Reader Interview Number Five – Keira Jenkins

Hi and welcome to the Library of Erana, a place of words and of their magic. Words are power, they are knowledge and they are freedom.  Readers play an important role in the life of books and words, for without readers books would sit unread, unloved and unknown.  What makes a good book, or for that matter a bad one?  Why do people read and how do they find their books?

Welcome to Keira Jenkins.

Where are you from? Australia

On average how many books do you read in a month? Around 3 or 4, depending on study and other commitments

Why are books important to you and what does reading bring to your life? Books are an escape, it’s like having a whole different world to go to, books add another dimension to life, one where you can pretend to be anything, and I think that’s incredible.

What genres do you prefer and why? I love fantasy. I think fantasy writers are incredibly talented – being able to create a whole new world with creatures and places that didn’t exist before is an amazing feat and I always get so absorbed in those kinds of worlds. 

Do you have a favourite book or author, why do you think you like this book/author so much? My favourite series of books is the ‘Tomorrow When The War Began‘ series by John Marsden. I like the way he describes the surroundings in the book, and the way he describes people, it’s not fantasy, so it’s not the genre I usually go for, but I think the characters he created feel so strong- almost real- and I really enjoyed that about the series. 

 What medium do you prefer – e-books, audiobooks or paper books? Would you care to expand on this? I prefer paper books. I love sharing and borrowing and lending my books to other people, and I love that you can tell when a paper book is well loved, when it’s been through many hands and   the pages are yellowed and dog-eared. That says something about the book, it tells a different story to the one that has been written down.  

How do you usually find the books you read? For example: recommendations from friends, promotion on social networks, your local library, following authors you already know? I am surrounded by people who love to read, my mum, my sister, and all my close friends are all book lovers so we tend to read things and share them around. 

When choosing a book what makes you stop and give it a second look?  What makes you turn away? Do you read reviews by others and if so do they influence the choice? Upon reading the blurb of a book, there are several things that intrigue and attract me to it; firstly, anything fantasy related, especially when set in the future or in a world I have never heard of, and if it is not a fantasy then stories that involve travel interest me too. I avoid romances with no real plotline (falling in love is not a plotline for me) and novels that seem to be not very well written, with spelling mistakes and such turn me off a book. I don’t really read reviews, except for the recommendations of friends, and if I really wanted to read something I don’t think that a review would change my mind anyway.

What is the most important aspect in a book for you? Plot? Characterisation? Well written etc.? I think for a good book a combination of elements all has to be working well together. The plot is the story so a book would be nothing without it. Strong and interesting characters are also really important, their personalities become the plot and how it develops, so once again, a significant element. Being well written is also very important, maybe not so important as characters and plot, but if something is not well people are going to avoid reading it, so it is an important aspect for readers. 

What aspects turn you off from a book? Are there things you avoid? Books that use pretentiously sophisticated language are a real turn off for me, if it is starting to look more like an academic essay than a piece of fiction I can escape into, I’m not going to pursue reading it.  

Do you think bricks and mortar bookshops are in decline? Definitely. The internet is taking its toll on bookstores with access to books and e-books online. The world is an ever changing place, but even though book stores are in decline, book lovers are not, we’re just adapting to the new online medium.