Intro

I recently came across a post on Instagram that asked what kind of reader I am. This isn’t something that I have thought about too much in the past, I have just known that I liked reading, and that I would read almost anything that was put in front of me. Still, it got me thinking. What are the different kinds of readers, and is there any one right way to be a reader?

Before I go any further, I want to make it clear that the answer to that question is that no, there is no one perfect way to be a reader, you should read however makes you the happiest and allows you to get the most out of the books that you are reading.

Fiction vs. Non-Fiction

This is probably the easiest way to break down what kind of a reader I am. Personally, I enjoy reading a mixture of both fiction and non-fiction though I know many others who prefer only one of the two.

When it comes to fiction, I really enjoy the adventure of a lot of books, but I don’t typically like them if it feels just like a retelling of events. A lot of the books on the list of books that I don’t like were the ones that I was forced to read for school to get the grade. What a terrible way to make someone excited about reading than to force them to read books that they don’t like.

I have also read my fair share of fiction, and find that often I gravitate towards the self-help books. There is nothing wrong with these books, and there are many that I have thoroughly enjoyed, but over time I have found that many of the books say close to the same. There is only so much that I can take on how to make a better version of myself before I start going crazy and need to take a break from the non-fiction books. I know there are many other types of non-fiction such as biographies or even history. I will read a biography now and then, and often enjoy them. I can even read a book about history, but if it is a book that highlights a lot of battles and strategy then I find myself very bored with the book.

Often I try to read one book of each kind, swapping every book or so. This helps me still get my fix when it comes to fiction, but I can learn many things as well that can be beneficial in life. I have found that by reading both fiction and non-fiction, I stay out of the reading slump for longer and find that I am more likely to look forward to taking the time to read.

I haven’t been doing that as much lately as I have been reading mostly fiction, but I still have many books on my to be read list that are non-fiction.

One vs. Many

This is another distinction when it comes to how people read, and what kind of a reader they are. Are you the kind of person who can handle reading multiple books at a time, and juggling them back and forth, or are you the kind of person who only wants to read one book at a time to make sure that everything stays nice and tidy.

Personally, I enjoy having many books going at the same time, but I know that it bothers my wife to have more than one book at a time. I think this is due to the length of my attention span, in that I can often get bored with a book before I finish it, but I know that I want to read it, so I don’t want to give up on it. When I am reading multiple books at a time, I feel like I can read whatever I am feeling up to at the moment and not have to worry about forcing myself to read if I am not feeling a certain book in the moment. I can usually have one physical copy of a book going plus one on my kindle, and a couple of books going on my iPad.

For something that I am interested in, but the material is of the drier nature, I can read a chapter or so of it before it starts to get to much, then I can switch whenever I want to so that I can read the book that is intriguing me at the moment. It is not uncommon for me to even read from different books within a span of 15-30 minutes.

On the other hand, I know that it can be a lot to juggle different story ideas in their head, especially, when they are not related in the slightest. It can take a little while to readjust to the new book, taking precious time away from reading.

If you read one book at a time, or if you read many simultaneously, that just helps to define who you are as a reader.

Digital vs. Physical vs. Audio

I know I might be treading into dangerous territory with this one, but do you prefer digital, physical or audio versions of books?

I know there are the purists who think that anything other than a physical book is blasphemy, while there are those who just want to consume the content in whatever way works well for them.

It took me a while to be able to read a digital copy of a book. For far too long, I had seen digital books that were just formatted PDFs, and I couldn’t imagine forcing myself to look at a screen for so long. I tried reading them, and routinely found that it hurt my eyes after a while of looking at the screen, so I was against digital books for that reason. Additionally, I liked the feel and the nostalgia of a physical book, so reading digitally felt a bit like cheating, and I couldn’t get myself to do it just for old time’s sake.

Then I started reading books on my iPad, and found that I really enjoyed it. I could control the settings to make it so that it was much easier visually to read, and I could also not have to worry about my page being lost as I would when reading a long PDF. This was almost revolutionary to me, and I found myself reading a lot more digital books than I ever had before. Not only is there the option to adjust settings such as the color or the font, but digital books typically cost much less than their print-based counterparts, and they take up no shelf space.

I am all for having a big bookshelf, but the convenience of being able to have multiple books on something small that takes up less space than even one book is fantastic. There are some who will agree that either of these options are fine, but they still balk when it comes to listening to audiobooks.

Listening to audiobooks is a great way to get the content of the book when doing something else such as chores around the house or going for a long drive. Whatever else you are doing, it can be great to be able to have something to enjoy in the meantime. I have listened to many audiobooks, and I always count them as books that I have read. This might not be for everyone, but I think listening to the audiobook still counts as reading in that you are still consuming the content of a book, and you still get to use your imagination in fiction books or learn from the non-fiction as you would if you were physically reading.

Annotated vs. Clean Page

Many times I have seen books that have been heavily tabbed and annotated, and I always think that it is kind of neat looking at how the book affected the reader, but I just can’t hardly do it.

I have in the past annotated a few books, but it has always felt wrong to write in the book, and I wanted to leave it as pristine as possible. Still there are those who feel like the only way to get the most out of a book is to fill it with tabs, and notes in the margins.

When I have annotated, it has typically been because it was required in school. We weren’t given a specific way to annotate, but we were told to write in the margins and underline whatever stuck out to us. This was especially bad on books that I didn’t particularly want to read anyways in that I now had to take extra time and energy getting through a book. There would be times that I would actually get caught up in the story, and then I would have to go back and annotate because that is what was required of us.

This sent my focus straight off the track and it would then be a while before I was getting back into the swing of the book again. It would be around that time that I would find the next passage that I needed to annotate, and the disruptive process would begin again.

If you want to annotate your books, that is absolutely fine with me, go ahead and make yourself happy, but it is just not something that appeals to me at all.

One caveat, when going through books that are useful for Bible Studies with group discussions, I have found that it is helpful to have the annotations in the book because it allows the flow of conversation to flow more smoothly. Other than that, I have not found annotating a book to be helpful or enjoyable, and I much prefer to see the clean page in the book.

Popular vs. More Obscure

If you spend much time reading, you will know that there are certain books that have won awards and have made it to various best-sellers lists. Other books have grown their fair share of weeds around them as they have drifted in obscurity. Both have their place in the world, but the more popular books have carved a larger place for themselves.

Do you prefer to read the more popular books, or do you like to find the obscure book that no one knows about, but the few that do love it?

I know that I have never been trendy, and have never been always the most up to date with the times. In fact, I have often found myself intentionally not doing something only because it was trendy or popular to do something. I don’t want to be pulled onto the bandwagon and blindly cheer for the next best thing, but I would rather come across things as they cross my path.

With that said, I often don’t read books that are on the best-seller list, though they might have been at one time or another. My process tends to be more organic than intentionally reading books because they are on a best-seller list. If I come across it sometime later when it is no longer on the list, then I will likely put it on my list of things to read. If I come across it at the library, then there is an even better chance that I will read it as I don’t have to pay for it if it doesn’t live up to the hype.

I know others who love looking at the best-sellers list and reading everything that is on those lists. These books are often popular with book clubs, and they give a sense of community as there are so many other people reading the same book at the same time.

Then there are the obscure books. Some of these might not have ever sold a ton of copies, but that doesn’t mean that it is a bad book, and some of them were published many years ago so that they are no longer in most people’s thoughts when they think of books. Either way, there are some books that are gems if you know where to look for them (the library is always a good place to start).

First Time Only vs. Re-Reading

There is something comforting about re-reading a book, or re-watching an old tv series. In both cases, you know what you are going to get because you have already experienced it and you can find comfort in knowing what to expect. On the other hand, there is also something to be said of finding a new book. If you never take the time to branch out from what you are comfortable with, then you never know what you could be missing.

Sure it feels good to be able to stay safe and not have to worry about possibly finding a book that you don’t like, but for me, this is part of the thrill of reading in that I don’t know what to expect when I turn the page, and I don’t have to deal with feelings of deja-vu knowing that I have read the same book before.

I enjoy reading books for the first time, and discovering along with the characters where the story is going. There have been a few books that I have read a couple of times, but this number is likely in the single digits despite the fact that I have read many books. Sometimes I don’t know what to read next, so I know that I can go back to something that I have liked in the past, but unless I am stuck not knowing what to read next, then I find that I often skip past reading books a second time.

Another exception to this for me is that if it is a non-fiction book, then I will find myself going back to it several times in an attempt to gain as much knowledge from it as possible. However, during these times, I don’t typically re-read the whole book, but rather I will read the relevant chapter and gather the information that I need.

I have heard of many others who want to do everything in their power to read the same books that they have already read because they know that they will like it. I have no right to judge, but I will say that if you are someone who finds themselves reading the same book over and over, then you should realize that you were only able to find the books that you love so much now because you were willing to read a book that you hadn’t read before.

Conclusion

This is by no means an exhaustive list of the different types of readers, but this should be a good list of the different varieties that exist. Where do you fall on this list? If you are still unsure as to what kind of reader you are, I have put together a quiz that you can use to help you.

Please let me know in the comments what kind of reader you are.