How Similar is Our Book Taste: A Bookish Taste Test

And hitting the 100 Day mark for the publication of Doll Parts

Hello from the 100-Day Countdown to the publication of Doll Parts, my debut novel. August 26, 2025—mark your calendars, friends! Consider this a fair warning that I’m about to ramp up my book promotion efforts. I’m aiming for weekly Substack newsletter posts (delete the emails if you must and come back to the Substack app to read them when you’re ready). On social media, I’ll be especially shouty because I only get one debut year. I’m going to make it count.

This is not a post about any of that, though. I want to talk about other people’s books.

Thank you for being here.

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Here is what you should know about me: I take a loooong time to process everything, so even though I am never late to actual parties, I’m late to catch up on books, movies, and anything people might call a “trend.”

Allow me to present the Bookish Taste Test, an idea that I am absolutely stealing for my students this fall instead of a traditional “getting to know you” discussion board.

Each time I saw someone posting a version of this on Instagram recently, I filed it away and thought, maybe, one day, we’ll see.

Today is that day.

In the Bookish Taste Test, you let viewers/followers get to you know you through your reading interests. The fun part is that anyone can play along by doing some very light math to see where your tastes overlap.

Here is the math:

• 10 Points for reading it

• 5 points if its on your TBR

• 20 points if its one of your faves

I think I love this so much because not only does it tell others about your interests (though not necessarily your favorites), it can also serve as a way to find common ground.

Also, it gave me an excuse to use Canva and think about the books I love.

The real taste test: how is the coffee’s shop’s dirty chai?

The tricky part, for me, was how to include all the different categories of books that I love. I included a lot, but there’s a version of this taste test in which I include much more.

My main reading interests (based on the kinds of books I always turn to ) are:

• Literary fiction

• Thrillers/suspense

• Short stories

• Quirky or strange novels

• Nonfiction (especially with a certain brand of humor and narrative component)

• Upmarket/book club fiction

What I didn’t include in my taste test (as you’ll see below), but also love: horror, gothic, dystopian, and speculative fiction.

Mostly, it was a lot of fun. As I avoid future deadlines, I predict more Canva fun.

So, here it is—my take on the Bookish Taste Test. I hope you’ll play along (or make your own!).

And if you’d rather see the version I posted on Instagram, to swipe instead of scroll, I’ll see you over there!

Please tell me how you scored in the comments!

Best,

Penny

• Add Doll Parts on Goodreads

• Pre-order Doll Parts at Bookshop (or other online retailers)

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Doll Parts, forthcoming from Sourcebooks Landmark on August 26, 2025, is a dual timeline suspense following one woman as she begins to uncover the truth of the death of her estranged best friend and the Sylvia Plath adoring sad girls they attended college with decades ago, all while holding a secret that will slowly unravel her new, suburban dream life.