Hi dear friends,
Today is Thursday the day I try to come up with some discussion post! Sometimes they are serious, sometimes fun, sometimes a little bit of both!
This time I want to discuss the way our jobs influence or not our favorite reading genres!
Nothing is scientific here, just my crazy imagination but I think I am not so far from the mark and would love having your feedback! 😀
We all know that our job (and being a stay at home mom IS a very serious and tiring job) is a big part of our life. It drains energy but can also be invigorating. Sometimes its choice was a pure unexpected turn of events and other times it was a well thought out life plan.
But at the end of the day, what do you want to read after many hours earning your keep in your current function?
I think we can elaborate on two possibilities: either reinforcement either avoidance. Each possibility will give a different result.
Reinforcement means that you don’t have enough of your job. You want MORE! Either because you really found your calling either because you are a YEP (Young Enthusiasitic Person as in “not bored out yet”).
Avoidance is what many experience at the end of the day. They close the door of the office/hospital/school/factory ….and they just want to forget about it for some hours. They have had ENOUGH!
Let’s test this theory and its results on an array of jobs, shall we?
1) Police Officer
In reinforcement they will want more and their preferred genre would of course be …crime, thrillers and mysteries! They need to bath in murders to puzzle out etc.
If it’s avoidance they will want something with a simple plot, no blood bath, no murder. Something light, fun and uncomplicated. I would go with romcom for a woman and for a man some comedy too.
2) IT/tech specialist
Reinforcement means they’ll be drawn to everything with technology. It could be science fiction, dystopian or technological thriller (Matrix …).
Avoidance would push them to read about nature and maybe stories of road trips or survivals in the wild. Or a story with an animal as a hero. Other possibility: something historical like WWII or ….
3) Teacher
If they want more they’ll look either for books with kids and read some non fictional book about “How to communicate with unruly teenagers” or the “Survival guide in teen jungle” or …
If they are fed up with kids, teaching and taking things in charge they would probably read adult romance with a wild cowboy or an alpha billionaire (would come handy to pay the bills as teachers don’t earn lots of money, especially for all the hours they work with demanding kids). Romcom would also work as they need a good laugh.
4) Stay at home mom
If the are in reinforcement they will read everything that will help them to do their job better, probably non fiction like “How to better organize your home”; “1000 recipes for eating healthy every day”; “Best ideas for doing craft with kids”, etc.
Avoidance would be books without kids or organizing anything! They would want to be taken care of and pampered and would probably adore a romance with a possessive Alpha devoted to their needs.
Now there is also a third possibility here: reassurance! Because every parent knows that they sometimes want to strangle their kids, feel overwhelmed by the mess they can leave in a house and wonder/feel lacking when they see all these pictures of perfect families on IG! In that case they’ll love reading books about “real” families with struggling moms, kids being lost and fighting their parents but of course always with happy ending because they will feel a kinship and be reassured. “I am not doing something wrong! This is normal and shall pass.”
5) Nurse or doctor
Reinforcement will lead them to read books about hot doctors or characters suffering from illness.
Avoidance gives a vast array of books but sans medical terms, sick people, etc. Give me HEALTHY!
6) Administrative or logistical functions
Reinforcement: well if you love administration you could read stories about other administrative fellows like Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine or The Hating Game or… Maybe some fiction like Kafka featuring something happening at the office.
Avoidance: it is a possibility that you feel bored out at the end of the day if you have only menial or repetitive tasks. You need to use your brain! Logically, crimes and mysteries would be a very good choice for you as you have to guess who’s guilty, read all the clues and outsmart the killer! What better way to stimulate the mind right?
And I could go on and on as the list of jobs is endless!
My job is in a very serious field of work with lots of responsibilities and two teams to manage. I confess that I totally am in the avoidance scenario! I don’t want something serious or with numbers or logic and …
I just want to evade and dream! I want adventure and romance. That’s why I love romance and YA, contemporary, scifi, PNR, fantasy …. anything far from my every day job! That’s how I “recharge” and am ready to tackle another day with enthusiasm.
Now do tell me: what do you think of my theory? Am I right about you and your job? If you have another job, try the reinforcement and then avoidance theory and let me know what would be your genres and …would it be true?
Thanks for reading!
Sophie
I pick avoidance – anything without medical terms! I like romcom or thrillers for being a nurse! =)
Mary
Oh my goodness I especially love that you chose Eleanor Oliphant and Kafka for office worker (I used to work in an office and can say that totally works 😉 ) This is such a fun post!!
Great post! My jobs are innkeep/night auditor, and professional reviewer. With the latter dictating what I actually read, I don’t often have ‘free reads’. I think avoidance would drive my choices if we just go by innkeep. I don’t really focus on reads involving hotels/inns/motels.
Hahahah lovely post, Sophie! I work around a lot of cops and most of them don’t really read and if they do, they end up picking up something more in the non-fiction category that broadens their vision of life/politics! Myself I like to read things in the mystery/thriller category, but I also love it more when it’s within a fantasy/sci-fi genre! Guess I’m a bit of both hahah
Haha, this is such a cool post 🙂
Once upon a time i dated a detective, and while he did like reading sci-fi (owned a few of those and said he’d read them), i mainly saw him reading books like Crime and Punishment… LOL 😀
I read mainly thrillers, mysteries and sci-fi… never thought about their connection to my work. But i’d defo not enjoy reading anything that is related to my work. 😀
I really like this post, Sophie. I guess my passion for paranormal romance means that I’m in the avoidance category too. Lol! My avoidance isn’t just limited to my reading matter but encompasses what I watch on telly or which films I go to the cinema to watch too. 😉
I have this amazing fantasy book (The Outsorcerer’s Apprentice by Tom Holt) that I absolutely ADORE because it’s this hilarious mix of what would happen if you took a consultancy firm/government agency/big business corporate services type strategy as world-building in a fantasy novel. If you work in a corporate services type role (HR, finance, admin) and like fantasy then I think you’d love it – but I gifted it to a friend who studies anthropology and they just… didn’t get the humour in it. So, it’s definitely one of those “if your job is in this field” type of books, but works for avoidance as well, because there are dragons and wizards.
Very interesting post idea! Where do you always get such an interesting ones? I feel like I need to steal your brains since I have zero discussion ideas 😀
I work with kids (temporary jobs at the daycare and elementary school until I get permanent one) so I think the closest job described here is the teacher. I agree that I don’t want to read more books about kids and instead escape to adult romance (or fantasy/ paranormal books are another escape for me).
Hahaha Jamsu thank you! My problem has never been having no ideas but having too much of them. So you are in avoidance LOL
Ahh what an interesting post! I have to say, working for a website makes me drawn to dystopian books and especially ones with technologies taking over haha, but I also feel like I need to disconnect from it all with cute and soft contemporaries every now and then…. okay, most of the time hahaha. 😀
So your hobby is also kind of like your job Marie? Interesting 😉
Oh it’s VERY different, I wish I could get paid to blog, unfortunately I’m not hahaha, it just happens to be in the same global area ahah 🙂
Hmmm, when I was teaching, I read a lot of paranormals and fantasy. It definitely seems like I was trying to escape the world in general. Now, I am all about the contemporaries.
You were teaching Sam? I had no ideas!!!
Yep. I taught chemistry, physics, and astronomy for over a decade. It totally corroded my soul.
My sister is a Sheriff and she loves watching crime documentaries or any tv show revolving around police stuff. I can’t watch any of that, it freaks me out. And I’m a stay at home mom and love looking at recipes for my kiddos lol. I subscribe to a few bloggers so I can bake them new recipes. But for reading I love anything and everything, minus horror, so I don’t know what that says about me lol.
It says that you are curious and need to feed your brain Jen! It could be explained with you staying at home and needing to either stimulate your brain either maybe help your kids in any fields because you’ve read about it LOL
I’m all over the place in my reading so probably wouldn’t be a good subject for this but it was a lot of fun to read:)
Hahaha I always need an exception Laura!
Sophie you are exactly right on hot doctors. As much as I enjoyed reading books with illness on it and can understand some of the medical terms, it drains my energy. lol especially when you know the outcome of the patient. Reality just hits and I have to keep myself composed even it’s breaking me.
Oh so you are a doctor or a nurse Beatrice? And happy to know that I am (somewhat) right LOL
I’m a nurse lol nah, you got it.
That’s quite a fun discussion, we can make an app for this lol Like you get on faceboook where you tick something and then it gets you the result XD. Although this sounds fun. I’d agree on tech part but I read so much that I don’t have any one fav genre.
Hi Dhawal! Yes maybe the app would be a good idea lol. Not having a favorite genre is also great! It shows that you are curious and interested in everything! You must love life and be always looking to know more 😉
We can make one if you are interested. I can code it up
I’m currently a stay-at-home mom, but I think I’m the black sheep on this one. I read a wide variety of genres, from parenting books to comics, and I don’t look for something specific at the end of the day. However, I do keep a bottle of wine in the fridge, because there are days when you need a glass with your book before bed. 😉
Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear?
Every topic needs a black sheep Lindsi! Be proud you are unique! LOL
Another intriguing post that offers a great question, and then? Answers with great logic. I love the idea we either reinforce or go for avoidance based on the type of job we do. I’d be a strange person to classify then, as I’ve worked in a number of different fields, from high powered jobs to the mundane. But whatever the job, I usually chose SF as my means of escape. And then … a few years back I gave up most SFF and jumped into a life of crime, there’s nothing like a good whodunnit, right. 😉
But Alexandra I see that I am tempting you back to scifi LOL
What an interesting concept! I’m currently a homemaker I guess and, in complete avoidance, I mostly read literary fiction and memoirs set in other cultures all around the world.
See ? Not so far from the reality then LOL
My job probably falls somewhere in the IT/tech specialist or Administrative/logistical functions and I would be in the Avoidance category. I almost only read fantasy! But I do like animal heroes and adventures in the wild and I like books that stimulate my mind (but I’m not a huge fan of mysteries) so overall, you are kind of close haha! I love your thought process tho 🙂
Hahaha so happy to know that I am not far from the mark Brittany!
I think you are definitely on to something with the Reinforcement/Avoidance theory! I have friends who have doctorates in the science field, and love to read, but they only read almost exclusively scientific based nonfiction (so the reinforcement option).
I don’t know what mine would be though. I am a librarian… so I guess my reinforcement would be books about books and/or general non fiction? As for my favorite genres they are all over the place! Typically I like contemporary/realistic fiction the best.
Well yes book about book! And you have my dream job Samantha!
Enjoyed this post, Sophie. My book choices depend on mood; grumpy? I need something light and airy to cheer me up. Pensive? An emotional romance with plenty of tissues. Antsy? A good suspense thriller will get my blood flowing. I guess this could all tie into my job though- writing!
So you are telling me that you are a moody reader Jacquie! Hahaha it will be for another post: recommendations following the mood you are in! You just gave me the idea!
Glad I could help 🙂
I’m moody period, lol
Interesting concept! Mine would be treaky, for my job is library science focused … I tend to dabble in a lot of different subject materials at work. I still think I’m more of a mood reader … but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve noticed that I prefer light and happy (with some serious undertones) novels rather than these complex and scary and devastating novels ha-ha!
Library? Did I read library? LOL But I do prefer happy reads too at the end of the day Jenna!
He-he!! Okay, library science 😉 I don’t work in a traditional library setting, but I get to catalog and archive and organize content 😀