{"id":6845,"date":"2022-08-04T02:39:48","date_gmt":"2022-08-04T02:39:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/?p=6845"},"modified":"2022-06-03T14:58:12","modified_gmt":"2022-06-03T14:58:12","slug":"how-we-read-destresss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/how-we-read-destresss\/","title":{"rendered":"How We Read: De-Stressing"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Books We Read Blog is conducting a series of interviews with contributors and friends of the blog to get a snapshot of our reading habits<\/a>: the things we like to read, the circumstances in which we read, and more.<\/p>\n

Harmony Birch, MI 2022, was a SC&I Graduate Assistant and Summer Tales\/Books We Read member in 2021. Her video related to Julie Otsuka\u2019s Diem Perdidi<\/a> was the winner of the Summer Tales 2021 Creative Contest. She also worked on projects at the Douglass Library. Read all posts by Harmony Birch<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>What kinds of books do you like to read?
\n<\/strong>I love fantasy books, but I also read a lot of contemporary literature. Lately, I’ve been into romance. I also read a lot of YA books to stay abreast of current trends.<\/p>\n

Do you have format preferences (print, ebook, audiobook, abridged, original language\/translated, etc.)?
\n<\/strong>I primarily read via audiobook. It makes reading a lot more accessible and less time-consuming and I love that I can multitask while reading. I prefer reading print books when I’m reading complex worlds or more dense books and enjoy ebooks when I’m reading nonfiction.<\/p>\n

How do you find new books to read?
\n<\/strong>I browse bookstores and take pictures of interesting books, bookstagram<\/a> and #booktok<\/a>, Book Riot<\/a>, press agent emails, and Scribd<\/a> audiobook recommendations.<\/p>\n

Where and when do you read? Outdoors or indoors? At home or out and about? Mornings, evenings, or just before bed?
\n<\/strong>I listen to audiobooks while running, cleaning, doing boring work tasks like cataloging, commuting, and right before bed. I read with my eyes on commutes and outside on my stoop with my morning coffee.<\/p>\n

Do you use any libraries or library resources for non-required reading?
\n<\/strong>All the time. I use my local libraries frequently for audiobooks and occasionally a print book. I use the Rutgers libraries all the time for independent research. Whether it’s to prove a point or win an argument with a family member, to find research for my friends for their work or school, or to find scholarly work for my podcast. I also occasionally need a book that’s not immediately accessible via my public libraries and often Rutgers will have a digital copy for me.<\/p>\n

What do you get out of your non-required reading?
\n<\/strong>I think most it de-stresses me, especially when I read with my eyes. My audiobooks generally help me concentrate or complete boring tasks or distract me but reading with my eyes is a form of self-care.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>What are you currently reading, or what have you read and enjoyed most recently?
\n<\/strong>Currently I’m reading The Fate of Stars: A Fantasy Lesbian Romance<\/em><\/a>. I’m still early on but I think it’s going to be spicy. The last book I really enjoyed was The Inheritance of Orqu\u00eddea Divina <\/em><\/a>by Zoraida C\u00f3rdova. It has Practical Magic<\/em>, the movie, vibes but with more surrealism and depth.<\/p>\n

Recommend a book in one sentence that you think everyone should read:
\n<\/strong>You Are Here A Field Guide for Navigating Polarized Speech, Conspiracy Theories, and Our Polluted Media Landscape<\/em><\/a> by Whitney Phillips and Ryan M. Milner. What if we took a collectivist approach to information literacy?<\/p>\n

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