The world isn't the same anymore; and neither are we. As the timeline has become sharply demarcated between BC (Before Covid) and after, we as individuals have evolved in more ways than one. The pandemic has really metamorphosed our lifestyles ( and they are still persisting). While frantic cleaning habits are a great outcome of the pandemic; the dependence on screens is not much of a boon. While again the world can be divided into pre and post social media, the pandemic has played a horrific role in making us glued to the screens. And one of the biggest downsides of that easy form of entertainment (read dopamine rush) is dwindling in the reading of books. Scrolling through reels continuously is way easier than going through the pages of a book. Even I am guilty as well. With workload and household chores increasing day by day, it's easier for me to spend hours on IG, rather than reading a book. Also, my job revolves around Instagram and hence it's a part of my "job" to scroll; not mindlessly but continuously nonetheless for the sake of inspiration and research. 

If this can happen to a veteran bibliophile like me 😛, I wonder what has happened to the budding ones. The only ones that I have diligently read in the past couple of years are the ones I had been sent for review purposes, Well last year I made a promise to myself to read and review as many books possible. And this year, I plan to read at least one book every month. Earlier what used to be my sole source of

Anyways I have been a really early reader (my mom had told me) and these are are the types of books I have always loved reading.

1. Short Stories: I started my reading journey (at the age of four) partly reading, partly listening with short stories. This is a great genre for starters, and of course for people who lack focus yet want to read. I continue to love short stories and the last two books I read were fantastic.

I had never been a comic girlie, although I have devoured every book of Tintin (illustrated stories genre). I never had a subscription growing up but I used to read them in the club and school library.

2. Novels: After I reached class three, my mom (a voracious reader) introduced me to novels. My first ever novel was Tom Sawyer (duh) by Mark Twain and novels remain my favourite genre till date. The details, the storyline, oh I love the classics and contemporary ones as well!

3. Detective stories: My mom gifted me an unabridged version of the four main adventures of Sherlock Holmes when I was ten. I was unable to understand the language (of course) and the font too was not friendly. It sat proudly on our bookshelf for years before I had the courage to devour it. I then discovered Nancy Drew in my school library and then there was no looking back! I read every single one in the library and started buying the new ones that came out. Then I started with Hardy Boys and it was the same too. I read every single one in the library and what my friends owned.

Then I proceeded to reading Agatha Christie and got hooked to Hercule Poirot. This genre remains my absolute favourite till date. I have devoured all the classics in this category and love the contemporary ones as well.

4. Lifestyle magazines: Can magazines be counted in the book category? Well I have always been attracted to publications like Homes and Gardens, Arch Digest etc since I was really tiny. I had been cutting the pretty pictures of homes and pasting them into files and albums, whenever I got my hands on them. That has matured into Pinterest boards ,two decades after. I love love love reading how to redecorate and organizing and cleaning. I am a pure homebody at heart and nothing makes me happier than cleaning, organizing and redecorating!

5. Non Fiction: This category is really vast and contains a plethora of subcategories from biographies and self help, educational and devotional and the list is literally endless. While I have bought many self help and self improvement books, I have also failed to go even half past them. They seem to be even more daunting than my medical books!

However this genre contains three of my absolute favourite categories to own, read and flip through: Interiors, Travel and cookbooks. I love having the coffee table version of these books. I take care of them like my babies ( read no soiled fingers) and the ones I own are przed possessions of mine. I don't have any coffee table version of cookbooks ( they are really expensive) and I would love anyone to gift them to me 😀 

A genre that has never fascinated me: Romance. I had never been a Mills and Boons reader; which used to be a favourite amongst my peers. Neither I have been interested in sleazy dramas like Sidney Sheldon and all. Now that I review books which are sent to me, I might stumble across romance stories from time to time, but they never have been a favourite of mine.

What are your favourite genres to read? Are you a paperback or Kindle person? Let me know in the comments!

This blog post is part of the blog challenge ‘BookishCafeBloghop2024’ hosted by  Rakhi Jayashankar and Samata Dey Bose