What's Your Genre?

Sort of like your zodiac sign, but not at all.

Getting back into reading on a more frequent basis has been eye-opening to say the least. January isn’t even over, and I’ve already three books, which is a feat all its own. Before I was a teen, I was a bookworm. My mom has always been an avid reader and didn’t necessarily push it on us but absolutely encouraged it, so there was a time in my early life that I devoured books like Ring Pops, Fun Dip, and those Hostess chocolate cupcakes. My sister and I would often go “shopping” in our at-home library, which consisted of a few Nancy Drew novels, every available Judy Blume book, and of course, the entirety of the Babysitters Club series.

The first Harry Potter book was published in 1997 and, being that I was the perfectly impressionable yet still naive age of 10-years-old, the timing was impeccable. As I made my way through middle school and high school, Harry, Hermione, and Ron accompanied me every step of the way. I became completely enveloped in this magical, make believe world and spent most of my free-time on Mugglenet.com, soaking up fan theories and leaked BTS images from the movie sets, and coming to grips with the fact that my Hogwarts letter was probably never coming. The last book (Deathly Hallows) was released my sophomore/junior year of college in 2007 and,

even though I was knee-deep in college drama, discovering sex for the first time, and going out almost every night, I cleared my schedule and finished book seven in one night (it’s over 600 pages).

I write all this to give you, the reader, some insight into my history with reading. There was a time I couldn’t get enough of it, but once Harry Potter was over, college ended shortly after, and I was thrust into the real world where I quickly realized I’d rather be at happy hours or at home in my very own apartment doing nothing than reading a book.

Fast forward to present day. Last year, I wanted to read 12 books (one a month) and ended up reading 9 (three of which were incredibly long books, mind you)! May seem unimpressive to your average bookworm, but reading 9 books last year when I had maybe read 1 or 2 in 2020 was a vast improvement. This year, I’m aiming for 12 again, but since I’ve already finished three this month, I have a good feeling I’ll overachieve. And all of this leads me to the main point of today’s newsletter, which is that I’m rediscovering my genre.

What you love to read is as personal and eye-opening as it gets. The books someone chooses to spend their time with can say so much about them as a person (sometimes interesting things; sometimes, boring things; other times, troubling things).

Here’s what I know about my book genre preferences:

• I love a memoir (A Piece of Cake)

• I especially love a comedian’s memoir (every single Mindy Kaling book)

• I love a family saga and general family drama.

• I enjoy fantasy (see: my obsession with the ACOTAR series), but it has to be the right kind of fantasy with a lot of human emotions grounding the story.

• I dabble in elevated chick lit, but do not care for a “beach read.”

Elevated Chick Lit examples: Why Girls Are Weird, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Normal People, Pride and Prejudice

Beach Read examples: The Villa (which I just read), Where The Crawdads Sing, probably Colleen Hoover books (with the exception of Verity that I’ve heard from many friends is truly wonderful), and any kind of highly predictable RomCom.

I’ve never been a big crime girlie. I’ve had short stints of being into My Favorite Murder and Crime Junkie, but those stints are short-lived and don’t hold my attention for long. I have never religiously and enthusiastically watched SUV or Criminal Minds. However, I would love to read some more thrillers (I loved Girl on the Train and Gone Girl), and this is where YOU come in!

If you have books that fall under the categories I love to read or a thriller you think I’d like, drop the name in the comments. This journey back into being a “reader” is extremely exciting and is opening up a whole world of conversations and discussions, which I love. So share yours!

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Now, for some quick links:

Have you listened to this week’s That’s What E Said podcast yet? My personal trainer and nutritionist, Meg Morat, is on answering listener-submitted questions about diet, exercise, what works/what doesn’t, how there are no shortcuts, and so much more. Tune in on Apple, Spotify, Amazon, Google, or wherever you get your podcasts!

Valentine’s is around the corner, so you probably owe it to yourself to treat you to this themed cardigan from Target. It’s been a big seller the past week and for good reason. It’s extremely adorable and the perfect boxy/cozy cut.

If you may already know who musical artist Ren is, but I didn’t until Zac showed me. I don’t know much about him besides he started in a street band in London and is now on his own. His music is haunting, powerful, and incredibly heady. Watch this music video for something you’ve never quite seen before.

I put together a Day in the Life reel this week and also a What I Eat in a Day reel to showcase how I get close to 100g of protein a day (a true feat).

One last thing: I have a few of the lululemon Cate’s Tees and I find myself wearing them, immediately washing them, and wearing them again every week. They’re my favorite but they’re expensive as shit and also completely sold out, so here’s their dupe on Amazon for a fraction of the price and in a bunch of fun colors!

Have a great weekend, y’all.