Greetings Everyone!
Guess what? I am back with the second edition of ‘Meet The Reader’!
In this series, I’ll interview a book blogger I found over at Instagram whom I admire and love a lot. I want to find out about the people, the readers who share their love for books and spread its good message.
Back in August, I had the pleasure of having Gare from @gareindeedreads over here. You can read my chat with him here.
And today, to honour my blog, I have my second guest
Mary from @reading.between.wines
Mary is one of the sweetest, genuine and fun person I have met on Bookstagram. She is the loveliest person to spend hours chatting with. Her posts are as good looking as your favourite celebrity crush and her Insta-Stories are hilarious. #soulsisters I’m so blessed to have such a lovely friend on the other side of the globe.
You are a gem, Mary!
Without further ado, let’s get into Meet The Reader chat with Mary:
Rubina Reads: For starters, tell us about yourself and how you became a reader?
Mary: I got through my childhood by doing a lot of reading and I read a lot of Nancy Drew (which was my favorite and still is), The Babysitter’s Club, Trixie Belden, and The Boxcar Children. I distinctly remember going to bag sales at a specific thrift store by our house and loading my bag down with mostly books. I had a large chunk of time after I was older where I stopped reading basically anything except magazines and was watching a lot of TV. That all changed in 2017 when I started using my Goodreads more and found Bookstagram. They really helped me reignite my love of reading, and I was able to read 105 books last year; plus I’ve read more this year! I hope to just keep reading more from here on out.
RR: What do you look for in a book?
Mary: I really don’t look for anything super specific in a book. Sometimes I will even base selection on the cover alone! But as long as something about the synopsis interests me, I will usually give it a shot and try to go in open-minded.
RR: What’s the advantage and disadvantage of being a reader?
Mary: I think the biggest advantage of being a reader is getting to lose yourself in a story and forget about your own life for a while. This was very helpful to me growing up and to this day is still my favorite part about reading. I love being able to be transported to different times and places while I am sitting still in my living room or the coffee shop. I guess the disadvantage would be that sometimes certain books can get too over-hyped. I’ve seen books with lots of press and amazing reviews then been disappointed by them.
RR: How do you squeeze in reading in your day-to-day life?
Mary: I always have a physical book AND my Kindle in my purse at all times and will squeeze reading in whenever I can, such as if I’m eating lunch out or waiting for an appointment. I don’t set reading goals per day or week; I just try to read when I can, and I don’t stress if I don’t have time since reading is supposed to be fun and not a chore!
RR: How did you come about starting an Instagram account dedicated to books, aka The Mighty Bookstagram?
Mary: This is a good question that I honestly can’t even remember the answer to! I had a workout account that I posted on pretty regularly and I think I started seeing book accounts popping up when I was looking on Instagram at other accounts. Apparently, it knew what I needed at that moment because I ended up quitting my fitness account and decided to dedicate an account to reading which in turn helped me read more.
RR: What do you imagine for the Future of Books and Reading?
Mary: I think that with the creation of Bookstagram and with the help of other social media lately it is really helping to get more books and authors noticed than they maybe were before. I think Bookstagram will continue to grow at a rapid pace which will also inspire the creation of more blogs dedicated to reading. This will help keep the fire alive for books and reading and hopefully create even move love for both!
RR: What advice would you give to aspiring readers?
Mary: You have to do what works for you. If you only want to read middle grade books – read them! If you only want to read on the weekends – do that! I think it is important to stay true to yourself and not put pressure on yourself when it comes to reading. There is no right or wrong.
RR: What are you currently reading?
Mary: I’m actually in the middle of quite a few books! I just finished The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton, but I’m also reading Quietus by Vivian Schilling, The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton, Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgarteners by Gretchen Anthony, Daisy in Chains by Sharon J. Bolton, AND The Sisters by Kate Forster.
RR: Anything new that caught your eye?
Mary: My TBR is a mile long right now, but I’m really looking forward to reading The Whispered Word by Ellery Adams – it is the second book in a series and I absolutely loved the first one. I’m also really looking forward to the new Jennifer McMahon (Uninvited) that comes out in April, Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center, and An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen.
RR: Last question – We readers can never have one favourite book, so tell us your Top 5.
Mary: I don’t think I even have a top 5 out of all the books I have read, it is just really hard to only pick a few. But a few of my top recommendations (books that I loved) to people would be:
- The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne
- Need to Know by Karen Cleveland
- Beartown by Fredrik Backman
- The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter
- The Way of Beauty by Camille Di Maio
Thank you Mary, for accepting my invitation and replying to my questions! I pray that you get a million people to love and appreciate you over at Instagram and in your life!
You all can follow Mary over at Instagram, Goodreads, and her blog.