5 Reasons to Have a RAP (Reading Accountability Partner) // Lisa Elis

As I said last week, I have a guest poster! I'm so glad to have my friend Lisa here today. We've done a cool thing of being reading accountability partners (RAPs) and are generally just good bookwormish friends. So, of course, she's here to win you over to the most bookish side of all and convince you all to have RAPs of your own. And if she's not convincing enough, you can go read my post at the very end. Enjoy!

Hey to all you readers of Abi's *waves* I'm super honored to be featured on one of my favorite blogs ^.^ Abi and I decided to collaborate on the subject of "reading accountability partners," which we have been for almost a year.

Abi was already a seasoned blogger publishing her first book when I stumbled upon the blogosphere (in the early reaches of 2017). I actually found her because of her book's blog tour :D I emailed her once, introducing myself, and that was that. Until she requested for beta readers.

Abi has been a fabulous welcome to the blogging world for me. She gave me a start as a beta reader and included me in my first ever Camp Nano cabin and generally just was an awesome person who made me feel at home. She was on the hunt for a reading accountability partner in the early fall of last year, and when I heard I was virtually jumping up and down in the comment section and waving my arms around, so obviously she picked me.

^^ kidding. she actually did her research on me first.

So, with that introduction in mind, I'm giving you reasons why you should seriously consider getting an Abigayle Claire a reading accountability partner in your bookworm life.

But before we begin, here's a note: not everyone needs an accountability partner. I don't. I handle my reading fine on my own, thank you very much. Some people like to have another person to keep them on track, but others don't. And that's 100% ok. But just because you don't need a reading accountability partner does not mean you can't have one, nor that you won't want one when you're done with this post. Let me explain.

Accountability in Reading

First of all, as the name itself tells you, a reading accountability partner is great for ACCOUNTABILITY IN READING. This just means you have someone to share your reading goal with and that someone will help you keep on track. That person is always there to poke you and say HOW IS YOUR TBR?

^^ (And I take my job seriously. Sometimes I worry that I'm a pest to Abi haha. So I try not to poke her too often).

Some of us need this more than others. That's fine. This is for those who need it.

General Bookish Chats

Secondly, a rap is great fun because YOU CAN CHAT WITH THEM ABOUT ALL THINGS BOOKISH. This works on Goodreads and on group chats as well, of course, but. Sometimes those don't work quite as well, because you feel like there are just too many people around and it's hard to carry a lengthy conversation with any of them because you are trying to keep track of all of them.

With your reading accountability partner, however, you can be completely free to start and carry a bookish conversation. That's one specification of the JOB and if they don't want to do it, then you can just fire them.

^^ again, just kidding.

The perks of chatting with your accountability partner are that

// it's one on one

// longer conversations are possible

// because she/he is your friend you can delve deeper than with your acquaintances

// both of you will make time for it

// if you chose your reading accountability partner right (and that's the topic of another post hehe) chances are you'll have similar opinions

// and even if you don't, you won't end up fighting over it because you know and understand each other

Recs from Someone You Trust

We all get bombarded with book recommendations from all around, and on Goodreads we tend to mark all books with glowing five-star reviews as "want to read".

^^ (or, maybe not? but that's beside the point. the point is we mark  A LOT of them.)

We all have books we LOVE; we all have books we HATE; and we all have books we TOLERATE. A perk of having a reading accountability partner is that she/he may have read books you haven't, and can advise you one whether or not you would enjoy them.

It goes like this:

you: HEY DEAR R.A.P, I heard about this book and was wondering if you've read it and what you think and whether I should give it a go

your r.a.p.: OH THAT ONE. the good news is IT WAS MARVELOUS AND BEAUTIFUL AND A WORK OF ART AND STABBED ME IN THE FEELS

you: OH THANKS THAT'S GREAT AND I --

your r.a.p.:  OH BUT WAIT the bad news is that you won't like it

you: why????

your r.a.p.: It's about rhinos and we all know you had a bad experience with them as a kid and hate rhinos

you: ... awww nuts ...

Or like this:

you: This book that I saw a Goodreads friend review 1 star has a horrible cover did you know

your r.a.p.: OH YES and the story was even worse. there was this dreadful love heptagon and this jerk of a strong female character who kicked butt and this evil government she managed to overthrow and did I mention the cliche tall and strong and handsome and super friendly boyfriend?

you: .... but those are my favorite tropes ...

your r.a.p.: ... oops, I forgot ... come to think of it this is exactly the kind of book you'd love

you: REALLY?

your r.a.p.: yes but what is wrong with your taste buds I don't even know

^^ (r.a.p. stands for reading accountability partner, in case you didn't guess)

IN SUMMARY, your reading accountability partner can give you great recommendations just for you because she/he knows your tastes well!

Buddy Reads with a Person You Like

Buddy reading is when you and another person read the same book at the same time at the same pace and you DISCUSS it at intervals. Abi and I haven't actually done that yet (though we've discussed it) but I can tell you that it would be a great activity.

Especially if you pick a book neither of you has read.

It can be entertaining and fun or it could even develop into a STUDY OF LITERATURE and that sounds like a brilliant plan to me! Reading together, making predictions, watching each other's reactions, and learning together is a great thing to do with any of your bookworm friends, and reading accountability partners naturally lend themselves to this activity.

Book-Related Debates (and rants)

Abi and I actually have similar tastes, so we haven't had much of a chance to debate about anything (though we minorly disagree on a few things) BUT let me tell you from experience that it IS possible to be great friends with someone who has wildly different bookish tastes.

Now chances are that you won't chose someone like that as your reading accountability partner ... but still. No two people are exactly a like so chances also are that no matter whom you pick, you will still disagree about some things.

However, unlike with strangers who try to murder you when you disagree with them (kidding again. I hope?), your friends won't bite your head off. You may disagree, yes; you may even argue; but in the end you'll still respect each.

I have another friend with whom there's like an 80% chance that she hates a book I like. And while it's all too bad, we have great fun fighting over stuff. We argue a lot, but always end on better terms than we began, because we've agreed to not get offended and not purposely offend the other.

It's great practice debating with your friends - it's fun, it's exhausting, it helps you express your opinion, and it teaches you that you can disagree but not offend each other.

And that finishes my 5 reasons why you should have a reading accountability partner.

Are you convinced? Because if you are - hop over to my blog where Abi talks about how to find a quality reading accountability partner.

HOPE YOU ALL ENJOYED. thanks so much for reading my guest post, and thanks so much to Abi for having me over. Give her some beautiful comments below, and chances are I might drop by again to reply.

STAY AWESOME YOU ALL.

xxxx lisa

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