25 Bookish Facts About Me

There’s a tag I have been seeing going around Booktube that I found interesting. It’s called “25 bookish facts.” Since I don’t have a Booktube, I thought I would make a blog post about it instead. (Some of these could also count as bookish pet peeves.)

So here we go!

1. I wasn’t always an avid reader. Before this year I read sporadically, whenever my mood suited me. I was much busier in my other creative endeavors that I didn’t really carve out the time to read. Now that I’m doing less costuming and sewing, I can spend more time reading.
2. While I didn’t read a lot of books, I read a lot of manga. A lot of manga. Which I don’t do as much these days. The current series on the market don’t appeal to me as much. And because of the art. See below #3.
3. I choose books more on cover art than anything else. It’s bad, I know, “don’t judge a book by it’s cover” and all that jazz. But I like pretty covers.
4. I mostly read Young Adult, and mostly fantasy or contemporary with fantasy elements. My professional life is all scholarly and factual based (I teach science) so when I come home, I just want to read something that uses the more imaginative side of my brain.
5. I can only read one book at a time. The exception is if I am reading a book that’s a collection of short stories or a novella. Otherwise, I can easily get confused on what’s going on in each book.
6. I don’t eat or drink around my books. Not usually anyway. If I’m out to lunch or at Starbucks of course I’ll indulge in food and drink. But normally I don’t because I can’t juggle a book in one hand and food/beverage in the other. My hands are too small for that.
7. Along with #6, I possess a library card. I love the library; I love the services it provides. I just don’t use the library as much. I don’t like reading books that are used because people do eat and read at the same time, and they leave crumbs and stains behind.
8. That being said, I prefer my books new and will usually buy them from the bookstore. Textbooks are the only exception because those suckers are expensive.
9. I don’t like reading in public. When I read in public, I end up getting asked what I’m reading. And that’s okay, I like sharing with others a story I enjoy. But since I read mostly fantasy, I sometimes get that odd look that seems to say “Why don’t you read more contemporary?” My whole life is contemporary! I don’t want to read contemporary! Why is that so bad?! (Okay, sorry, rant over. Also, nothing wrong with contemporary settings, I just don’t enjoy them as much.)
10. My personal favorite place to read is in bed. I have a full sized bed and only sleep on half of it. I converted the other half to a reading corner.
11. I read almost every night. I spend at least an hour reading each night. It is very rare these days that I don’t read before going to sleep.
12. I try not to listen to hype and read books that are overhyped. I have this habit of being completely turned off by things (books, comics, tv shows, movies) that are overhyped. There are many, many movies and anime I still refuse to watch because friends overhyped it.
13. I prefer actual books to ebooks. I have a Kindle and I have iBooks on my phone. I’ve read using both. But I just prefer the actual book.
14. I carry a book everywhere. Even though I don’t like reading in public, even though I know I’m likely not going to read until I get home, I carry a book everywhere. I have spent far too much of my life waiting at a doctor’s office or at the car repair place with nothing to do but play on my phone or watch some talk show.
15. I can get irrationally upset when my books are damaged. This is part of the reason I never loan books out (or borrow books from others). I don’t expect them to stay pristine forever, but I also don’t expect them to be abused.
16. Going along with #15, I tend to frown or make a face when I see people reading books (especially manga) in a bookstore. I don’t mean “let me open a random page and read a few lines to see if I like it” deal. I mean “let me read the whole thing and not buy the book” deal. I get that not everyone can afford to buy books, but that’s what a library is for.
17. My cat eats my books. And I want to throttle him for it sometimes. He has this habit of eating only the books that are difficult to replace, like my mother’s collection of original French language Asterix comics that we dragged all the way from France. He chewed through the top of the spine of my copy of The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner and tore a piece of the cover of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Whenever I hear him trying to chew on my books, I chuck a stuffed animal at him as a distraction. Sometimes it works. Luckily I have a few stuffed animals handy.
18. When I really like a book or a book series, I will go find other products related to it. If it has a movie adaptation, I’ll find the movie companion books. If someone has made jewelry inspired by a book or series, I’ll find it and buy a piece – 0r five. I don’t think a day goes by in which I’m not wearing something book related. *coughShadowhunterscough*
19. I don’t have a preference for hard cover or paperback books. I’ll read either one; paperback is easier to handle but hard cover stays open on its own. I don’t like the mass paperback books though since it’s hard to read without cracking the spine.
20. I do so hate it when my books don’t match. If I start a series in hard cover, I’m going to continue it in hard cover. Same with paperback.
21. I usually won’t buy a book more than once. If a different version (hard cover vs paperback) or a different cover comes out, I’m not liable to buy it again unless I didn’t really like the cover to begin with. The only exception to this so far is the Infernal Devices where I have two copies of each book.
22. If I really enjoyed a book or series and they’ve made a graphic novel adaptation, I will buy it and I will read it. Provided the art is pretty. I mentioned I like pretty art, right?
23. I don’t really have a “the book was better!” mindset. I’ve always seen the book and the movie to be two separate ways to interpret a story. The exception, of course, is when the movie adaptation wildly deviates from the book and not in a way that advances the plot. I’m looking at you, the Desolation of Smaug.
24. I don’t generally listen to recommendations from others. I watch a lot of channels of Youtube and the reviews people post, but that doesn’t necessarily sway me for or against a book. I choose books based on summaries and pretty covers.
25. I currently don’t shelve my books. I only have two book cases and they are filled with manga I am trying to unhaul. (Since most of them are in the original Japanese language, that’s pretty difficult.) Any books I do buy get stacked one on top of another in random corners around my room until I can unhaul 85% of my manga, deconstruct my book cases, and buy new ones. This makes life a little difficult because of the cat who likes to eat books.