The Book Wench

An interesting thing happened when I googled “What is a Whim Reader” for this post. I originally wanted to find a definition of a Whim Reader, or what I thought it was, so I could provide an “official” source and then talk about my experiences as a self-proclaimed “whim reader.”. Instead, I found out I was wrong all along.

Let me back up. To me, a whim reader is someone who reads on a whim. Day-to-day, hour-to-hour, moment-to-moment, the whim and whimsy of what to read can change. I may feel like reading Fantasy on Monday, Sci-Fi on Tuesday, and on Wednesday I cycle between historical fiction, a memoir, and a mystery. This sort of reading cycle means I’m usually in the middle of five to eight books at any given time, especially while I’m actively in school (Just a little over a month left!)

Imagine my surprise when I googled “What is a whim reader” only to find out it apparently means someone who reads palms. As in the palms of your hands.

I love learning new things and that was a great thing to learn but now I am left wondering what I am, the crazy, starting-something-new-every five-minutes kind of reader, is called.

I followed up my first search with a second: “What do you call someone who reads whatever sparks their interest.” That, unfortunately, gave me no help because all it furnished was different sayings for an avid reader. Which I am, but that is not the niche I was going for.

I tried again: “What do you call someone who reads multiple books at a time.” This came up with large, blue link to the word “Polybibliophile.” I kinda like that, but again, that really isn’t what I am looking for. While the “reading multiple books at a time” is important, it’s the whim and whimsy, the moment-to-moment change of interest that I’m looking to define.

What would you call it?

Are you one?

What is your experience like?

My experience is pretty run-of-the-mill; in fact it is probably easy to imagine. There are days where I will read from a number of books but I am unlikely to finish any of them. Sometimes this is fine, as I can easily compartmentalize the multitudes of storylines in my head and not get confused. Other times, especially while in school, I get overwhelmed with guilt when I read one thing (or five) when I should actually be reading another, very important, school thing.

It can be exhausting but it is important to me, my reading, and sometimes my mental health that I continue in this way.

For example, one of the books I am currently reading is The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. If you don’t know anything about the book, basically it predominantly takes place during WWII era, Nazi-occupied France. Very heavy stuff. I have severe anxiety and depression and while I can absolutely read this book, I need to read it in pieces, not all at once. And definitely not at night right before bed when my thoughts are at their best (read: at their worst) at getting me down. So, instead, I have been reading the sixth book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, The Eye of the Bedlam Bride. And when that gets too heavy, because I know it will, I will turn to another book. And another. And another.

At the moment of writing this post I am in the middle of no fewer than eight books (that number includes the two mentioned above).

But I digress. I now have no idea what I am called, what kind of reader I am. I could continue calling it whim reading until I find the right answer. But now I feel compelled to find out the correct term.

What do you think?