My bookish quirks

I think we all have them.. strange little habits when reading or dealing with books. Recently I’ve seen more and more bookish confessions on Twitter and Instagram, and it prompted me to think of my own weird quirks regarding books and reading.

So here it is, a full post dedicated to me being weird. I hope you enjoy!

1. Putting a book away when it gets too intense

I’m sure a lot of people actually do this, but every time a book gets really intense, I have to put it down and do something else. Usually this happens when a lot is going on at once, the book is near the end, that ultimate battle you’ve been waiting for is about to happen. Those kind of things. I often put the book down and walk around the house aimlessly for five minutes before going back and continue to read. My parents must think I’m mad.

Even better, if you’ve read my last post about the books that made me cry, you know that when Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas got too intense, I just stopped reading the entire book and started re-reading the entire series from the very beginning!

Sometimes I just can’t handle the anticipation.

2. Skimming

Before you attack me, I only skim over very tiny parts, like small sentences in between dialogue, I swear! This actually also happens the most when things are getting intense, because I just want to know how the situation will end. I’ve caught myself skipping descriptive sentences between dialogue more and more, but I do often go back to read them fully!

Pro tip: this does not actually save time, and you will not finish the book faster.

3. Reading the last page of the book

Okay, okay. I don’t actually do this anymore. But when thinking of this list, I remembered that I used to do this a lot when I was younger. I would get a book, and immediately flip to the last page and read that. I already knew how the book would end before I even started it. I can’t imagine doing that now, and I hate it when I accidentally stumble upon spoilers. I avoid them like the plague and have gotten fairly good at it, too!

4. Weird angles

One of my biggest pet peeves regarding books is that paperbacks are so fragile. Or maybe I’m just an aggressive reader. Either way, I hate it when the spine cracks, or when the cover folds. I need my books to be so good looking, that it seems like I only just got them from the store. The result is that I never completely open a paperback. I usually have the page I’m reading flat, and the opposite side at a 90 degree angle. This way the spine doesn’t crack! But it does look weird…

5. No bookmarks for me

Okay, this one is rather innocent, but I never use a bookmark. For some reason I always remember exactly where I left off. Probably because I also never stop reading in the middle of a chapter. The funny thing is that I do own a lot of bookmarks. I even buy them sometimes! But then I don’t use them. Kind of like how I also have six unused notebooks but still can’t stop buying them…

6. Double copies

I know a lot of readers have special edition books of books they already own. As soon as I have money to spend I will buy every special edition ever! But for now I often get digital copies of books I already own. Why? So I can continue reading the book I’m reading in any position on my bed, without my arms getting tired. Pure laziness, that’s the only reason.

Do you have any bookish quirks or other weird little reading habits? Let me know!

2 Comments

  1. July 12, 2019 / 9:11 pm

    I used to read the last sentence of a book. I always felt like it made me want to read the book more. I wanted to find out what happened throughout the entire book to get to that very last sentence.

    • simonevanheijst
      Author
      July 13, 2019 / 1:50 am

      Maybe that’s why I used to do that, too! I think maybe if I didn’t like what was on the last page, I wouldn’t like the entire book.

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