Ok, truth time! Every reader has at least one behaviour they try to keep hidden from their fellow book lovers. Inspired by a prompt from the #SavvyReadathon, I decided to reveal 7 of my deepest, darkest bookish secrets!
Confession #1: I haven’t read most of the classics
Moby Dick, The Scarlet Letter, 1984, or pretty much any ‘classic’ that you can think of. I don’t enjoy them and despite my university classes having the classics on the syllabus, I managed to graduated with a BA in English and Creative Writing without ever finishing a classic. I have started some of them. In fact, I think I read about half of 1984. There’s nothing wrong with these books, they just aren’t my cup of tea and I don’t believe in forcing myself to read books that I don’t enjoy.
Confession #2: I crack the spines of my books
As I type this, I heard my fellow book-lovers cringing. I know, I’m sorry everyone. I try my best with smaller, 200 page books. But when I read my paperbacks for A Song of Ice & Fire, there’s no way I could possibly read those beasts without cracking the spine. This is why I hate borrowing paperbacks from people: I’m always scared of ruining their perfect books.
Confession #3: I’m a “mood reader”
What I mean by this is that I chose the genre of book I am reading based on my mood. This is why I find it extremely challenging to plan my TBR in advance. I salute you, my bookish friends, if you are able to plan your entire month’s TBR ahead of time. I’ve only actually planned my TBR once for the #BookRavensTBRTakedown Readathon.
Confession #4: I don’t always read the book before the movie
The gasps I’m hearing through this screen are much larger than the ones from cracking the spines. I really didn’t want to admit it but sometimes I don’t read the books first. Sometimes I have a hard time falling in love with new worlds and watching it in film first makes me learn the world and characters. Then when I read the book, I appreciate the expanded world and character development that you don’t get on screen.
Confession #5: I’m a book hoarder
What I mean by this is that I have a bad habit of getting new books, being excited to read them, and then buying new books that trump those book in my TBR priorities. And then by the time I think about that book again, I start to question if I’ll even like it if I was able to procrastinate reading it so long. And then the cycle goes on and on.
Confession #6: I have a hard time lending people books
I get scared when lending people books. Probably because I used to be freer with my book loaning and that resulted in books getting destroyed (not just slightly bent, but completely destroyed) or not getting the book back after losing contact with the person. If I willingly lend you a book nowadays, it means that I completely trust you with it and/or I just really want you to read the book enough that I’m willing to risk losing it forever.
Confession #7: I laugh out loud when reading in public places
When I reach a funny part in a book, I can’t keep my laughter in. The faces I get from the other commuters is actually hilarious. It’s something that makes me super anxious but there is no containing it. Plus, can people really be mad at me for enjoying myself?