Skip to main content

What do the books you read say about you?

I’m currently reading September by Rosamund Pilcher, There but for the by Ali Smith, and The Summer Before the Dark by Doris Lessing.

All books by women, about women. All of them well-known, one way or the other.

I’ve never really thought about what my reading says about me– but I guess if someone were to judge me by the books I’m reading this week, they’d call me very focused on women’s issues.

What book/s are you reading this week? Do they say anything about you? If so, what?

Damyanti Biswas

Damyanti Biswas is the author of You Beneath Your Skin and numerous short stories that have been published in magazines and anthologies in the US, the UK, and Asia. She has been shortlisted for Best Small Fictions and Bath Novel Awards and is co-editor of the Forge Literary Magazine. Her literary crime thriller series, the Blue Mumbai, is represented by Lucienne Diver from The Knight Agency. Both The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon were published in 2023.

I appreciate comments, and I always visit back. If you're having trouble commenting, let me know via the contact form, or tweet me up @damyantig !

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

55 Comments

  • I have been reading The Dangerous World of Butterflies and I recently finished Red Rising…
    I guess my books are trying to tell me that I am a person who loves reading about danger and action no matter the setting.

    My blog is in fact about books: http://colloquyonbooks.blogspot.com/

  • Currently I am reading technical books and books by Dr. Abdul Kalam Sir.

    Pawan Bahuguna

  • I'm currently reading After the Crash. I guess it says that I thirst for murder/crime in my life?

  • I ejoy reading suspense/thriller genre. It gives my brain the workout it needs!

  • I'm reading The Robin Sharma pack.. it is a pack of 10 best self help books by Robin sharma. I think it shows I want to work on my personality O:)
    BTW do give a visit to my blog. I'm running a giveaway of a very nice book and I want you and your network to participate.. Let's connect! http://www.finixpost.com/giveaway-business-doctors-sameer-kamat/

  • I agree that the books that we read tell something about us. I love reading mystery, mythology, history, women issues and fiction a lot. This says that i love to learn new things about history and mythology. Sensitive to women issues and want to read many realistic stories on day to day life.

  • mfogelsong says:

    I'm reading Vampirates by Justin Somper. When I was a little girl, my grandfather made me a wooden sword. My brother and cousins and I then proceeded to make a crate into our pirate boat, fencing one another until sunset. It is one of my happiest memories from my childhood!

    To no ones surprise, I joined the fencing team when I went away to college. I qualified for Nationals in women's sabre at the peak of my fencing prowess. I've now taught fencing for 20 years, and I'm writing my own pirate novel.

    So what does "Vampirates" say about me? I have a very adventurous heart!

  • Sayantan Dey says:

    When we read book its like mirror shows our attitude.

  • AmitAag says:

    …but I still agree that the reading choice tells about the reader:):)

  • AmitAag says:

    It's by sheer coincidence that I'm currently reading The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh and The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee. My interest in palaces? Hardly any:)

  • I love many genres…Currently reading Dan Brown's Inferno and The English Patient by Ondaatje…What does that say about me??? 🙂

  • Nona says:

    The books you read tells a lot about you. So I am not disclosing what I am reading. :p

  • Gina Gao says:

    Lately I've been reading Harry Potter. I have no idea what that says about me.

    http://www.modernworld4.blogspot.com

  • Yasmin Ward says:

    I'm nearing the end of Captain Scott's Last Expedition and reading Carson McCullers The Heart is a Lonely Hunter. These are books I simply love of equal merit in completely different ways. I guess they say I am searching, always searching. I'm glad you asked this question. It's a good one. And your ability to reach out, support and inspire is also a good one. Thank you Damyanti! Happy Friday! 🙂

  • The books I'm reading right now are all over the place. I guess they'd say I'm either scatterbrained, eccentric, or unfocused. Really, I'm one of those people who likes to sample it all.

    Stopping by after the #atozchallenge – ROAD TRIP style. 😉
    @JLenniDorner

  • Let's see…I read inspirational works, paranormal, YA in several varieties and classics. I think that says I'm inspired to be a teen forever with a love for the supernatural. 😉

  • I read books on Business, Self-Improvement, and Spiritual books, And what you wrote is true 🙂

  • Cherie Reich says:

    It's interesting to think about what books we read say about us. What I'm reading right now says I like to escape into a good fantasy. 🙂

  • Anna Tan says:

    Currently reading a Xanth novel (fantasy). Just finished another fantasy.
    I normally fluctuate between fantasy, sci-fi and YA. There are some thrillers in the mix but those are sometimes a little hit-and-miss.
    I don't think I live in the real world.

  • Li says:

    My current reading stack includes a fluffy romance, a steampunk novel, a biography of Rommel in WW2 and a history of Jewish immigration and culture in America. Yes, I'm reading them all at once, different books at different times of the day. I read anything and everything, so I guess that says that I'm curious about everything…or suffer from Attention Deficit Disorder. Or both. 🙂

    • D Biswas says:

      You sound so much like me. I wish I could do nothing but read books all day. I could, really. But I guess i'd feel guilty afterwards.

  • sweetyshinde says:

    I think I tend to go through Genre phases (I may binge on mythology, thriller or historical fiction) ; or through Author phases (like if I start with Daphne du maurier, I may end up scouring all her books).
    http://sweetyshinde.wordpress.com

  • cleemckenzie says:

    I won a few books this year and so I'm trying to read those, so I can offer a review. So far I've read one gothic adult and one middle grade realistic. Both were excellent and both did center on women and family.

  • I kept pushing aside Lord of the rings.. finally, after so many years have started with the first part 🙂

  • Lexa Cain says:

    I've been reading a bunch of suspense/thriller novels by Douglas Preston & Lincoln Childs, Tess Gerritsen, and Scott Sigler. I'm reading them to try to get a handle on thriller style, since I'm — er — in the middle of writing one. Better late than never right? lol

  • Joy says:

    I've never thought about my reading choices with this reflective angle. After the initial choice of classics and westerns, between the years of 10-15, I moved to novels of espionage, mystery, thrillers, biographies, intrigues and such, and some romance too. The authors were: Sidney Sheldon, Jeffrey Archer, Grisham, Somerset Maugham, Irving Stone, Irving Wallace, Robert Ludlum (and the series Covert One not penned by him though) and a few more. But among these are Nicholas Sparks, Danielle Steel, Jodi Picoult, Mitch Albom to name a few. I also read the Bible.
    What would this say about me! I am on the wrong side of fifty, and my preferred choices are still Ludlum, Grisham and this genre of books. I'm keen to hear your view.

    • D Biswas says:

      You like your books to entertain you. You also want some of them to make you think and feel, but not too hard. To me, that's fine. Reading should be about what you want out of it– as long as you enjoy what you're reading, go for it.

      Dwelling too much on what your reading says about you, other than for small party conversations or casual blog comments like this one, will only make you a self-conscious reader, and you don't want that. 🙂

      My reading changes from time to time– I pick up romance or erotica, philosophy or literary, poetry or essays depending on what I see on any given day at the library. If I keep reading a book, I bring it home :).

  • angelsbark says:

    I'm reading The Souls of Animals by Gary Kowalski, Good Grief – Finding Peace After Pet Loss by Sid Korpi and Carol Radziwell's The Widows Guide to Sex and Dating. The animal books I'm reading for my vocation (that of Animal Chaplain) and the Widows Guide because I love Carol Radziwell's voice. I love the way she writes and uses humor. My escapist books are usually crime novels but I also enjoy checking out other genres. You've piqued my interest in the books you're reading so I'll probably check them out too!

    • D Biswas says:

      Those are books I wouldn't pick up on my own, but now if I see them on the shelves, I'd browse through them.

      I love Lessing's book, though it is too painful to read more than a few pages at a time.

    • Li says:

      I read the Souls Of Animals – excellent book!

  • Susan Scott says:

    ps am taking Kindle into the office just now with YOURS on it … can't wait!

    • D Biswas says:

      All those authors you mention, love them– haven't read Goldfinch yet, and don't mean to, till some time to come– too long. I'm finding it hard to finish September. And thanks for buying my book– it is an old one. Been toying with the idea of putting the current AZ batch in a book too…

  • Susan Scott says:

    am currently re-reading Hermann Hesse: The Glass Bead Game … Recently read Elizabeth Gilbert's:The Significance of All Things and Donna Tartt's: the GoldFinch. I've got on hand And the Mountains Echoed: Khaled Hosseini. I love Doris Lessing .. What does it say about me? I love good writing about life and all its dramas and complexities .. darkness within the story.
    Have a wonderful weekend Damyanti!

  • klahanie says:

    Hey Damyanti,

    I spend so much time interacting on blogs these days that I haven't read a book in ages. The last book I read was "The Celestine Prophecy:" A load of poorly written crap, as far as I'm concerned. Hope that doesn't say anything about me!

    Gary

  • Trisha F says:

    I read a lot of different types of books, and at the moment because I'm trying to get my writer friends' books read, that's especially so. I am also trying to alternate between print and e-books, so I am currently reading an e-book but next will pick up another print from my actual TBR shelf at home. 🙂

    • D Biswas says:

      I do that a lot– alternate between ebooks and physical books, because my library has a great collection of physical books!

  • I read a variety, but they'd say I was an escapist with all the science fiction, fantasy, and horror-thrillers I read.

  • I read in lots of genres. At the moment, I'm enjoying Doctor Lovebeads by Gary Reilly (about a Denver taxi driver who aspires to be a novelist and makes two vows: make only enough money driving to survive and never to get mixed up in his passengers' lives). You can imagine how that turns out. It's an excellent series. I just finished Write Away: A Year of Musings and Motivations for Writers by Kerrie Flanagan and Jenny Sundstedt. And I'm planning to read Aaron Ritchey's YA novel, Long Live the Suicide King, as soon as it arrives in the mail. I have books all over the house and they range from dark crime fiction to women's fiction to nonfiction (like The Psychopath Whisperer that I just purchased). I think that says I'm addicted to writing and to books….all books.

    • D Biswas says:

      The psychopath whisperer sounds delish! Will check out some of the books you mentioned– thanks for listing all of them!

  • I love discovering authors that no one else is reading. Also Margaret Atwood, Chuck Palahniuk and Jane Austen. Not sure what that says about me – I'm confused?

  • Romi C says:

    I have been reading 'Born to Win,' a classical book on transactional analysis and gestalt therapy and "Japanese Cooking — A Simple Art" by Shizuo Tsuji. I prefer reading non-fiction to fiction these days. The books I read may tell you that I am interested in many different things.

  • I've been reading a romance novel, so either people would think I am a romantic, or that I need a man of my own desperately. I don't think there is anything wrong with being focused on woman issues. I will have to try one of the books you mentioned above.

    • D Biswas says:

      I read romance novels too– they're my light relaxation between heavier reading. I like that they always end well, and follow a particular pattern.

  • Haven't read any of these, but lately I've been reading children's book. I've always known though that I'm a child at heart.

    • D Biswas says:

      I read children's books too, whenever I'm babysitting :). And then sometimes at the library, when a particular cover snags my attention.

  • L.G. Smith says:

    They'd call me a secret romantic with a penchant for history lessons. Don't tell anyone. 🙂