Do you have any bookish red flags? I can’t remember where I heard people talking about this concept (maybe it was an episode of Currently Reading?), but I was immediately here for the topic. While I don’t think I have relationship red flags, I for sure have bookish ones. Let’s discuss.
1) I use my Kindle without a cover. I used to have a cover for my Kindle, and maybe someday I will again, but for now, I like being able to hold a naked Kindle in my hand. It’s so much easier! I have a little pouch that I’ll put my Kindle in if I’m going to take it out of my apartment so it’s protected during travel, but otherwise, I let it be naked and free.
2) I read in the bathtub. We all know I love my bubble baths and what I love most about them is being able to sneak in some reading time while I’m taking a bath. It can be a dangerous prospect (see above: naked Kindle), but I have a lifetime of reading in the bath under my belt so I’m much better about keeping my book/Kindle dry than I was when I was a kid. (We won’t talk about the number of times I dropped a Baby-Sitter’s Club book in the bathtub, oops.)
3) I prefer Goodreads to StoryGraph. I know it’s not cool to like Goodreads anymore, and I do appreciate that StoryGraph is a woman-owned company, but I am still partial to Goodreads. All of my friends are there so I get to keep up on what they’re reading. And I find the interface easier to navigate than StoryGraph. (I have started using StoryGraph this year—I’m rating books once I finish reading them—but until more people are using that app, I’ll stick to Goodreads.)
4) Even if a book is highly recommended (either by a friend or a podcast), I won’t add it to my list if it has less than a 3.7 star rating on Goodreads. This is my most toxic trait, I think. Sometimes a podcaster will rave about a book and tell me why they loved it. If it sounds like a book I would like, too, I’ll pull up my Goodreads app to add the book to my shelf. But if I find out it has a 3.6 rating on Goodreads, I exit out of the app without adding it to my want-to-read shelf. Why do I do this to myself?
5) I don’t buy books that have ugly covers. I opted for the Kindle version of My Brilliant Friend rather than buying the book because I really don’t like the cover. There have been a few Agatha Christie mysteries that I’ve wanted to buy for my reading challenge but all of the covers are so displeasing to the eye that I’ve put off purchasing them. (And I’ll probably end up just getting the Kindle versions because I need my book covers to be pretty!) Sometimes, I’ll opt to pay more for a hardcover version of a book if the paperback isn’t aesthetically pleasing. RED FLAG.
What are some of your bookish red flags?
Sarah
Love the ugly cover one! Also a bath reader here– I have had to buy a few library books over the years, but def worth it.
Stephany
Hooray for reading in the bath! It’s one of my favorite things.
Suzanne
This is fun — I saw the post title and thought that the red flags would be on the book side, not on you as a reader! Love your bubble bath flag. And I HATE ugly covers. The MBF cover is so awful! And makes no sense to me! My bookish red flags are that I like to eat while I read. I try so hard to be careful, but there may be occasionally a splash of soup or salad dressing on a page, which I acknowledge is gross.
Stephany
I will do a follow-up on my book red flags!
Ooh, I like reading while eating, too, but I rarely do it! It was definitely a common past time for me when I worked in an office.
Rebecca J Vincent
The Ugly book cover – I feel that.
I am finally going to need to retire my ancient Kindle & have a new one ready to fire up – & was looking at covers & I’m not too thrilled about them. I was curious about the naked thing – but afraid it would get scratched up & banged up – yours holds up pretty well?
Stephany
Mine has been dropped a few times sans cover and it holds up pretty well! If I’m taking it out of the house, it gets put in a pouch (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09J298SGR/ref=twister_B09J294984?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1), but otherwise, it stays naked and I haven’t had an issue!
Beckett @ Birchwood Pie
I am here for this discussion!
I’m a habitual electronics dropper so going without a Kindle cover is not an option for me. Last year it was finally time for a new Kindle and I got the kids’ version b/c it’s cheaper and comes with a cover. The cover is really nice. It just folds away so I don’t notice it while I’m reading.
I support you in taking your Kindle to the bath. When I take mine to the beach I put it in a plastic ziplock to keep sand out.
I don’t like Goodreads, so that’s where I stand on using it and their ratings.
Finally, I would say that there are some book covers that I adore, but I can’t remember ever being put off by a book cover. I’m mostly on the Kindle so I hardly get to see the covers.
Stephany Reihing
Ooh, why don’t you like Goodreads? I’m here for spicy opinions!
I drop my phone way more than I drop my Kindle. I guess because I’m always reading while sitting or lying down? IDK. The Kindle has been dropped a few times but is no worse for wear. It’s a tough cookie!
I’m a bougie bitch who paid extra to have my Kindle show my book cover when the Kindle is locked, so I even see book covers when I’m using my Kindle, ahhh.
Jenny
Well, I feel a little left out of this discussion because I don’t use a kindle or Goodreads! I know. I’m a very strange person. I appreciate a nice book cover, but a bad one won’t put me off the book. I agree the MBF one was atrocious, but I kind of stopped seeing it after a while. Then when people would complain about the cover (you definitely weren’t the only one!) I would be like, “Wait- what was on the cover again?” I guess you could say I’m cover-blind.
Stephany
You are not strange! I have many friends who don’t have Kindles and who needs Goodreads? I like it to be able to spy on what my friends are reading, but it’s not for everyone!
Rachel M
Ooooh. Like others, I thought this was going to be on the book side. Delightful.
I stand behind you on poor Goodreads rating. Many books that are up my alley, I read before ever looking at the rating. However, if one of my book clubs is trying to decide between a few options or I’m trying to cull down my TBR list – I’ll slash things under a 4.
I diverge from you list on the physical book side. I can’t remember the last time I read a physical book. Even when a friend gifted me a few books, I immediately donated them and bought ebooks. I like being able to highlight and rate with low effort.
Which leads me to my biggest flag. It is rare for me to only listen to an audiobook without also reading (or at least skimming) the ebook. While this is mostly to allow me to highlight and rate, I fear somewhere in the back of my head I hear ‘listening is not reading’ even though I am trying not to believe that.
Stephany Reihing
The highlighting aspect of e-books is a VERY big benefit, I will totally grant you that! I love when I’m reading an e-book and can do that. Makes it so much easier to pull out quotes or stuff I wanted to remember when I finish the book!
I really want to play around with listening to an audiobook and following along with an e-book/print book! I’m just always doing OTHER things while listening so it has just never made sense for me. But I think it’s a great way to take in a book!
ccr in MA
When I saw bookish red flags, I thought you meant things that if you read them in a book make you stop reading! Ah, no, okay then. For your #5, I don’t feel quite as strongly as you do, but I did get rid of one book and bought a different version, as it was just so ugly I couldn’t stand it! The “new” one felt so much better in my hand. Books don’t have to be fancy and new, I have many a library edition that I adore, but sometimes there’s one that just doesn’t work for me.
My red flag would be impatience: I read the first page/few pages/chapter and if it doesn’t hook me, goodbye. Too many books I want to try, I am NOT pressing on if there isn’t anything pulling me in.
Stephany
That’s a great red flag! I am guilty of also sometimes stopping a book after the first few pages if I’m not hooked or I don’t like the writing style. Sometimes I tell myself to keep going, but rarely does that ever work out for me!
Lindsay
I use both Goodreads AND StoryGraph right now! I don’t know anyone on SG but I was trying to get used to the interface…. From a red flags perspective, I think mine are that I only buy books that I love right now (after years of buying books because I love books), that I am not an eReader person even if I really want to be, and that if I put down a book and don’t feel drawn back to read it, there is a 92% chance that I will DNF it as to not end up in a standoff reading nothing…
Stephany
I need to find more people on StoryGraph to follow. One of my friends told me that it’ll give you an infographic every month detailing your reading stats, which is fun! I like that it gives me info like that, but I just wish more people were using SG!
Kyria @ Travel Spot
You are brave going naked! I used to do it to save weight when hiking but then I must have pushed it against something and it broke the screen and so now I keep the cover on.
I have never heard of StoryGraph! I use GR and in this realm I am not sure I want to switch unless it is super easy to transfer and all my friends are there too. Re the rating, I’m with you. 3.7 is a good number and I may even put it later down the list unless it’s above 4.
Stephany
Ouch, poor Kindle! I have dropped it a few times, but always in my apartment so it hasn’t done anything. Whenever the Kindle goes out with me, it gets covered up. (It’s a LADY, after all!) If I was taking it hiking, I would definitely have a cover!
Glad we are aligned on the rating rules! Haha.
NGS
My beloved Love Lettering has a 3.69 on Goodreads and that is the rating that made me distrust GR readers. They obviously do not have the same taste that I do and if they are wrong about Love Lettering, they must be wrong about ALL THE BOOKS. (Hamnet and Hello Beautiful have 4.2 and that is WRONG.) I’ve never used StoryGraph, but the biggest pro I’ve heard is that you can use half stars there, so I get why people might like that.
I don’t buy books, so covers don’t bother me. I listen to a podcast called Books Unbound where they sometimes order books from the UK because they like the European covers better and this is a lifestyle that is very foreign to me. LOL. I can appreciate it make choices for aesthetic purposes, but I guess I’m too lazy to search for different covers to find the perfect one.
Your coverless Kindle horrifies me. I also find my naked Kindle to be slippery, so I appreciate the grip it gives. (Please tell me you aren’t reading your naked Kindle in the bath…)
Stephany
I didn’t realize Love Lettering had such a low rating! I don’t think it was that low when I originally added it to my TBR, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have added it! I do agree with the Hello Beautiful rating, though. *shrug*
The UK version of covers is ALWAYS better, but I am not at that level of buying books from UK bookstores just to get a better cover, ha.
Oh, yes, I am using a naked Kindle in the bath. I AM RECKLESS, I KNOW!
Lisa's Yarns
I would not like holding my kindle without a book cover! I have a simple red book cover for my kindle that I really like. And my kindle gets thrown all sorts of places – in my purse, in my work back pack, in my suitcase, so I feel like I need that extra layer of protection.
I just plain do not buy books for myself, though. I only buy books for kids. There might be some very rare exceptions to that but since I am not a re-reader, I would rather not buy a physical book! I do feel bad that I’m not supporting authors, so we donate $$ to the library and I figure some of that goes towards purchasing books.
Stephany
My Kindle is put into its little pouch if I’m taking it outside my home! But when I’m just sitting at home? Eh, I don’t feel like it needs any sort of case. I don’t really drop my Kindle (like I do my phone!) so it hasn’t been an issue.
There are lots of other ways to support authors rather than buying books – using the library is one of those ways!
Tobia | craftaliciousme
Great covers are aesthetically pleasing for sure. I may buy a book just for that. I do have some good books I love where the covers could be better but I am ok with it. They will not get displayed like others though
I also started using story graph this year because I wanted to see if it is better. I agree, as long as most people are over at Goodreads it is hard to make the switch. I also do not like the search results. It is hard looking for authors there especially international ones that aren’t well known. I do love the stats though. Specially that you can filter by length, mood and month and that I does track your reading every month. Something that bothers me at Goodreads since they only log the read pages once you have finished.
Anyways, not sure I do have red flags when it comes to books. Or maybe I do, I hate it when my spines have creases. Not always avoidable but if I can I hold it rather weirdly to minimize those.
Stephany
Ooh, a creased spine is NOT COOL. I totally understand that feeling.
That sucks that StoryGraph doesn’t have as many international books! I like the social aspect of Goodreads, although it’s fun to have more stats to play around with when it comes to SG.
Tobia | craftaliciousme
oh don’t get me wrong, Goodreads is also lacking major international books. I was able to add those but they restricted it and now it’s only a certain group of librarians you can. And in Germany the lists are long. One book got added I think 15 month later. So it is a bit annoying if you want to have statistics.
Ally Bean
I admit that a book has to have an interesting cover for me to want to read it and that is so sad, isn’t it? Yet I own my shallowness. As for other red flags about books, I don’t read reviews on Goodreads but do occasionally read them on B&N or Amazon. Most books I read anymore are either recommendations from bloggers OR books I see while shopping in a brick and mortar book store.
Stephany
I own my own shallowness, too. We like a pretty cover, what can we say?!?!
Anne
I am so anxious about your naked Kindle. Eeks. That said, I’m with everyone else. I thought you were going to write about “red flags IN books”. I await the upcoming post! 🙂