Top Ten Tuesday is brought to your screen courtesy of The Broke and the Bookish. Every week there’s a different theme. It’s a great chance to just get to know other bloggers, and sometimes share cool things. This week’s topic is Bookworm Delights. So here are my….
Top Ten Things That Make Bookworms Happy
- Turning someone on to reading. This is unbelievably rewarding. One of my co-workers was in her fifties and no one had ever made an attempt to introduce her to reading for fun. I turned her on to it, and every day when I see her with her nose buried in a book, I go all mushy with happiness on the inside. It’s never too late to introduce someone to reading. You just have to be patient and bounce around genres to find something they like.
Image Credit: Robomommy.deviantart.comBedtime
- Stories with your Bookworm Mini-Me. There is almost nothing so awesome as laying in bed beside your Bookworm Mini-Me as you share story-time together. The look in their eyes when they’re fully engaged in what you’re reading, the shared giggles over silly parts, the mutual cheering when something good happens. A good book (Miss L and I absolutely recommend House of Robots: Robots Go Wild as a prime example) doesn’t only give you a good experience in the moment, but when it also associates something positive with that book, and every time you or your child pick it up in the future, a smile will grace your lips and light your eyes.
- Worshipping in the Bookworm’s Holiest of Holies. I made an off-the-cuff remark a while back that libraries were like churches for BookWorms. You’re expected to speak quietly, look at fiction, and if you do socialize, you’re sharing rapturous experiences with like-minded people. Tongue removed from cheek, I actually think that’s fairly accurate. Our Sunday library trips in the Sci-Fi & Scary household are treated with all the reverence that church trips are for religious people. We talk about books on the way there, we fiddle around for at least an hour, generally, making sure we’ve picked out the perfect books to take home, we talk books with other people, and then we gather up our goodies and talk books on the way home. It always lifts our spirits, and gives us time well-spent together.
- When a book makes a bad day fade away. Sometimes when I’m having a horrible day, I head straight for a specific book as soon as I can. I grab it, achieve some level of comfortably undressed, curl up with it and immerse myself in a happy ending. Yes, even lovers of science-fiction and horror need happy endings sometimes.
- Bookworm B*tch Sessions. You know what I’m talking about. When you and another bookworm get together just to gripe about a certain book or author. There’s just something fun about doing that. You’re both well aware of the fact that you’re steaming mad over something fictional, and yet you can go on full on rants that almost inevitably end in laughter as you realize how ridiculous you’re being.
- Fanfiction. Fan. Fiction. Fanfiction is an awesome thing, and I seriously think one of the best things J.K. Rowling ever did was allow people to play in her sandbox. Maybe you like to write, but just aren’t comfortable creating your own worlds. Maybe you just get so bloody mad at how something went that you want to change it. Regardless, fanfics can be incredibly rewarding or incredibly disturbing but it’s always fun or even therapeutic. (There was this one with Dobby, and Hagrid…and dear god that should have never seen the light of day. Who would write something like that?!)
Image Credit: Wikimedia
- Being wrong about how a book ends. I think most Bookworms can attest to the fact that after you’ve read a ton of books, it gets to the point where endings rarely surprise you. So when I’m wrong about how a book ends, it generally has me jumping up and down in sheer excitement. The author managed to do the unexpected, and that is almost always completely awesome! Even if I don’t agree with how the author ended the book, the fact that I didn’t predict the ending is enough to make me bounce off the walls in delight.
- Writing book reviews, and having people actually pay attention to them. When I started this site, I had no idea it would be something I’ve invested as much time in as I have, but I absolutely love it, and love talking with people about the books I’ve reviewed. Whether they agree or disagree with what I’ve written.
- Arguing over book to movie adaptations. It’s just fun. Whether you liked it or didn’t like it, you can almost always find someone with the opposite viewpoint. As soon as you do, it’s a case of “Let the debate begin!” I love it!
- Bookish Bubble Baths. An almost scalding-hot bubble bath, a beer as cold as the water is hot, music in the background, and a book in your hands. What could be better?
So, talk to me! What are YOUR BookWorm delights?
Image Credit: Wikimedia
YES to fanfiction. Such a bookworm delight that helped me get through years of book related hangovers.
I still maintain I like some of the Harry Potter fanfiction better than a few of the actual books themselves. LOL.
You’re not wrong, haha
Oh my – YES! Only bookworms can truly vent about fictional topics in the right way. Other people simply don’t get it.
Right?! They just look at you like “Wha…huh?”
Yes, they simply don’t get that fictional problems can be just as stressful or worth gossiping about as “real” ones.
Hi Lilyn, I just found your blog.
6. – ‘Fanfiction’
I like your J.K. Rowling comment. It reminds me of Sherlock Holmes and the Conan Doyle estate. His family has tried to control {enrich themselves} by attempting to maintain copyright of his material. The courts finally told them to give it a rest. I recently read that an actor of Doyle’s time, William Gillette, was famous for his portrayal of Holmes. He is the person responsible for the famous big curved pipe. He could smoke it on stage without obscuring his face. He wanted to do a play in which Holmes gets married. He contacted Doyle to ask his permission. Doyle replied that he may marry, or even kill him off. He was happy that his character inspired people to embellish the character.
I didn’t know that about Doyle. That’s really cool! Sucks about his money-grubbing family though. Welcome to my blog, hope you enjoy it!
Love your list!! #1 is awesome, completely agree, though I’ve rarely been successful at this. #4 is basically how I make it through the school year, books = my version of therapy and I absolutely need to try #10 now! 🙂
Do you have one particular book you go for for #4?
My ‘comfort reads’ have traditionally been historical mysteries (I have some series I love, like the Shardlake series set in Tudor England). BUT I have been diversifying recently and have been getting a lot more into fantasy/sci-fi. Gaiman is my absolute favorite. But that’s pretty cliche – right now I’m loving the Three-Body-Problem trilogy (well the first one was incredible, the second, a bit less so) – and the third is slatted to be published in August of this year! Very excited 🙂
I just can’t get into Gaiman.
Oddly enough, for the fact that I read almost solely sci-fi and horror, all my ‘comfort’ reads are, uhm… *shifty* Nora Roberts Paranormal Romances or Dara Joy Fantasy Romances. *ducks head* The squishy makes me happy.
I agree, there’s something special about turning someone onto reading. I know a lot of non-readers, heck I’m married to one, so getting them to read even a single book makes my day.
Ooof, I can’t imagine being with a non-reader! LOL
I never got into fanfiction. Just not my cup of tea. But I love having bitch sessions and I love talking book to movie adaptations!! Great list!!
I want to find a Jurassic Park fan to argue over the adaptation with one day. It is one of the few cases where I absolutely ADORED the adaptation…….and couldn’t stand the book.
It was years and years and years ago when I read Jurassic Park, but I remember enjoying it. I liked the movie, too. Maybe I will go back and re-read / re-watch them to see if I can spot any flaws. 😉
It’s not necessarily flaws – it’s just that it’s so different in a lot of ways. IE: Book Hammond? Toe-rag!! Movie Hammond? Loveable coot that eventually comes to his senses. That hint of romance between Sadler and Grant? TOTALLY absent in the books, etc.
Though, to be clear – I’m only a huge fan of the 1st movie. The rest of them…meh.
I find #8 to be especially true. I don’t post my reviews on my blog, only on GoodReads. Most of them go completely unnoticed and, though I don’t mind, when someone likes one of my reviews every once in a while, it makes me so happy!
Great list! 🙂
Thanks!
Oh I love your list! I agree with all of them so much, but especially #1: if I can find that one book that will open someone up to realizing how much fun reading can be, I’m so happy.
Thanks for visiting my TTT!
Hahaha. “Worshipping in the Bookworm’s Holiest of Holies.” I guess I do that every day because I work in a library!
Ooh yes
This is a great list! Especially 3 and 4 . . . and 5, and 9, and 10. They’re all great.
Glad you enjoyed it. I tried to think of the nontypical things. 🙂
Talking about books–or arguing about books–is almost always fun, whether online or in person. It’s nice to connect with people who like the things you like. 😀
I have to find people to argue with online as practically only 3 people I know read. Lol.
Ohh, talking about books is THE BEST, I love bookish people, we can have the best conversations I think. And making someone read, and love reading, is honestly one of the best feelings ever 🙂 Great list!
Agree with your list! I just decided to start with TTT and today was my first post.
https://lifeandmymusings.wordpress.com/2016/04/26/top-ten-tuesday-bookish-delights/