionizer’s wading pool.
Veggie Mama says
Oh nice one!
Lilybett and Boy says
Ooh, Kate Atkinson’s Life Afrer Life was pretty good – but I’m a Lionizer too. I used to be a consumer of words from all directions but in the last few years I’ve just stripped everything away until it’s mostly awesome stories rather than exercises in word usage. It’s a rare thing for me to pick up a book that doesn’t have the promise of a satisfying ending.
Veggie Mama says
I never read reviews so I have no idea what the ending will hold – which now sounds like waaaaay too much risk haha.
Katherine M says
Apparently I’m all about the happy ending – I didn’t realise I was so much of a Starry Eyed Romantic! The Luminaries captivated me this year.
Veggie Mama says
Naw! Do you see a pattern now?
Katherine M says
Had a look at my bookshelves…the pattern was fairly evident. But also saw a LOT of mystery novels.
Veggie Mama says
I have plenty of those too! I wanted to be a detective as a kid 🙂
Katherine M says
If you grew up on Enid Blyton’s Famous Five, Secret Seven and Five
Find-outers and Dog, I can relate to wanting to sniff out mysteries as a
kid – usually where there weren’t any!
Marie Biswell says
So, it turns out I’m The Endurance Reader – which is actually true – not that I’d ever thought about it before. Yes, I read Crime and Punishment, yes I have War and Peace open (been trying to read that for about 6yrs now). and… yes, I read all the Twilight books & Clan of the Cave Bear books & currently Cross Stitch (Outlander) books… so what is next!??
The Endurance Reader
Like a long-distance runner, you have powers of endurance and you don’t mind tackling epics or long sagas that cover varied terrain and multiple generations. Covering so much ground appeals to you because you enjoy the sensation of slowly compassing the distance you cross, enfolding the landscape into yourself. Others may despair of finishing Karl Ove Knausgaard’s epic My Struggle series, but you relish every moment. If you had three months to spend on a reading holiday, you would take Moby Dick, or Anthony Powell’s four-volume A Dance to the Music of Time, or Tolstoy’s War and Peace, Thomas Mann’s Buddenbrooks, George Eliot’s Middlemarch, Philipp Meyer’s The Son or all of Proust’s In Search of Lost Time. You derive satisfaction from the achievement of completing the journey.
Veggie Mama says
Oh god, Moby Dick – my nemesis! And it’s not even long!
I always joke that if I could take one book to a desert island, it would be War and Peace. The only time I’d HAVE time to read it all!
Lila Wolff says
I am also the aesthete which doesn’t surprise me.
Veggie Mama says
That doesn’t surprise me either!
Lila Wolff says
Ps sent your seeds today, so knowing the mail here you should get them sometime in January!
Kirsty Splatt says
I’m an endurance reader. That is so true! And I’ve not finished just 1 book in the past 10 years because it was killing me with boredom. I believe in perseverance.
Veggie Mama says
haha I am way too quick to abandon a book these days. I always think life’s too short 🙂
flyingdrunkenmonkey says
The Lionizer. Almost exactly perfect.
Veggie Mama says
Nice one!
Keri Krieger says
Apparently I’m a starry eyed romantic… a lot of people will find that very entertaining! I think it had something to do with admitting I read the twilight series… and yes as a child I devoured little women, pride and prejudice et all… fun 🙂
Veggie Mama says
I still love those books!
Danica Burrows says
Not sure about this… the quiz didn’t really cover my reading habits at all…
Veggie Mama says
BUT OPRAH NEVER LIES
Danica Burrows says
Does this mean I am wrong?… oh dear. Stress
Hugzilla says
Lioniser here but my reading habits have changed a lot since I gave birth to large chunks of my conceptual brain. Twice.
Veggie Mama says
Wut yoo say?
MotherDownUnder says
I am a Lionizer too.
But I now read for completely different reasons than I used to…and it takes me about one year to finish a book.
Veggie Mama says
I have been so impressed with my effort this year, I tried really hard to finish books. I got through a few! More than I expected. You’ll have to start getting audiobooks now with your hands about to be super-full, haha x
Reannon @shewhorambles says
Starry Eyed Romantic apparently!
Semi true but not completely. I love LOVE but not soppy, bodice ripping crap.
GWTW is one of my all time faves too. I wanted to slap Scarlett all the way through!
Veggie Mama says
Oh that’s really cool! I am not a romance type. I prefer death haha
Sonia@ LIfe Love and Hiccups says
Apparently I am a starry eye romantic. Gagggg xx
Veggie Mama says
haha yeah I couldn’t handle that!