Top Ten Tuesday, a book-list linkup hosted by The Broke & the Bookish
Today’s prompt for Top Ten Tuesday is Ten Facts About Me… which I’m pairing with a tag, 25 Bookish Facts About Me, that Cait @ Paper Fury tagged me with eons ago. Which made my day… and then I procrastinated over it for a century or two. >.> *cough* (In my defense, it was in the middle of last NaNo so I was understandably busy typing my fingers off writing various novels, and was therefore unable to read or think about already-written books.)
But I’m doing them both today because they fit into one post, so hurray! (Don’t worry, I’m combining them, not adding them on top of each other… a.k.a. it will be 25, not 35 facts. XD)
AND THANKS AGAIN EVER SO MUCH FOR TAGGING ME, CAIT! ^_^
Let’s just hope I can come up with that many facts about me, let alone about me and books. *cough*
25 Bookish Facts About Yours Truly
- I’ve read 50 books this year. Go me! *feels ridiculously accomplished*
- This is my 44th post here on my book blog. Since starting it on January 1st this year. I feel pretty good about that. 🙂
- I sometimes randomly read introductions/forewords/prefaces/acknowledgements/author’s notes/author bios/blurbs… when I haven’t read the book yet. I know, this is weird! But starting a book is a commitment, and yet sometimes I like to nose around in a book I haven’t read, to get acquainted with it, without technically starting it, or seeing spoilers… so I read the “extra” stuff. I usually have to read them again when I read the book though so that they’ll actually make sense that time. 😛
- Big books scare me. …Okay, not really; but if a book is 400+ pages, I’m several times more likely to procrastinate over reading it. They sit on my shelf and stare me down. It’s… kind of daunting. *shivers*
- I often put off reading series. Because I want to read them ALL AT ONCE AT THE SAME TIME and don’t have that kind of time. *cough* (Also, see above “daunted” point. Times ten.)
- I’m addicted to reading books in one sitting, or at least in one day. Which doesn’t actually happen as often as I’d like… But whenever I can, I try to. Sometimes it’s not possible, but it’s really hard for me to focus on the rest of my day if there’s a book I’m in the middle of, calling to me . . .
- I’m terrified of being in a book for a long period of time, or being stuck in several at once. Because then I either (a), start getting tired of the book, or (b) start to dread reading because it feels like a chore. And I hate that. Books are my happy place! I want to enjoy them! I speak from experience here. I used to love reading several books at once, and sometimes I still feel like it, but overall I’m trying to keep it to one or two at a time these days. …Actually, points 4-7 are largely connected, apparently. Which is silly, because I often LOVE said big books/series. I just put off reading them. >.>
- When I visit somebody, the first thing I want to do is look at the books on their bookshelves. …Which is awkward because it’s probably impolite? I’M AN AWKWARD INTROVERTED BOOK ADDICT WHAT CAN I SAY.
- I spend large portions of my life just sitting and staring at the books on my bookshelf. Probably more time than I spend reading. Okay, not that long.
But really though.THEY’RE SO PRETTY AND LOOKING AT BOOKS MAKES ME HAPPY. A bookcase is better to me than a view out a window. - I have an entire bookcase stacked double with books I haven’t read. And then some. …What can I say, I go to a lot of library booksales. >.>
- I actually stare at my unread books the most. There’s just something about dreaming about what fabulousness lives between the covers…
- I organize and reorganize all of my books all the time. It’s basically my hobby. Especially when I feel stressed or have a lot of things I need to do that I feel guilty over not doing. (Hey, I never said I make wise life-decisions.) It’s a thing were some family member will wander into my room and pause in horror because there’s stacks of books all over my floor, bed, and chairs, and they’ll go “Oh no, Deborah’s sorting her books again.” I’m notorious. XD
- I usually organize my read books on two bookcases, alphabetically by author. Unless I happen to feel like organizing them by genre. But that normally doesn’t last long. The cool thing about that, though, is that when I get tired of it, it’s another excuse to reorganize my shelves!
*cackles* …Okay, I probably have a problem. >.> I also currently have two-ish shelves dedicated to awesome books I love that I want to reread in the near future. - My unread books on said unread-bookcase are organized chaos. The order probably makes no sense to anyone but me. I organize them however I feel like it, which sometimes means by genre, sometimes by most-anticipating-reading, but rarely by author. No idea why. Read books = sort by author. Unread books = sort by most logical, whatever that is at the moment. My brain is weird. 😛
- My favorite genre is fantasy. (I know, I know, you know this by now… ;)) I don’t even need to elaborate. It’s just the best. ❤
- But I also go through genre phases of addiction, and tend to get more into other genres the more I read them. For instance, lately I’ve been reading some historical fiction and some contemporaries, and this actually makes me more interested in reading more of those on my TBR. I get into phases of reading similar books in a row, apparently? I guess it reminds me that those can be cool too. *shrug*
- I have this need to have or know how to get hold of all the books on my TBR. This one’s a weird one… If I add a book to my TBR on Goodreads, I need to know: how will I manage to read this someday? Typically, this means I either own it, or try to acquire it, or I look it up to see if any libraries I go to owns it, or if it’s easily findable on Amazon or somewhere like that. I then add it to the appropriate shelf (own/owned-ebooks, library, find/find-ebooks, etc.). For some reason I’m so OCD about this that I hardly ever mark a book as To-Read unless I know how I can get hold of it. (I’m also way more likely to add it to my TBR if it’s at a local library. XD) Which means I also meticulously keep a list of the unreleased books I want to read, and when they come out… My wishlist is therefore very loooong, but at least it’s fairly complete. XD
- I keep a list in my purse of library books I want to read. I don’t go to the library very often — usually once a month is “often”, to my mind. So, using my handy Goodreads shelf for reference, I keep a list or sometimes spreadsheet that I print, of all the books I want to get out and which library they’re at. Often organized by which ones I want next.
- Lists of books are my friends and I love them. I’m ridiculously organized about books, if you haven’t noticed.
- I try to only check 1-3 books out of the library at once. Because as much as I’m tempted to check out THE ENTIRE LIBRARY AT THE SAME TIME… I’m also finicky about sending a book back unread. I HATE doing that. So I try to be reasonable with how much time I think I have to read.
- Bookstores and libraries are my happy place. I don’t even always get something from them, I just love to walk up and down the aisles and look at the books… 🙂
- I sometimes dream about books I’ve read. This is always awesome, except when it’s scary… but either way, I still usually love it.
- I procrastinate over books I’m “supposed” to read. When I’m “supposed” to read a book because of a recommendation or for review or something, I have this weird mixture of excitement to read it because of said reason, and a weird reluctance to read it due to a feeling of “obligation”. …It’s very bad, I tell you. I WANT to read it… but it also puts pressure on me in some way, and pressure and I do not get along well.
- In a weird, unexplainable way that directly contradicts the point above, I’m way more likely to want to read a book if a good friend whose book-taste I trust, highly recommends a book to me or shrieks excitedly about it in some review. Sometimes there’s a book I kinda am interested in, but it sometimes takes a high recommendation from someone for me to decide to actually try it out.
- And, lastly: I enjoy books; I’m a reader, not a critic. Yes, I do sometimes have complaints about aspects of a book I read, and just like anyone, I do occasionally read a 1-or-2-star book, a.k.a. that I didn’t like… But on the whole, I read books not to tear them apart, but to enjoy them. Which means that in general, because I go in with that intent, I DO enjoy them, and thus my reading experiences tend to be more pleasant than (apparently?) much of the rest of the reading community. I’m a pretty flexible reader and tend to enjoy things instead of critiquing them, because that’s my fundamental outlook on books. 🙂
Aaaand now that you know way more about me and my (frankly odd, contradictory, and inexplicable) bookish habits than you ever wanted to know, I will quietly sidle off back to my reading… 😉 And leave you to yours! Meanwhile if you read this whole thing, you deserve a cookie. *holds out tray*
Also, even aside from Top Ten Tuesday, anyone who wants to do this 25 Bookish Facts tag, feel free to snag it! ^_^
Thanks for reading! 🙂
The Page Dreamer (Deborah O'Carroll) 