As regular readers have hopefully figured out by now, I’m a huge book lover. I’m also a writer, so my brain is always full of stories, characters and dramatic emotions, all jostling for attention. A good book can become all-consuming and I get lost in the story. I have been known to sob my heart out whilst reading.
My husband however, usually only reads a couple of books a year and that is generally on holiday or whenever we travel somewhere by train.
I love literature and will read most genres, from classic literary fiction to YA supernatural romance. He prefers action thrillers and is currently working his way through the latest Dan Brown.
Usually our conflicting attitude to books is something that I don’t think about much, it’s just how it is and it works for us.
However, this week I interviewed one of my friends for the blog and was a little envious whenever she mentioned running off to discuss something she’d just read with her other half. I imagined all the intense discussions I could have with my hubby about the things we’ve read and the authors we love. It would be amazing to recommend a book and for him to be as excited about it as I am.
I can also relate to this post on being married to a non-reader, which looks at the issue from both sides of the relationship.
However, as our perspectives are so different, when we do try to discuss books things can get a little heated. For example, we recently talked about what makes a novel ‘good’. His argument was that if a book has an exciting story, it doesn’t really matter if the writing is good or not. As an aspiring writer, I had to disagree.
But there are also a lot of positives when it comes to living with a non-reader.
For a start, there isn’t much competition when it comes to shelf space; you might understand how important that is if you have a book collection as vast as mine. Although it is annoying whenever he mentions my shelves are getting out of control and maybe it’s time for a tidy up and –god forbid – to THROW SOME BOOKS AWAY. Bah, no chance, mate!
I’m lucky that my hubby understands that reading and writing are important to me and gives me the space to indulge. Sure, sometimes he wants to chat when I’m trying to read, but I do the same thing to him whenever he’s watching football, so I guess that makes us even!
Reading and writing give me time to exercise my imagination and be creative. As I’m busy, that means he can spend hours playing FIFA or Counter Strike and watching marathons of his favourite TV shows. This means we both get to enjoy some alone time without it becoming an issue.
And really, it’s probably enough to have one giant book nerd in the house, I can do without the competition!
Sara Strauss says
I can see why you wish your other half was more into books because it’s fun debating with people! While I don’t have a boyfriend, I talk about the books I read with my brother and my best friend, and sometimes you just need to talk about a book and see what they think! At least he reads here and there, so that’s good! But I’m so with you on thinking a book needs to be well-written for it to be good! I love exciting stories, but if it’s not written well then it takes away from my enjoyment of it!
~Sara
Sincerely, Sara
Amy Lord says
I agree, good writing can take a book to that next level and if it’s combined with an exciting story, even better! Yeah sometimes I’m eager to discuss a book I’ve read, but it can be hard to express why you love it so much if the other person hasn’t read it too. Maybe one day I’ll convert him 😉
Caroline says
Haha – I COMPLETELY relate to this! My boyfriend of 4 years just does not read fiction. At first, it really freaked me out – as you say, escaping into books is so much a part of who I am and how I’ve grown up. But actually your point about alone time to indulge in your different interests is so true! xxx
Amy Lord says
I know what you mean Caroline, I used to worry that we were so different in our interests, but it actually works for us. Plus it makes me feel like the expert (read: know-it-all) whenever we have a debate about books or writing 😉