Pageturners: Ofirah Yheskel

Q&As with voracious readers.

Apr 13, 2023

Hello! Pageturners is a Q&A series here on Fully Booked where I chat with busy people who still find time to read a ton.

Ofirah Yheskel, 31, lives in DC and is the Democratic Governors Association’s external affairs director. As you’d expect, that’s a busy job, but she still crushes some books. Case in point: She read 81 novels last year. 81!!!!!!! I don’t know about you, but I’ve never done anything 81 times in one year, except perhaps cry or consider getting bangs.

Here, we chat with Ofirah about DNF-ing books, the pressure that can come with setting reading goals, and Daisy Jones and the Six.

⚡Lightning Round⚡

Currently reading: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Favorite book of 2022: Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

Desert island book: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling

Book most excited for in 2023: Hello Beautiful by Anne Napolitano and The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor

Have you always been a reader?

Yeah, since I was a kid. I was a bookworm, for sure. Once I started working, it became a little bit more difficult. But then a couple of years ago, a friend told me about Goodreads and I just liked the challenge aspect of it so much. It got me into reading again, and for the last couple of years, I’ve had the bug.

How many books do you usually read a month?

It depends on the month. Especially during the run up to the midterms, it’s a little bit harder for me. But when I’m not really busy at work, I can probably get through one to two books a week.

Is there one genre you gravitate toward?

Mostly fiction. I read a fair amount of romance novels. On Audible, I can only listen to nonfiction books. So I find myself listening to a lot of memoirs, especially if they're written by the author. So I listened to Prince Harry’s Spare on Audible. That was really fun and gave the book a different life than just reading it.

What kind of romances do you like to read?

I love Jasmine Guillory. I think she’s so great and fun. When I see she has something out, I'm like, I'm getting in line for that. Taylor Jenkins Reid doesn’t write just romance, but she does such a good job of building these worlds with really good female protagonists. Sally Rooney—I loved her first two. I wasn't a fan of the third book. And I was working my way through the Bridgerton books because the Netflix adaptation really interested me.

When do you do your reading?

I get through a pretty big chunk of a book on the weekends. I should say, I'm a pretty fast reader. I can get a good chunk in on the Metro during my commute, too. The Libby app has really helped. I can go from my iPad to my phone and pick up the same book.

Do you have a preference for physical books, e-books, or audiobooks?

During the pandemic, I really took to the Libby app for e-books. You can just check out a bunch of stuff at once and give them back if you're not into it. I'm starting to go back to the library again, though, and pick up physical books.

I've also really gotten into Audible lately. I love the subscription—I can just do one book a month. I’ll listen to those while I take walks or when I'm doing errands. It’s really good background noise, and I can still process and do something else.

Do you do a yearly challenge on Goodreads?

81 was a lot last year. I set a goal of 60 for this year.

Does setting a goal for yourself regarding the number of books you want to read in a year make it feel more like a competition and less about the simple joy of reading?

Yes and no. It’s nice having a goal. But last year I set a goal of 75 and ended up surpassing it, and it did feel a bit like a task by the end. That’s why I lowered it to 60 this year, because I felt like that'd be more manageable—one book a week.

But I also remind myself it's supposed to be fun. If reading’s not grabbing me for whatever reason, I give myself permission to go enjoy other things or do other stuff and come back to it. There are times when all I want to do is read instead of watching TV or movies. But there are times when either I’m busy or no book is really grabbing me, and when that's happening, I don't push myself to complete things. It’s supposed to be something that's fun and additive. And when it starts to feel like a chore, that makes you want to step away from it.

What is your position on not finishing a book?

I’m very pro. Reading is supposed to be fun. If you're reading something because you feel like you're supposed to be reading it, that's probably the worst way to come into this. If you open a book and on page two, you're like, This is not grabbing me—especially if you’ve checked the book out from the library—you have full permission to give it back and try something else. I don't think anybody should feel like they have to be working through a long history book or something just because it sounds really good or impressive.

To that point, are there any books you forced yourself to read because you felt like you should? For instance, I was an English major in college and I’m kind of embarrassed because there are all these seminal novels that I still haven’t read. I feel this pressure to read, like, Moby Dick, but I don’t really want to.

The Great Gatsby—for whatever reason, that didn’t speak to me. But The Catcher in the Rye did, you know? You can pick up a book today and it might not be for you. And then maybe a couple of years down the line it might be the best thing ever. I think it's about the timing of when you pick something up, and how it resonates. I devoured a lot of Toni Morrison’s work last year, and I think that’s because it grabbed me at this point in my life where I have more of an ability and more perspective to give it the appreciation it deserves.

Where do you get your book recommendations ?

Goodreads is a great place. I have a good community there where I can see what people are reading and how they rated it. There are a couple people who, if they read something and liked it, I add it to my list and read it also. And when I'm finished with a book, I'll usually do a short post about it on my Instagram stories. A lot of other people I know who read a lot do that, too. It gives me a sense of what my friends are reading and what they're liking and not liking.

I just started getting into longform YouTube videos by BookTokers. There’s a guy, Jack Edwards, who I stumbled onto through TikTok. I ended up looking at his YouTube videos and it opened the door.

Are there any book-to-movie adaptations that you’ve loved recently?

I’m obsessed with Daisy Jones and the Six. They did such a good job. I’m kind of obsessed with how they made the show and how they basically made all the actors become a real band and record real music. There’s an accompanying album to go with it, and it’s so great. I think they did the best possible execution of an adaptation that I’ve seen recently.

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