Are you a weirdo when you read?
Last week we talked about book series that last too long and we all had at least one series that just seemed to drag on forever. Sometimes we marched on through the series even though it no longer had the pull it once did, while other times we got disinterested enough to just toss the series and move on. This week I wanted to talk about something less serious and ask you all, “What are your weird reading habits?” After you are done answering my questions, make sure you head over to Jennifer at Girls Gone Reading’s blog to see what her topic is this week!
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We all have them. Some of us can’t sit down without a cup of tea or coffee when we read while others couldn’t fathom having food or drink near their prized books. I have a couple of odd habits while I read. I noticed recently that not all of these habits are good and others really help me get through a book.
One of the oddest habits I have is multiple bookmarking. I am not alone in my weird habit because I’ve actually had this conversation with Amy from Amy Reads. She and I both tend to put multiple bookmarks in our books as a way of benchmarking where we would like to end up or just to give ourselves an idea of where the next chapter starts. I enjoy this. It’s goal oriented, and I’m a fairly goal oriented person. I have something to look forward to when I feel the pages getting thinner and thinner as I turn each one. I also tend to look at how many pages are in every book I read. It is just something I do.
Some not so good habits I have. I tend to twirl my hair while reading A LOT which breaks my hair. I have “baby chicken” hairs all over the place on my head that poke up out of my head. I also have a tendency to touch my face a lot while reading so I break out in pimples! I’m in my 30s! Far to old to be looking like a teenager with pimples all over my face. I must stop! I also *gasp* bite my cheeks while reading. Worst habit ever, but it’s compulsive! It’s such an embarrassing habit. I get scolded by my dad when I am around him. I’m much too old to be scolded by my dad!
So I have some habits I need to change while reading, but others I will hold on to (like drinking water while I read and my bookmarking obsession). All of this got me thinking, what do other readers do while reading? Are you a compulsive popcorn eater while reading? Do you read the last page in your book? So many questions that could be asked so here I am, asking you to tell me what your strange, embarrassing, good, bad, and ugly habits are.
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What is your best reading habit? Are you compulsive about spreadsheet stats, bookmarking, putting your book away when not reading, etc? -
What is your worst reading habit? Do you like to eat desserts or other foods while eating, have coffee or other beverages, bite your nails, or anything else you can think of? -
What is your most embarrassing habit? Do you like to reading your “library material” in your “library’s porcelain chair” (aka, the toilet), read out loud to yourself, fall asleep often while reading, etc?
I want to know it all! Tell me all about your weirdness!
Logging you in...
Posts
winstonsdad 43p · 760 weeks ago
gone202 16p · 760 weeks ago
I am glad to hear that you also bookmark where you want to be by the end of the day. I always do this. Type personality forces LOTS of goals. Some things I would like to incorporate would be a spreadsheet. I would like to know how many pages I have read a month, etc. I think that would be really exciting.
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Sarah · 760 weeks ago
I also tend to not be able to sit still when I read. If I'm at a REALLY good part of a book I'll start rocking when I'm sitting there. My mom always said I look like I need to go to a mental hospital and take up residence when I do this. The husband tried to break my habit but I just can't do it. I also chew on my bottom lip a lot, which is just stupid.
My worst habit, which I try so hard to break but I just can't... if I LOVE the book I will almost never ever read the last 1/4 of it word-for-word. I just don't want it to end so I'll skim the last part of the book and put it back. Seriously, it took me 3 times reading the Mists of Avalon before I actually finished and read every single word in the last 1/4th of the book.
Wow. I'm pathetic.
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Trish · 760 weeks ago
I used to keep diligent spreadsheets and also benchmark (need to read X pages to have this book finished by Y), but now that I'm not reading as much this year I've been really lax about both. The latter I think is a big reason why I'm not reading as much--because I'm not as goal oriented.
In terms of bad habits. I eat around books. I drink around books (so many coffee stains!). I used to crack my spines but have broken this habit. If it's a "deep" book I'll mark with a pencil (never anything else). I bite or play with my nails when I read!! How's that for worst habit ever.
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scrabblequeen 40p · 760 weeks ago
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Yvette · 760 weeks ago
If EVERYONE does it, it isn't weird. Ha. I collect bookmarks and I like certain types of bookmarks for certain types of books. I even have an Egyptian mummy bookmark for when I read the Amelia Peabody books by Elizabeth Peters. I do read in bed, as long as my lower back allows. Fun topic, Carin.
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Zee · 760 weeks ago
chewdigest 47p · 760 weeks ago
Let's see, in order to be truthful, I will have to give it in list form. You know, as if I was about to sit down to read.
There has to be Diet Coke. Well, it isn't really Diet Coke, it is Diet Shasta because when you drink about 3 liters a day the real Diet Coke just isn't in the budget. And the Shasta can't just be in a glass, it has to be in a special cup. It isn't really a special cup, it just has to be a 44 oz. cup. If it is any bigger, the ice melts before it is empty; any smaller and I run out too soon and am left with nothing but ice.
and there must be a really thick bookmark with mini post-its stuck to it..........no floppy cheap promo bookmarks and the post-its can only be stuck on one side.
Seriously, we haven't even gotten to the book yet and this is embarrassing.
Then there is a larger post-it stuck to the back cover of the book. That is for notes or interesting turns of phrase that come to me as I am reading.
The mini post-its are for marking pages that contain interesting quotes or thoughts that I can refer to as I am reading. 9 times out of 10, I don't even use them in my eventual review or can't remember why I even marked them, but they must be used.
Then there is the nail biting. I am so bad with this habit that my fingertips often ache and bleed. I recently did a review on There's A Book of Shakespeare finger puppet and I couldn't use the pictures I took of my actual fingers in the puppets. They are that bad.
My hair has to be in a pony tail otherwise I wouldn't have any at all with all of the twirling and curling and just your basic fidgeting with it.
Come to think of all of this....maybe I should spend more time on the shrinks couch than I do reading? Or at least maybe a few more anti-anxiety pills?
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chewdigest 47p · 760 weeks ago
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amymckie 73p · 760 weeks ago
I also twirl my hair and touch my face. Not good. I don't bite my cheeks though, I bite my lips. I'm always biting at them. Or chewing on a bobby pin. Or something :)
Other things I do - move around a lot, occasionally dog-ear pages or write on a book, eat while reading. My strangest habit when I was young though was when my parents would kick my sisters and I outside to play and get some fresh air, I would climb a tree and read there :)
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leeswammes 78p · 760 weeks ago
I can't say that I have any particular reading habits, because I read all the time. So the situations that I read under are different every time: I read while I eat (at the table), with a coffee (on the sofa), in bed, in the toilet, in the bath, in the train, in the car, during cooking, etc.
I do have one bookmark, I check how many pages there are in the whole book (to get some idea how long it's going to take me to read it), and very recently I bought a pack of mini-postits just like on your picture (the blue, green, yellow, orange and pink notes).
I'm using the orange postits at the moment, I write on it to summarize something I want to remember and then usually when I write the review I remember it anyway. But then, I use only one or two postits per book. However, I now have a book that I have about 6 postits in already, but that's a good thing, because I keep interrupting its reading with other books that I need to read more urgently (so the postits help me remember what it's about).
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bokunosekai 49p · 760 weeks ago
I don't know if you'll call this weird or not...but never expect to find me reading without music. If I am at home, I'll play my CD Player; if I'm on the bus, I listen to my MP3 player. The only time without music is when my mp3 player's battery has run out.
As for bookmark, I only use 1 bookmark, and that bookmark is the picture of my turtles.
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lrpresley 92p · 760 weeks ago
I've successfully broken my habit of dog-earing, which I'm REALLY proud of. I get tempted still though, since i loved dogearing pages that had passages that really hit me hard. I'll have to pick up some postits and see if I can do that instead.
I also cannot listen to music while reading. Absolutely cannot! It distracts me too much.
I also have to have my water bottle handy. I drink more water while I"m reading, which is a good excuse to keep reading!
ABookGeek - LLM · 760 weeks ago
JoLene R · 753 weeks ago
I only use one bookmark and usually it's a receipt or train or parking ticket. I do inspect the book before I start ---- looking at number of pages, what's at the end (not actually reading it --- but if there are reading guides, etc), read about the author, reading what other books they've written, looking at the dedication. Now that I have a Kindle, I've found that I really miss my book inspection. However, Kindle's ease of buying and carrying around is a good (and dangerous to the wallet) trade-off.
The Heat · 733 weeks ago
The Heat · 733 weeks ago