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Welcome to Reading Around the Globe, a series here on Reader Voracious Blog geared at fostering a culture of understanding in the bookish community about access to books in various countries around the world. Each post in the series highlights a full interview with one international reader. You can read more about this series here on the series master post.
An Interview with Jossie
- What is your name? Jossie
- Blog URL? thebookdragoncorner.wordpress.com
- Twitter handle? @jossbookdragon (account is deactivated as of 2021)
- Where do you live? I lived in Mexico for the first 17 years of my life, then I moved to Texas where I’ve been in school for almost 7 years, but I go back to Mexico every holiday.
- Do you find that there is a culture of reading where you live? If not, tell us a bit how you came to be one! Speaking in the general sense, there is not a culture of reading in Mexico, that is why the books are so expensive, I became a reader because my mother read to me ever since I was little and encouraged me to keep reading until I found a love for it on my own.
- What kinds of books do you enjoy reading? Started out as anything that was fiction, because there wasn’t really a culture on reading that would teach me that there were different genres. The more I read the more I branched out into fantasy, YA, sci-fi, etc.
- Have you always been a reader? No, I’ve always read, but for the first years of my life, my mom made me read books, it wasn’t until middle school that I picked it up on my own
- Do you also read books published in your native language/published locally to you? If so, tell us a bit about what kinds of books are published in your country! Because Spanish was my native language, I started out reading only in Spanish, but they would be books that were translated from American Authors. I didn’t start reading in English until I moved to Texas. I prefer reading in English, but because I spend so much time in Mexico still, I read in Spanish every now and then. Because the city in Mexico were I grew up is border town with Texas, we have a lot of American published books translated, which is nice.
- Are there libraries where you live? If so, what kinds of books can you find there? Are you able to get the books that you want? Because there is no culture of reading, we have very small libraries in Mexico, in my city, I only got to see one library the whole time I lived there, and it was mostly books related to science and history. The library wasn’t an option for me to get books I liked. It also wasn’t modernized, so the ebook wasn’t an option.
- How prevalent are English published books where you live in bookstores? (For example, books printed by HarperCollins.) You see them a lot, in Spanish of course, but by American publishers yes.
- Do you use NetGalley or Edelweiss to request electronic galleys for review? If so, what kind of success rate would you estimate for you personally? I’ve only just started using both this month, and I have the privilege to be able to use my US living status, but I know that specially for Netgalley, if I had to use my Mexico status, I would have trouble getting accepted
- Do you experience hurdles or barriers to access for the kinds of books that you read? Please explain if so. Like I mentioned before, there is not a lot of demand for books in Mexico, which makes it hard to find places that are willing to invest in books to sell. And the places that do sell them, put prices very very high, to try to make a revenue. Online shopping isn’t an option for me because of shipping, and there are no used book stores in the city. The only book store I knew closed down recently, and the book section in convenience and grocery stores have gone from small to none existent.
- If you could make one change to the publishing landscape, what would you do? I was back in Mexico this summer, and I got to experience the desperate attempt of my city to bring back the reading culture. They organized the first ever book fair of the city, and it was surprisingly big and had a surprising big turnout. I think that publishers should get involved in events like these in international places. I think that the reason why publishers often ignore places like Mexico is because there is no demand, but if they invest in events that will push people to get involved in the reading world, they could help create that demand they need. They’ll find that if given the chance, people do want to read, they just need better access to it.
- Help other international bloggers out… What resources do you use to obtain the books that you want to read? https://www.gutenberg.org
- Do you have any other experiences as a reader around the world that you would like to share? Like I said before, I have the privilege of having a US address, and I spend most of my time in Texas. I know that for people that have only been in the US/UK/AUS it’s hard to imagine, but we are big time lucky. I’ve been in both sides, and let me tell you, being a reader in Mexico was hell. I went from having around 10 very expensive books, to moving to Texas and currently having over 200 books in my collection. Used bookstores, libraries, cheap shipping to an US address, Netgalley and Edelweiss, those were not an option for me when I lived in Mexico, and they are only an option now because my ID has a US address now. So even if I spend 3 months in Mexico, I can access my library online because of my US address, I can order online and ship to my US address, this is a privilege. Also, for those of you that think that Book Depository is the solution to every international reader’s problems, it is not “free shipping”, the price of the book changes depending on your location. So in Book Depository a book is more expensive in Mexico than it is in the US, same book, different price depending on location, so if you are broke, you are screwed.
Please note that all experiences reflected in the interviews are personal and are not meant to generalize what reading access is like in each country. If you are interested in participating please DM me on Twitter.
Read More Reading Around the Globe Interviews
Argentina
Consu @ papereyedgirl
Australia
Ellyn @ allonsythornraxxbooks
Greyson @ Use Your Words
Bangladesh
Maria @ mariahossainblog
Belgium
Inge @ Of Wonderland
Wesley @ Outsiders and Misfits
Canada
Catherine @ This One is for the Books (Toronto)
Kristina @ Books and Dachsunds (New-Brunswick)
Shania @ Book Princess Reviews (Quebec)
Chile
Maria @ bookish4life
Denmark
Catherine @ Bees and Books
Silje @ inkedbybooks
England
Clo @ Cuppa Clo
Olly @ Criminolly
France
Emma @ Mengueis De Livres
Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books
Germany
Silvia @ Silvia Reads Books
Hungary
Veronika @ Reading is Dreaming with Open Eyes
Indonesia
Carolina @ fictionologyst
Petrik @ Novel Notions
India
Himani @ Books&Sstuff
Nandini @ Unputdownable Books
Prags @ The Inked In Book Blog
Suraj @ Books N Myself
Italy
Angela @ Books of a Shy Girl
Camilla @ Reader Attic
Kuwait
Devyn Jase @ devynjase.com
Mexico
Jossie @ thebookdragoncorner
Mozambique
A Restless Traveler
The Netherlands
Annemieke @ A Dance With Books
Esther @ Bite into Books
Luci @ Lunar Luci Books
Marco @ Barely a Blogger
Michelle @ Michelle Likes Things
Nigeria
Chinelo @ Booked_Unicorn
Norway
Julie @ StrixAlucoBooks
Palestine
Hamad @ thebookprescription
Pakistan
Nargis @ Literary Nerdโs Musings
Philippines
Aimee @ Aimee Always
Alexia @ Bookworm Daydreamer
Gel @ Whimsy Wanders
Justine @ bookishwisps
Kate @ Your Tita Kate
Rain @ Bookdragoninsm
Shealea @ Shut Up, Shealea
Portugal
Marta @ The Book Mermaid
Rita @ Bookish Rita
Romania
Dianthaa @ Dianthaa Dabbles
Puerto Rico
Yani @ Read & Create
Rwanda
Annie @ Sunflower Bookshelf
Singapore
Taasia @ libraepaintspages
Slovenia
Para @ Other Worlds Reviews
South Africa
DB @ DB’s Guide to the Galaxy
Switzerland
Elisa @ bookishexpat
United Arab Emirates
Nicka @ Wander with Nicka
Zimbabwe
Sakhile @ Sakhile Whispers
Please note that all experiences reflected in the interviews are personal and are not meant to generalize what reading access is like in each country. If you are interested in participating please DM me on Twitter or send me a message on Discord.
๐ If you like the work that I do here at Reader Voracious, consider fueling my pumpkin spice latte and black tie addiction by buying me a ko-fi! โ
Iโm loving this cute series!!
Oh yay, I am so glad! Thanks for reading, Christine!
I don’t have Twitter but you can email me at Heteshare64@yahoo.com.
I would love to participate if Las Vegas is considered International.
Sorry, it’s Hereshare64@yahoo.com.
Please delete/ignore the other one.
Thank you, but for now I am restricting participation to outside of the United States!
Another elegant insightful interview. Love this series!
Thank you so much, I am glad you like it!!!
What an excellent idea, and love that you are showcasing readers from all over and letting us see what their experiences are like, compared to our own.
Thank you so much for visiting and I am glad you like the series!
These interviews are so great and eye-opening! Thanks for another great post!
Thank you so much, Kat! I am glad you are enjoying this series!
I had no idea that book depo did that. I’ve never actually ordered there but that is so annoying. ๐
Yea, I am not surprised at all to learn that the price of the book changes based on location – too good to be true! Definitely better than no options, but I wish there was a better solution.