Thursday 1 December 2011

BTT: Moody

As usual, the BTT questions come from Deb at Booking Through Thursday.

Do you find that your mood affects the things you read?

Like, if you’re in a bad mood, do you tend to indulge in reading that will support it or do you try to read things that will cheer you up?

Do you pick different types of books on dreary, rainy days than you do on bright sunny ones?

For that matter, does your mood color what you’re reading, so that a funny book isn’t so funny or a serious one not so deep?

♥ Good question/s! Not sure I can come up with definite answers though - they keep changing with my mood... (haha)

♥ Sometimes I choose my reading to indulge the mood I’m in; sometimes to cheer myself up. (The same goes for DVDs.)

♥ The weather can certainly be a factor, yes. Both in the choice and in the experience.

♥ And yes, I’m sure my mood sometimes also colours what I read.

There is one reading experience in particular that I think will forever be connected in my mind with the weather outside, and that is one time when I read the whole book of Jeremiah in the Bible non-stop, with the sound of rain hitting my windows in the background. (I wrote a piece about that afterwards – in Swedish – maybe I should try and translate that into English some time.)

This time of year I sometimes reread Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, which I have in an edition with beautiful detailed illustrations by Roberto Innocenti. My copy is in Swedish, but I found this cover picture on Amazon.com:

image

My choice of books otherwise is perhaps not so much connected to the story being set in a particular time of year. But then a lot of novels span over more than one season; and my reading of them may also extend over several days or even weeks. So my mood might change during the reading!

I have noticed that my choice of DVDs sometimes does seem to relate more to the season. For example in a summer heat wave I seem more inclined to watch people fighting their way through jungles and deserts; while films involving snow usually come to mind in winter. One might think it would be the other way round! But I guess the aim of my brain in those choices is to call up within myself the feeling of  “things could be worse”.

As for my mood colouring what I’m reading (or watching): One example might be that over the past few years I’ve sometimes found it hard to be amused by jokes about old age and dementia, and I’ve also been less keen on certain kinds of crime stories, involving too much death and tragedy, hospital drama and forensics. I think there was just too much of all that in my real world. So any reading or film involving those topics had to keep just the right level of respect and/or distance for me to be able to enjoy it. (Still does, really.)

I find that sometimes when the real world is “too much”, the fantasy genre can be of help to create that bit of distance.

It can also be comforting when the world seems uncertain to reread a book (or re-watch a film) where you already know the ending. I also think that by doing that, sometimes, it is also possible to learn something about dealing with our own personal histories. (Going back over a series of events, and seeing certain details in a different light, because when reviewing, we know the outcome.) 

♥ ♥ ♥

Today is 1st December, which means I have started
the Advent Calendar in my Picture Book blog.
There will be one ‘Quotography’ post for each day
until Christmas. There is a button at the top
of the sidebar in this blog to take you there.
Click to open!

♥ ♥ ♥

7 comments:

  1. I didn't even answer the weather question - but I know exactly what you mean about how certain memories will stick forever in your mind. I remember a dreary summer day when I read Pinocchio from cover to cover (not sure I completely digested it though).

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  2. this one is easy to answer, my mood does not effect what i read at all, I love to read. the only thing that mood effects in reading is when i am really angry I can't read at all or if i am really worried over something i can't read at all.

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  3. Your response about weather was interesting...I guess that's why they call those light summer reads "beach reads"...lol

    I agree that my reading is affected by what's going on in my life (and my mood), but that I can change my mood through reading.

    Love your Christmas Carol cover!

    Here's MY BTT POST and
    MY WEBSITE

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  4. Mood or the weather doesn't influence my reading at the time.

    http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2011/12/booking-through-thursday.html

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  5. I wouldn't say the weather effects what I read, only that I do enjoy reading more in the winter when it's cold and you can wrap up with a cup of tea in one hand and a book in the other.

    However... I do prefer books set in colder countries I have noticed maybe because of my preference to colder, wetter climates. Books set in South America/USA, Africa Australia or the Mediterranean have never attracted me. Not so much a moos as a weird thing of mine.

    I am a bit of a mood reader though - I pick books up in a whimsical manner.

    Dickens is a good Winter's read - hmm maybe I should pick up one of his books. They usually put a period drama adaptation on TV around Christmas.

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  6. No, my mood does not affect what I read, only reviews do. BUT my mood does affect what I will watch on T.V. When I am feeling down, I just can't watch a heavy drama (which I usually enjoy) so I will play comedies to cheer myself up. I like the surprises that come in a book, so for that reason, almost never re-read them, they become boring after the first time. BUT there are a handful of books that I have and do re-read, some favorites of mine. And since I am getting older, If I haven't read a book in years, I will forget certain parts, so then it is nice to re-read.

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  7. None of the factors affect what I read but mood affects all the music to which I listen.

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