This Reading Quiz Knows Your Taste Better Than You Do
Choosing what to read next is a deeply personal act—and sometimes, we need a little help.
Lit Window is a series written from the floor of Godmothers. It traces the light that literature casts through the books, gatherings, and conversations that leave their mark.
Last week, I justified book-buying sprees with the kind of reasoning only a reader could appreciate: Surrounding yourself with unread books isn’t wasteful—it’s enriching. A personal library isn’t just décor. It signals curiosity. A thirst for knowledge. The desire to be immersed.
Still, I want to read as many books as I can in this lifetime. Not for a reading challenge or a badge of honor, but because books are some of my favorite things on Earth. Loyal companions. A form of meditation. A way through. And sometimes, they generously shatter me—break my heart wide open, split my thinking in half, rearrange the furniture in my brain.
Which is why, when I find myself slogging through something that’s not resonating, it’s a particular kind of disappointment. I’ve gotten better at quitting books I’m not enjoying (shoutout to the DNF movement), but I still struggle. Sometimes it’s obvious. Other times, the resistance is the point. Because I don’t just read for comfort. I also want to be challenged. I want to read things that stretch me, soften me, disarm me. Not just books I like, but books that change me.
Do I overthink (everything) what I “should” read next? Yes. Yes, I do.
So when I saw a test claiming it could tell me what kind of reader I am, I clicked immediately. Created by book expert Steven Reese, the Read Your Color test breaks readers down into six color-coded types based on how we think, feel, and approach stories.
Turns out I’m a Blue Reader: The Introspective Oracle. (Shock to no one.) The results include a thorough description, breakdown of preferences, and a list of book recommendations by type. It is delightfully specific.
In the spirit of self-discovery and shared obsession, I figured I’d share a list of books I’ve loved over the past couple of years that speak to the Blue Reader in me—and offer Godmothers’ picks for the other types, too.
Of course, no reader fits into a single category. I see parts of myself in other types (Purple was a close second), and many of the books from other profiles are on my shelves. This isn’t about limiting what you read—it’s about better understanding the kinds of stories that resonate most, the ones that are most likely to stay with you.
Take the quiz here and tell me what’s on your TBR. I love talking about books almost as much as I love reading them.
The Blue Reader — The Introspective Oracle
(A short, not-at-all comprehensive list of books I’ve loved in the past year, some a second time.)
My perennial companion:
Letters to a Young Poet (I’ve picked this up perpetually for years.)
Literary essays & narrative nonfiction:
Solito, Hold Still, Trick Mirror, Instructions for Traveling West, When Death Takes Something From You Give It Back, Grief Is for People, anything by Rita Dove
Lit fic I won’t forget:
Boulder, Go as a River, Martyr!, Rebecca, Giovanni’s Room, James, Parade, Betty, Sula, The Lying Life of Adults, Bonjour Tristesse, The Vegetarian, Carmilla, Our Evenings, Yellowface
Titles we think you’ll love based on your color
The Green Reader — The Practical Sage
North Woods by Daniel Mason & Poverty, By America by Matthew Desmond
The Purple Reader — The Unbound Innovator
Death Valley by Melissa Broder & The Age of Magical Overthinking by Amanda Montell
The Orange Reader — The Curious Explorer
The Wager by David Grann & The Song of the Cell by Siddhartha Mukherjee
The Yellow Reader — The Emotional Catalyst
The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue & Enchantment by Katherine May
The Red Reader — The Adrenaline Seeker
The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon & The Art Thief by Michael Finkel
I'm foremost a yellow reader, emotional catalyst, with blue and purple tied for second.
I’m blue too. No surprise there either 💕