Inspiration is one of those often elusive things that I search and search for. Then, one day, out of nowhere, it strikes! Over time, I’ve found a dozen things that always inspire me in some way. Oceans inspire me to see the vastness of the world. My kids inspire me to keep going when I want to quit. God inspires me to trust in Him during every moment.
Lately, I found a new, slightly odd, place of inspiration.
I have a confession to make.
I made an account on TikTok. And I love it. There are so many amazing creatives on there. I’m hooked. Totally. Completely. I’ve found several Christian authors who I’ve never heard of before, and the videos are hilarious. Most of the time. Best of all, there are a gazillion book people on there (no, this is not a post asking you to go sign up for TikTok, unless you want to, in which case, go for it!)
What does this have to do with books and reading and contemporary Christian romance?
Well.
It has brought out a creative outlet that I didn’t realize I needed and has given me the opportunity to develop a light and fun atmosphere that is working its way into my writing.
Also.
Because of all the fun videos, my TBR is screaming for mercy, but I keep finding book recommendations and that sends me further down the rabbit hole of book buying.
Do you ever do that?
I’ll never finish my TBR. Unless…*gasp*Unless I stop buying books until I read everything I already own.
But then…
That means…
I wouldn’t be able to buy new books for like 5 years! And that’s only if I do nothing but read during all that time.
I don’t think I can live with that.
Picking up new books is my version of an adrenaline junkie jumping off a cliff. Uh oh. It can’t be good that I just made that comparison, can it?
Seriously though. My to-be-read books are on the verge of outnumbering the books I’ve read and kept over the years. I don’t keep every single book. I wish I could, but there’s simply not enough room in the house.
This brings me to my second question.
How do you choose what book you want to read next?
A lot of us are reviewers, and we have books that we’ve promised to read for authors, but I’m talking about other than that. I’m a mood reader when the opportunity arises. I’ll open a book. Read a couple of pages. And then, if I’m not hooked, I’ll put it back and grab another until I find one that makes me want to sit down and really pay attention.
I get lost in books and will read for hours if responsibilities allow it. I think that might be part of the reason why I was drawn to writing. Even after reading so many books, there was always something new out there to discover, and soon, my imagination took off. Characters and story worlds and problems for the characters to solve tumbled around in my head, waking me in the middle of the night and refusing to let me fall asleep again until I told their story. It’s a strange but beautiful landscape inside the mind of an author. I’ve been inspired by many things over the years, and it never gets old. I love this author life.
Tabitha Bouldin has a bachelor's degree in creative writing/English from Southern New Hampshire University. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and has been writing since 2015. When she's not homeschooling her kids, you'll find her curled up with a book. Tabitha's genre of choice is Contemporary Christian Romance which she describes as: Adventure with heart.
I never want to finish my TBR. Life is good that way. Always adding to it.
I tend to just read what I feel like at the time.
I tend to watch cat videos at times.
To decide what to read next, when I was reading more I had some challenges I did each year and one was read a book from each of the 50 states in America (and overseas were added as extras) so I often looked for a state I hadn’t read. I often would have to think do I want historical, mystery, contemporary, amish etc. But now I don’t read as much but I did get to choose a book from one of the Inspy writers on the weekend and read it straight away and have bought the next one in the series and am reading that now.
As to what next I am not sure. it will be what takes my fancy. Its normally from the blurb not so much reviews.
I moved all of my TBR from a google sheet and marked as want to read in goodreads and it’s over 600 books. Will never be without a book to read!
I choose to read based on what calls me the most at a certain time, They are usually fantasy but I also go through periods of steampunk, science fiction / dystopia or contemporary romance.
Mercy’s Fight by TL Gray gave me the romance reading with a reformed bad boy I had been searching for a long time.
Hi Tabitha! In 2012 as an early retiree from 20 years of teaching American Lit, I basically read contemporary Christian romance. Looked for boxed sets to explore multiple authors. In todays world I receive daily recommendations from Book Bub, Amazon, and Goodreads, plus blogs. As you stated what I read depends on my mood – CCR, cozy mysteries, or historical romances. This avid reader always is looking for a new premise – like Valerie Comer’s geocaching. Or historical romances about lighthouses. Also looking for children’s stories to share with my two granddaughters ages 8 and 4. Best wishes.
I choose my next book to read by looking at the covers of my TBR list and often find one relating to the season we are in. I also like to read new books by authors that I have come to love so if I have free time I will do that. Sometimes I keep seeing the same book being advertised and I have to read it next. I will never run out of books to read!
When Covid started, my oldest sister called and asked if I had plenty of books to share, because her library had closed and she needed books. I told her to come on over, so she did. She’s been over quite a few more times to get books! I haven’t read that many in my TBR stack, as I’ve been reading ARC’s and proofreading quite a bit, too! Just this weekend I read a book an author has had out for awhile, then proofread the next to in the series, finishing last night, and all three books were over 60K words, but I managed to get them all done over the weekend! I have over 3K books in my Kindle account, and I’ve lost count of how many real books I have in my TBR stack. However, as my oldest sister has said, we aren’t happy if we don’t have a lot of books waiting for us to read them!
I love adding to my TBR. This last weekend, as soon as I woke up my husband asked if I wanted to go book shopping…when DON’T I want to go book shopping!
I love the idea of reading something from all fifty states! I might have to attempt that.
Right! It’s such a nice place to be. That must have taken you forever though. I added my paperbacks to a Goodreads list but I haven’t started on my kindle books yet.
I’m in such a fantasy mode right now! I can’t get enough of them. Maybe because I’m working on my second steampunk fairy tale retelling at the moment. I’ll have to look up Mercy’s Fight. It sounds like a good story.
Have you read Colleen Coble’s lighthouse series yet? They’re wonderful. I love that you share stories with your granddaughters. They’ll never forget those moments.
I’ve never really considered doing seasonal reading, except for Christmas books. That’s a neat idea. I love looking at book covers and taking a peek inside to see if it grabs my attention.
Yes! Must have books. Lots of books. You’re a speed reader like me. I love taking weekends and reading all the books. It gives a sense of accomplishment while also being fun. Do you ever reorganize your physical TBR? Just to see the books? I did that last week and it was interesting because I kept pulling stuff out that I wanted to read right away.
I haven’t had time to do that! Between proofreading, the ARC’s, and gearing up for my other job, I haven’t had time! My busy season for my “main” job will start October 1, and I had to do all of my re-certs and testing in order to be ready for it. This Thursday, our ladies Bible study at church will start again, our first one since Covid hit last year a week after we finished! I’m one of the facilitator’s for that, too!
I also have an enormous TBR pile and yet I keep buying new books too. I comfort myself with the fact that reading is good for you. I’ve been trying to read more so I can get through some of my TBR pile before buying more. Its a challenge though.
Pinterest inspires me, Tabitha. If I get stuck, I can scroll through my scenes board and find inspiration.
On my TBR pile, it depends on which of my favorite authors has a new release.
Hi, I love to plant flowers, I like to plant summer plants and then winter plants, so that I will have flowers throughout the year. My family also inspires me.
I tend to look at the titles I have on my shelf of books to read and see what strikes my fancy in the moment. Although sometimes I do know which specific book I want to read next if there’s a new to me author whose work I really want to check out or the next book in a series or something like that.
Here’s to never ending TBR piles & eternal years of reading all those books….or at the very least staring at them on your shelves! Being surrounded by books is the best place in the world in my opinion :-) Yes, I’m with you….even though I have hundreds of physical & ebooks, I’m always wanting more. But I tell myself that if that’s the only “bad” vice in my life, I’m doing pretty good, lol!
Other than the two or three review books that take priority each month, I consider myself a mood reader. You would think it would be as easy as choosing one of my physical books off the shelf & I’m happily reading….but what if that book just doesn’t catch my attention like I though it would? Then I have to start over and that can be challenging! Thankfully I haven’t had that happen too often, I’m pretty happy with my choices most times.
One thing that has changed a bit since Covid hit last year, I find I’m not reading as much romantic suspense & searching out more Rom-com type stories. I guess I need humor & light-hearted stories in my life right now. I’ve discovered a few new-to-me authors who write in this genre (Liwen Ho being one of them). I count that as a plus side!
Hi, Tabitha! Inspiration and the TBR. That’s an inspiring combination right there. I find that inspiration takes me by surprise, too. Most often, I find it happening with song lyrics and they tend to be very whimsical. I’m currently working on one about a house with big blue doors and in this house lives Uncle Fred and when he sleeps, he snores. :-)
Other kinds of inspiration, like stories, which for me are very rare, or pictures (either drawn or photographed), I either chase kind of mechanically or out of necessity (like for a book cover) or I seize the moment like for a sunset.
I choose my next read by gut feel and the fact that I am working my way through several series and collections right now. Sometimes, in the process, I’ll find a new author and be off down another rabbit hole.
Pretty much all my reading is e-books these days. I do have a physical TBR stack but it will require that we unbury my reading chair and that could take a while, LOL.
Enjoy your new hunt for what calls to your heart!
I have a book of hers on my TBR!
I have found some funny stuff on there, too! I am inspired by coffee, waking up, lol. But really, sometimes a deadline is inspirational.
I recently deleted all of my ebooks from secular authors. This was a huge issue. I hadn’t realized that they were an avenue (slippery slope) to sinning. What was I putting in my brain?
So, I am new to this group of authors and excited to build a TBR list!
I’ll never finish my TBR….you are not alone :)
I love attempting to catch up on my TBR. It’ll never happen but it’s fun to try. And reading is good for you!
Oh yes! I get lost in Pinterest all the time. The pictures are definitely an inspiration.
What are your favorites to plant? My mom does sunflowers every year and they’re so pretty
I enjoy browsing my shelves like I’m in a bookstore. Like you, sometimes I know which one I want.
New authors are always a bonus!
I sang your song lyrics in my head as I read so you have something good there! :)
Sunsets are my favorite things to photograph, especially at the beach.
You are in for some great recommendations here! Happy building!!
I have found my people!!
Thank you so much for sharing. God bless you. I am grateful you have found various areas to get inspiration.
mood has a lot to do with it
I have a very big TBR pile & it just gets bigger but I love it.
I enjoy books but it different types & have a good stock of the ones I love.
There are so many good books out there, but for me, besides the mood I’m in, it could also be a sneak peek someone shared, a review an author shared, or maybe just reading the sample/preview on Amazon, and I’m hooked!
Lol, I’m so glad you’ve found other sources of inspiration :)
I try to keep up with new releases and catch up on other books in between.
A lot of my reading is done through Kindle Unlimited, so often I will read whatever is next in that lineup. If a favorite author releases something though, that will jump to the top of my list for sure?