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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 Inge
- What is your name? Inge
- Blog URL? https://ofwonderlandblogs.wordpress.com/
- Twitter handle? @ingeswonderland
- Where do you live? Belgium
- What kinds of books do you enjoy reading? I love fantasy, contemporary, dystopia, sci-fi… a bit of everything, though mostly within the YA category.
- Have you always been a reader? I became a reader when I was about 16. I didn’t like any of the books they pushed on us in high school, and so I assumed I wouldn’t like any book. It wasn’t until I picked up Twilight that I started discovering the weird notion of actually liking reading? I’ve read hundreds of books since then!
- 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! No, I only read in English. Reading in Dutch feels awkward and clunky to me.
- 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? There are libraries, though unless you live in a big city, there’s not much to do there if you’re an English reader. Smaller libraries will generally hold classics.
- How prevalent are English published books where you live in bookstores? (For example, books printed by HarperCollins.) Again, if you live in a big city, you probably won’t find much to complain about. When you go to smaller towns, the English section vastly decreases until you have a few popular chicklits and thrillers.
- 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 never had much luck with Edelweiss, but I used NetGalley a lot and got approved for most of the books I requested. For the past year, though, I’ve been feeling very slumpy. Reviewing started to take away from my reading enjoyment. Now that I’ve cut down on ARCs, I’m slowly finding that joy again. At the end of last year, though, NetGalley became a lot more restricted for international readers. We can no longer request most books, but we can “wish for them”. These wishes are never granted, though. I’d say I’ve gone from an 80% success rate to a 10%.
- If you could make one change to the publishing landscape, what would you do? I wish ARCs and giveaways were more available to international readers. I know this costs a lot of money and there’s international rights and whatnot, though, so this might be a long shot.
- Help other international bloggers out… What resources do you use to obtain the books that you want to read? I use Amazon for my ebooks and The Book Depository for paperbacks. I mean, free shipping, folks. If TBD doesn’t ship to your country, Wordery might — also for free.
- Do you have any other experiences as a reader around the world that you would like to share? No.
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
Sumedha @ The Wordy Habitat
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 Nerd’s 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.
💖 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! ☕
I love Inge’s blog!!
It’s beautiful!
😘😘😘
‘Reviewing started to take away from my reading enjoyment.’
YES! SAME. HERE. 😖
Oh no!!! Altogether, or just when you are obligated to read the book? Sometimes when I feel burned out and sucked of joy, I mood read and review whatever I feel like.
I think it’s the latter. I feel guilty for not posting a review near the publishing date(or even anytime within the year of publication) and it feels like I’ll never see the bottom of the pile. But this is most probably something many reviewers go through. I, for one, do not want to just lament about it. I think I need to strap myself down and come up with a loose plan and just let it go. What’s done is done. How do you prioritise your ARC reading or all your reading?
Yea I feel you and definitely found myself struggling a bit earlier this year – I was reading ARCs almost exclusively, and while I requested all of them it did feel a little like “work”. I set myself a limit of four releases per month for ARCs about four months ago and honestly? My life has been a lot better! I still go by due date and can mood read a lot more now, and it feels fun again.
Thank you for the tip! I’m going to have to rein in my requests 😁 I was doing fine for the first few months but once I missed one due date everything just dominoed!
I DEFINITELY know how that is! I try really hard to not miss publication dates but once I do… I am kind of hopeless. I have 2 right now (which isn’t that bad) that I missed but hope to read next month for the lateathon!
Lucky―or more like efficient―you! 😭
Omg this is a brilliant feature! Why have I never seen it before?! Nice one, Kaleena! It’s great to know how bloggers do in other countries too.
Aww thank you so much, Shruti! I am glad you came across it and I hope you enjoy the upcoming interviews!
I’m loving this series, and Inge is one of my favorite bloggers, so it was a pleasant surprise to see her featured! <3
Isn’t Inge wonderful!? Thanks so much for your comment, and I am glad you are enjoying the series, Madalyn!
Thank you, lovely 😘
Inge is such a lovely person and amazing blogger! So happy to see her featured here, Kaleena! <3
I’m blushing! Thank you!
You’re welcome, love! <3
yay igne! 🙂 this was great to read, hopefulyl one day we can sort out a better shipping cost bc the amount ive paid sometimes is mad
seriously, shipping is such a nightmare! I know that fuel is expensive and whatnot, but there has got to be at least a “it’ll get there by a barge eventually” option out there to make it more accessible!