Lets Talk Bookish

Let’s Talk Bookish: Reading Relatability

Dini @ dinipandareads28 Comments

Someone want to tell me how it’s already April?!
✨ Welcome back to another week of LTB! ✨

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme created by Rukky @Eternity Books and co-hosted by Aria @Book Nook Bits and myself! In this discussion meme, participants get to talk about certain topics, share opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts! Learn more about LTB, past topics and future topics HERE.

This week’s topic is:

Reading Relatability

Prompts: Real life can be a lot. Do you enjoy reading books with high relatability to your past or present situation (i.e. with relatable characters, situations they face, or places they visit) or do you read purely to escape reality? Do you seek out a certain type of read, depending on your head space or mood?

I think “real life can be a lot” might be an understatement for 2025. We’re only three months into the year and some days, it already feels like a lifetime! There’s just so much chaotic and negative energy that’s permeating the air and it’s low-key hard to not disassociate even harder to escape from this reality (which I know is a privilege in itself). 🫣

Do you enjoy reading books with high relatability to your past or present situation or do you read purely to escape reality?

Yes and no. I can’t lie—I mostly read to escape from my daily reality/life in general. There’s just something I love about escaping into other worlds where the problems aren’t mine to figure out or handle! Haha, I’m sure many readers will relate to this, right? 😂 That’s not to say that I don’t think it’s important to read about real-world situations or events, but I think I enjoy those books more in hindsight (or when my head is in a better place to fully absorb everything).

That said, I can’t deny that I love to read books where the characters and situations are highly relatable. There’s something about connecting in that instance that makes a person feel less alone, and in a way, there’s comfort in knowing that someone out there has experienced the same thing you have (even if they are fictional characters, the situations are born out of real things that have happened). This can be for good and bad situations, of course, but I feel like it always hits harder when a tough situation is encountered and the character has the same thoughts/emotions you did when you went through it!

Though I think what I love most is coming across books that touch upon my current situation or headspace in a way that I didn’t even think to consider before. Having whatever you’re going through be captured and put into words can not only be so validating but also illuminating, especially if you’re not sure how to make sense of what you’re going through, but also how to put it into concrete words.

Do you seek out a certain type of read, depending on your headspace or mood?

As a mood reader, it really does depend on where my head is at and what my mood is telling me. Most of the time, that means all kinds of romances (YA or adult) but also fantasy that doesn’t lean too heavily on the politics, warfare, or intricate maneuverings with a giant cast of characters, times and places to memorize. 🤭 Although they intimidate the heck out of me, I do enjoy complex high-fantasies however, I mostly gravitate towards picking up “lighter” reads that don’t require extensive brain power, lol.

Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell, Mooncakes by Wendy Xu, Mantras and Minotaurs by Ashley Bennett, Morning Glory Milking Farm by C.M. Nascota, That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted A Love Potion at A Werewolf by Kimberly Lemming

If things get really bad in the brain space, I will end up choosing even less brain heavy books that don’t require much thought such as romance novellas of the smuttier variety, graphic novels, manga, etc. 2025 has been an odd year because my head has been all over the show lately and I can’t focus on anything to save my life—not even the typical smutty reads have saved my reading! 😫😂

Which is why I’m now significantly behind on my yearly reading goal (thanks to Goodreads for the regular reminder, lol), although thankfully, this fact hasn’t sent me into a panic yet. I just hope that I can find the reads that will help me capture that good reading feeling that extends beyond just one book at a time. I’m reading, but I miss reading reading—does anyone else get that?

Don’t forget to check out the other bloggers who joined the discussion this week! 👇🏽

Annemieke @ A Dance with Books
Lin @ Lin’s Perspective
Alli @ Alli the Book Giraffe
Briana @ Pages Unbound
Raji @ Worlds Unlike Our Own
Laurie @ Laurie Is Reading
Abyssal Librarian
Leyre @ Read You Leyre
Emma @ Pages of Emma
Elle @ Unwrapping Words
Tiffany @ Romantasy Life
Yolanda @ Past Midnight
Rachael @ The Green Tea Librarian
Shoto @ Magic & Maybes
Felice @ Tea and Cats and Books
Julie @ Bookflowerpath
Kim @ In My Words

If I’ve missed your post this week, don’t hesitate to let me know in the comments, and I’ll add you to this week’s list of community posts ASAP!

Do you like to read about relatable characters and situations, or do you read purely to escape reality? Do you gravitate towards specific books depending on your headspace or mood?

Blog signature that reads: Let's Chat! xoxo, Dini

28 thoughts on “Let’s Talk Bookish: Reading Relatability”

    • Fair enough! I think it’s fun to see how people choose their reads 🙂 I don’t think I say I pick things specifically for their relatability because I find that usually comes when I learn more about the story and characters while I’m reading the book itself. But it makes a big difference in how I end up feeling about a story! Thanks for participating this week, Emma! 💜

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  4. I am the same!! A mood reader to my core what I read depends solely on how I feel and what I am in the mood for lol! Fingers crossed it will get better for you!

    I know exactly what you mean I miss reading reading too…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  6. I agree, real life can be a lot, and books are a great way to escape. I don’t think a story needs to mirror my life for me to relate to the character or their journey. I can relate to them as a human being, but I have to like them and be invested in seeing them come out on top.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  10. Definitely a year that calls for reading as escapism but totally understand where you’re at about not being able to focus on anything for too long. For me, I go back to trusty old favorites in those times and those always recenter me 🙂

    I also really love reading books where the characters are going through situations that I have been in to gain additional perspective – definitely appreciate the life skills we get by proxy by reading!

    Link to my post this week: https://booksandblah.wordpress.com/2025/04/04/lets-talk-bookish-reading-relatability/

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • I’ve definitely been re-reading a lot more in the past year. I haven’t done any yet this year but I do have a few planned. Maybe I should do more, especially of short easy faves and hopefully, that’ll spark better reading focus for me! 😃

      Like

      Reply

  15. My son struggles with his diagnosis’s in that he doesn’t like feeling like he is the only one. So just me saying, hey this character in this book I am reading also has dyslexia helps him a bit to realize that he isn’t an outlier. We’re not at a point where he can find or read books with characters with dyslexia but we’ll get there.

    Like

    Reply

Leave a comment