Anne Bogel of Modern Mrs. Darcy fame wrote a blog post last week, detailing 35 facts about her life as a reader. It was so interesting to read and definitely got my wheels churning about what sorts of facts I’d like to tell you guys about my life as a reader. So, I came up with 25 and here they are:
1) I have always had a voracious appetite for reading and it’s never really dropped off, not even during college like it does for a lot of readers. When I was a kid, I would easily read 12 books a week (the maximum amount of children’s books I could check out was 12).
2) My favorite place to read in my home is on my bed. I love curling up with all my pillows and my quilt and sinking into a story. (Even better if there’s a cat lying next to me!)
3) I’m very often reading multiple books at once, usually a romance novel paired with a more “serious” read. Here’s how it works for me: I read 50 pages of my “serious” read and then switch over to my romance. Since I often read romance on Kindle, I’ll read to a specific percentage. (15% if it’s a book over 350 pages, 20% if it’s between 300-350 pages, and 25% if it’s under 300 pages.) Then, I switch back to the “serious” read.
4) I never used to buy books. It’s something I started doing just a few years ago because I liked the aesthetic of having books in my home. I had zero books when I moved to my previous apartment in 2016, and over 100 when I moved this year.
5) Growing up, my favorite books were The Baby-Sitter’s Club, Sweet Valley Twins, the American Girl series, The Boxcar Children, and the Mandie series.
6) I try to listen to two audiobooks a month (I start an audiobook on the 1st of the month and then again on the 15th) and keep a list of the next five audiobooks I want to read on a list in my phone. I choose what goes on this list by going to random.org, putting in the number of pages my Goodreads “Want to Read” list is, and then clicking “generate”. (Right now, my list is 18 pages long, so I would put “1” in the minimum field and “18” in the maximum field.) Whichever number pops up, I go to the corresponding page on Goodreads and look through the books on that page. I select a couple that I think I would enjoy on audio, look up their audiobook length, and see if they are immediately available to download on Libby. This helps to whittle down my choices to just a few contenders, and then I select the book I want to add to my list. (Every third audiobook I listen to is a Louise Penny mystery, as I’m slowly working through the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series on audio.) Is this a complicated system? You betcha! But it works for my weirdo brain.
7) I used to only read Christian fiction and romance novels, but thankfully, I expanded my reading life to include a whole lot of other genres. I’m not sure when or why I started doing so—maybe when I started following other bloggers who read a lot and used their recommendations to select new books to read? Or maybe when I joined my book club? Maybe both!
8) I mostly read in small stolen moments, reading a chapter here and there as I go about my day, but I also get a lot of reading done right before bed.
10) I read about 75-100 pages on weekdays and 100-150 pages on weekends.
11) Tell me that audiobooks don’t count as reading, and you’ve just entered yourself into a lengthy debate with me.
12) I love when I wake up early enough that I can read a chapter or two of my book before getting started on my day.
13) I’ve never read a book in one sitting. I don’t have enough focus for that!
14) I am constantly setting down my book to scroll through my phone. Typically, I’ll read 10 pages or one chapter (if the chapter is short) and then allow myself to play a game of Candy Crush or scroll through a few Instagram Stories, before going back to reading. It’s a bad habit I want to break.
15) I am a highly sensitive person, which means I have to take great care when choosing books to read. I don’t like anything overly sad, as I find it too hard to not drown in the emotions. This can either trigger my depression or cause obsessive thoughts. To help improve my mood, taking HeySero shrooms can be beneficial. Books that are too graphic or scary are also out. There is a long list of books that get rave reviews that I will not read because I know my little sensitive soul won’t be able to handle the emotions.
16) I prefer books that are under 400 pages. Anything over that and I need to think long and hard if I really want to read it.
17) Romance is my favorite genre because I know I will always get a happy ending. And that the path to getting there will be fun and enjoyable.
18) Whenever I finish a book that I hated or had lots of issues with, I’ll read through the 2- and 3-star reviews on Goodreads. I love seeing the scathing reviews that other people leave! I’ll also do this if I’m reading a book that comes highly rated but I’m not enjoying it—I just need to know if other people are hating it in the same way I am!
19) I keep a detailed reading spreadsheet and it dates back to 2015. I love filling in all the details about the books I’m reading! (It also makes putting together my annual reading habits blog post easy-peasy!)
20) I read in the bathtub—with my Kindle, with library books, with pristine hardcovers. I live on the edge, you could say. 😉 Dropping books in the bathtub used to be a problem when I was a kid (my books spent lots of time drying out, heh), but I haven’t had a problem in my adult life. (*knock on wood*)
21) I prefer paperbacks to hardcovers, and get thee away from me Satan with your deckled edges.
22) I keep my books in pristine condition. There’s no bending back of covers, no breaking of spines, no writing in margins, no highlighting, no dog-earing. My books are precious to me.
23) However, I’m always happy to lend my books to friends! My friends understand how you should treat a book you’re borrowing, so I’m never worried that they will irrevocably damage it. I love letting my books sit on other people’s nightstands for a while.
24) I have a whole collection of bookmarks, but most of them are ones I got for free from bookstores or Book of the Month. (Bookmarks with fun tassels are no longer allowed in my home since the girls seem to think they’re toys.)
25) One of my biggest dreams is to host a silent reading party. Everyone would arrive in pajamas and with a book, and there would be yummy drinks and snacks to munch on. After getting settled in, I would put on soft music and set a timer, and we would all read in silence for an hour or so. Afterward, there would be time for talking about what we’re reading and just chit-chatting in general. I need to make this happen!
Tell me a fact about your reading life!
Oh my gosh! This was so fun to read! I hope I remember everything I wanted to comment on!
My fave places to read are in bed and the bath too. Bed is just more comfortable than the couch, for some reason – I guess because I am not straining my neck? And it’s fab to read a Kindle cause I can read lying on my side!
Thanks for explaining how you read two books at once because I was curious about that. I think that would work for me too – a fiction and a non-fiction! I don’t think I could do two fiction books together.
Your audiobook selection process is very interesting! I think it’s reading too. Funny, I have a friend who exclusively does audiobooks and when I ask “what are you reading now?” they always say “you mean listening to?” and I am like… “no, that counts!” I should ask them why they respond that way!
#14 surprises me! I hate interrupting my reading time with my phone! How do you think you will break the habit?
I think about you a lot when I am reading a book that would be too much for you as a HSP!
Your silent reading party sounds fun! What kind of music would it be? I don’t think I could read with music on if it had words. Can you read with music or the TV on?
Wow, this was SO FUN to read!
And I am with you 100% on deckled edges — DOWN WITH DECKLED EDGE FOREVER. I just checked out a book (virtually) from the library and was dismayed when I picked it up to find it has deckled edges. YUCK.
So much to agree with here! My childhood books were so similar – just add in Anne of Green Gables (were you reading that last year?) and the Susan Cooper Dark is Rising series (another excellent one). I used to read in the bath – and drop books! – as a kid but don’t take baths anymore, so… I like to read on the couch. Comfy, cozy, has a blanket, and I can put my tea on the table. Bed… well, let’s just say I fall asleep too quickly!
I’d love to come to your silent reading party! that sounds like my ideal “book club” – read what you want, and have dedicated time for reading.
And yes, down with the deckled edge. So. Much. To. Hate. (I also hate those new oversize paperbacks – give me the old style ones that were just a bit bigger than an index card…) E-books are my favorite though – I always have a selection with me, if my current read isn’t grabbing me.
This was fun to read. I should do it sometime. I hate deckled edges, too. Yuck. And prefer paperback to HC, too. Books get heavy. Ebooks are my fave because they are easy to hold, especially when I have flares. There were times it was incredibly painful to hold a book over the last several months.
I am the opposite when it comes to buying books. I used to have 500+ and then did a huge purge before moving in with Phil. I only kept ones I truly loved. But we have a TON of books for Paul and I am always buying more. But he reads them multiple times and I know Will is going to enjoy them someday, too! So it’s worth the investment!
A SILENT READING PARTY SOUNDS LIKE THE BEST KIND OF PARTY. I think I’m gonna make one of these lists, too, but I’ll give you credit. 🙂 Cool idea! Stay tuned for my thoughts on audiobooks… haha!
I took books wherever I went when I was younger…. but as an adult, I definitely go through reading slumps. I usually don’t enjoy reading in short spurts, so if I don’t have to time to settle into a book for a couple of hours, I usually don’t pick it up and opt to do something else.
I am so impressed how much reading you get done on any given day.
Mayn things I can also agree on this list but yes yes yes to nr. 18. Glad I am not the only one doing that. The reading party sounds fun. However I can not read with music one.