Saturday, August 11, 2018

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.




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


D O   Y O U  H A V E  A R E A D I N G   
A C C O U N T A B I L I T Y   P A R T N E R?
W H A T   W O U L D  B E Y O U R   F A V O R I T E  
A C T I V I T Y   T O D O W I T H   O N E?

14 comments:

  1. I love reading, and would probably quit writing so as to have more time to read, if I let myself. :) I don’t really have a RAP, but I do have a few close friends who recommend books and listen to me rant about my newest reads. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aren't friends like that the best? I relate to your struggle to write and read.

      Delete
    2. HAHA YES, Julian I get you!! And if you have a few bookworm buddies that's totally awesome too <3

      Delete
  2. I never heard of a RAP. TBH, when I started reading this post I thought it would be someone to which you could make sure helped you read only good books and not read trash. Lol ;p This is so neat though!

    Also, I have one of those friends who we disagree on a lot of fiction and have so much fun arguing about it! Our favorite pet peeve is Phantom of the Opera because we both disagree with which guy the main girl should have ended up with. I like the guy she did go with, and my friend likes the phantom. So very fun :)

    Love the humor in the post!

    keturahskorner.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Disagreeing can actually be really fun, can't it?? Book discussions are great. Think I have to side with you on the phantom argument ;)

      Delete
    2. ARGUING ABOUT SHIPS IS THE BEST, Keturah!! I haven't read Phantom yet, actually but my cousin says I must. And it's actually a great idea for a rap to make sure you don't read trash XDD

      Delete
  3. I don't have a RAP, but they sound super fun! Although, I do have a few friends who always recommend good books for me.

    I don't argue with my friends very often, unless it's about this one book, because we have rival OTPs. :P

    Very interesting post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are fun! I've had reader friends before too, but it's really nice to have someone specifically for this. :)

      Ahaha, I disagree with one of my good friends about an OTP too xP Funny how that goes. Glad you enjoyed it!

      Delete
    2. HEY KARA! Having bookworm friends is great too! And arguing about OTPs is the best kind of argument lol THANKS SO MUCH I'm glad you enjoyed <3

      Delete
  4. I've never had or heard of a reading accountability partner, but it sounds like a great type of friend to have! Thanks for this post!

    Micaiah @ Notebooks and Novels

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's definitely worked well for us and been fun. Absolutely--guest posts are great ;P

      Delete
    2. THANKS FOR YOUR COMMENT MICAIAH!! Glad you liked it ;D

      Delete
  5. I've never had one but one of my blogging friends is really nice and kinda knows what I like in a book or not but I can't do the same. I feel kinda like a bad person for that. I want to know the sort of books other bloggers would like...

    ReplyDelete
  6. I don't actually have a reading accountability partner, but it sounds super fun! :) Great post!

    ReplyDelete

Comments are how I know you've been here! I try hard to reply to all the comments in a timely fashion, but regardless, know that if you leave a comment, I will read it and it will make me smile. :) Please no profanity or soliciting.