What book trope does Katie try to avoid? What two books does Katie believe should be taught in high school?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Katie is a Shortform blog<\/a> writer based out of Tennessee. She writes blog articles both about Shortform guides and about various topics including social trends and the entertainment industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Katie used to love fantasy books, but now she prefers stories that are more grounded. Here’s our interview with Katie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is always such a difficult question. It\u2019s like picking a favorite song\u2014there are just too many! I don\u2019t have a favorite book of all time, but in recent years, A Little Life<\/em> has always resonated with me. But it\u2019s a book I recommend with caution\u2014there\u2019s dark subject matter that even I was troubled by. Nonetheless, it was a beautiful story about friendship and human nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I recently read Verity <\/em>by Colleen Hoover. It\u2019s more of a psychological thriller than the typical romance novels she writes. It was definitely different, but it also made me realize that I\u2019m not particularly fond of her writing style. I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m going to revisit her books in the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Next on my reading list is My Year of Rest and Relaxation <\/em>by Ottessa Moshfegh. My goal this year is to get through most of the \u201cTikTok books,\u201d which are just the most recommended books on the platform. I\u2019ve had my eye on this book for a while, so I\u2019m really excited to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Definitely Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley, and Lord Byron. I feel like those three together have some juicy gossip and great horror stories to tell. Although, I\u2019d leave before things start to get a little too crazy. Their get-togethers were notoriously extreme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ll read just about any genre if it has a good enough story, but there\u2019s a trope I absolutely loathe with a burning passion: the unplanned pregnancy trope. I think pregnancies can have a place in stories, but oftentimes they\u2019re used only when the author doesn\u2019t know how to raise the stakes for the main character. If the third act of a book surprises me with a pregnancy, I\u2019m instantly knocking off a star on my Goodreads review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m gonna be old-fashioned here, but I really do prefer a physical copy over anything else. I tried audiobooks in college to get through all the required readings, but I prefer to read the story in my own voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The God of Small Things<\/em> by Arundhati Roy and Nervous Conditions<\/em> by Tsitsi Dangarembga. These were required readings in my World Literature class in college, and I\u2019m really glad they were. I don\u2019t know if high school reading lists have changed since I was in school, but they weren\u2019t diverse, and the books were mainly written from a white perspective. Some people aren\u2019t ever going to read books outside of high school English classes, so it\u2019s important to read about different experiences and cultures when you can. These two books in particular were ones that I re-read and really enjoyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I used to be really into fantasy dystopian novels when I was younger, but I\u2019ve definitely grown out of those genres. People always recommend fantasy novels to me but, these days, I\u2019m more into grounded, down-to-earth character pieces. That\u2019s not to say fantasy dystopian novels can\u2019t have that, but those books require a lot of world-building that I find suffocating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like most of my generation, it has to be Harry Potter<\/em>. I remember reading the first book in third grade with the rest of my class, and I absolutely hated it\u2014for reasons I can\u2019t remember. Then, in the summer going into seventh grade\u2014which was around the time the last movie was coming out in theaters\u2014I binge-watched the entire film series on ABC Family, which is Freeform now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I became obsessed, probably because it was a form of escapism in my middle school years. I checked out all the books in the library over the summer. From there, my middle school years were full of Harry Potter, Twilight, Percy Jackson,<\/em> and Hunger Games.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m not sure if this fits into the category of guilty pleasure books, but I think, in general, there\u2019s a stigma against TikTok book recommendations because they\u2019re popular. But those recommendations sparked my love for reading again, and I don\u2019t have the time to browse books at a library or Barnes and Noble. Also, Twilight<\/em>. I\u2019m not ashamed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n I recently did blogging work for The Toyota Way<\/a><\/em>, which talks about Toyota\u2019s history and how the company runs. Apparently, Toyota wasn\u2019t a car company at first\u2014it started out as an automatic loom business. Sakichi Toyoda invented a steam-powered loom to save his mother and grandmother from having to spin wool manually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo<\/em> is based around Evelyn telling a journalist her life story and putting a personality to a famous face. It really got me into celebrity profiles and reading about journalists\u2019 experiences spending a day with these high-profile celebrities. The profiles either reveal how down-to-earth these people are\u2014or just how out of touch they are with reality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One of my favorite celebrity profiles I\u2019ve read so far is The New Yorker\u2019s<\/em> \u201cOn ‘Succession,’ Jeremy Strong Doesn\u2019t Get the Joke.\u201d You learn a lot about his weird acting methods and his early career which is \u2026 quite colorful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m not a religious person, but I do sometimes think God made you for me.\u201d (Sally Rooney, Normal People<\/em>) <\/p>\n\n\n\n Once I got over the book\u2019s lack of quotation marks, I couldn\u2019t deny the beauty of Sally Rooney\u2019s dialogue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Harry Potter, Sharp Objects<\/em>, and The Umbrella Academy<\/em>\u2014which is technically a comic, but it still counts in my mind. Game of Thrones<\/em> is also a favorite, just because the books are so dense and difficult to get through. I know the last season has gotten a lot of flack, but the show is easier to follow and much more captivating. Although, it bugs me how much of the lore from the books isn’t even in the show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I just have to remind myself that it\u2019s not my job to share my opinion on a particular book I\u2019m blogging about. For instance, I don\u2019t agree with Rollo Tomassi\u2019s views on feminism in The Rational Male<\/a><\/em>, but I had to write about his opinion, not my own. If we limited ourselves to reading books we agreed with, we wouldn\u2019t have that many books to write about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Maid<\/a><\/em> by Stephanie Land, Educated<\/a><\/em> by Tara Westover, and Catch and Kill<\/a><\/em> by Ronan Farrow. I\u2019m a sucker for memoirs that describe people\u2019s impossible\u2014but real\u2014experiences. I may not be able to relate to their stories, but I really get the sense that I\u2019m on this journey with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\nOur Interview With Katie<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What’s your favorite book and why? <\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
What’s on your reading list these days?<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
If you could have a dinner party with any three authors\u2014dead or alive\u2014who would they be and why?<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
Are there any book genres or tropes that you dislike or refuse to read? <\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
What’s your favorite way to read a book?<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
What book or books do you think everyone should read in their lifetime? <\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
How have your reading tastes changed over the years?<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
Was there a specific book that sparked your love of reading? <\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
Do you have any guilty pleasure books?<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
What’s an interesting fact that you learned from a book recently? <\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
Have any books you\u2019ve read caused you to make any life changes or to change or develop any habits?<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s your favorite quote from a book or an author?<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
What are your favorite book adaptations and why?<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
At Shortform, how do you go about working on a book that has viewpoints you don\u2019t agree with?<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
What are your favorite books in the Shortform library? <\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n
Katie\u2019s Book Recommendations<\/h4>\n\n\n\n