Reading: Business or Pleasure?

Tedi’s unsolicited guide to reading a good book

by Teodora Risteska Daskalovski

Picture this: it’s your first week at CEU, and your politics professor has just assigned 80 pages of reading, due next week. Sighs and awes emanate from the room as everyone packs up their bags and heads toward the library or media hub to begin this treacherous assignment. From then on, the assignments pile up; two chapters for Knowledge and Reality, followed by some additional reading. All of a sudden, all of your time is spent staring at your laptop screen and scrolling through pages of philosophical nonsense that you are yet to understand, and political terminology that even Google can’t clear up. The idea of sitting down and reading a good book just naturally disappears after you’ve spent three hours already reading for your classes. Yet I argue that at the end of the day, the best thing you can do is get under your duvet (it’s getting cold in Vienna!), grab a cup of tea, and read a really good book. 

As someone who is a self-proclaimed book connoisseur, I view reading as an activity of pleasure - meaning that in my free time, I sadly don’t engage with Gogol and Hemingway. Instead, I walk the streets of Rifthold, with Celaena Sardothian or Aelin Galathynius in the Throne of Glass series, and explore the secrets of the CIA with Henry Pelham in All the Old Knives, as well as many more locations, adventures, battles, and mysteries with many more characters. While this may seem childish or like I am yet to mature enough to graduate from the genres of murder mysteries and fantasy, the joke is on anyone who thinks adulthood requires abandoning the genres that made us fall in love with reading in the first place. This is not to say that I do not occasionally enjoy a Melville, but rather to highlight that reading exists beyond the assigned coursework and the existential pondering of classics. Many won’t agree with me, but reading exactly the genres that are characterized as middle school level is what makes reading so wonderful for me. It is a hobby that I have nurtured since a very young age, and one in which I dabble with multiple languages (it truly changes the experience). In this article, I will make an attempt to convince you to reignite that spark for reading beyond the boundaries of your courses.

Okay, first, you have to enjoy what you’re reading, and to know what you enjoy, you have to try out a bunch of different books! I would recommend starting off with this short personality test, which will help you figure out what books to explore first. 

What book genre do you start exploring the world of reading with? 

1. 1. How do you want a book to make you feel?

a) Like I’m escaping into another world

b) Deeply understood emotionally, spiritually, and physically

c) Smarter than I was before I opened it

d) On edge, excited, turning pages fast

e) Warm, cozy, comforted, almost as if love exists 

1. Which setting sounds most appealing?

a) Magic kingdoms (a prince/princess, a warrior, an assassin), alternative worlds, space?

b) Realistic everyday life, inner thoughts, relationships, friendships

c) Real historical periods, big ideas, niche topics

d) Crime scenes, courtrooms, missing persons

e) Small towns, family homes, quiet neighborhoods

1. Pick a vibe:

a) Magical; imaginative; adventurous

b) Emotional; introspective; character-driven

c) Curious; analytical; historically accurate

d) Suspenseful; dramatic; addictive

e) Heartwarming; gentle; optimistic

1. What annoys you most in books?

a) Too realistic

b) Flat characters

c) Plot holes 

d) Slow pacing

e) Too serious

1. What kind of ending do you prefer?

a) A dramatic conclusion that changes everything and forces you on a hunt for the sequel

b) An emotionally satisfying, character-centered ending

c) A thought-provoking ending that teaches you something

d) A shocking twist 

e) A hopeful, heartwarming ending where love triumphs

Results - What book do you start with?

• Mostly As - You would totally enjoy a dip into the realm of fantasy and sci-fi!

• Mostly Bs - Maybe start with contemporary fiction.

• Mostly Cs - I fear you are perfect for historical fiction/fantasy.

• Mostly Ds - Thrillers and murder mysteries for sure!

• Mostly Es - Romance. Don’t hate it till you try it. 

Now that you’ve figured out what book to start with, head over to your nearest bookstore or library (or Goodreads or Storygraph if you would rather not move from home in this freezing weather) and explore. Once you’ve chosen, try to buy, borrow, or download your book and begin this incredible journey that awaits.

To help with the search, I have added some of my unsolicited recommendations (books that I am currently reading or have read in the past months), which belong to each of these genres: 

• Fantasy and sci-fi: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo and Cinder by Marissa Meyer

• Contemporary fiction: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

• Historical Fiction/Fantasy: Babel and The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang

• Thrillers and murder mysteries: That’s not my name by Megan Lally and Five Survive by Holly Jackson

• Romance: Book Lovers by Emily Henry

Of course, this method may not work for everyone, and these recommendations may not be something you enjoy, but you should not give up on finding your own niche in the wide world of literature and reigniting that love for reading, or exploring this new hobby!