Shop

Books

14 Habits Every Book-Lover Is Guilty Of Having

Everyone has a few secret habits, not really sure how or if they should admit them. For book-lovers especially, there are plenty of habits we have picked up over the years of reading, reading, and reading some more. On the outside, our habits tend to make us look like we're constantly lugging books around, criticizing book-to-movie adaptations, and somehow never getting a full night's sleep. While most of those are true, there are plenty of other habits, good and bad, that we try our best not to reveal.

Every reader has her quirks and differences, like the never-ending debate between bookmarking and dog-earing pages. Personally, I know I have some strange habits when it comes to reading because I generally read a few books at once and can take anywhere from a day to a month to finish those books. For the majority, though, readers have a few secrets in common.

If you're a major book-lover, book-nerd, or avid-reader, then you'll surely relate to most, if not all, of these 14 secret habits that are anything but fictional.

1. Rereading A Favorite Book More Than 10 to 20 Times

Some books don't count, like the Harry Potter series because most book-lovers and die-hard-Potterheads have read the series more times than they can remember. But for other books you love, maybe your favorite YA novel, or that quirky book no one has ever heard of, you've read them dozens of times. So many times, you could probably recite the beginning of each chapter, know exactly which page a quote comes from, and recall a character's physical traits better than your own.

2. Buying Pretty New Versions Of Books You Already Have

Whenever I walk into a bookstore, I have a fairly similar routine which involves looking for the books I came in to buy, and then completely getting side-tracked by pretty new editions of books I've already read or classics I already have a couple versions of. You can never have too many Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or Pride and Prejudice, right?

3. Judging People On Their Bookshelves

If you've ever walked into a date's room and can't seem to find a single book around, it's definitely a red flag to leave immediately. Chances are, though, if you've made it to their room, that they have similar interests (like reading) and you scan their bookshelves to make up a solid opinion on them.

4. Internet Stalking Your Favorite Author For Hours

Some authors are much more present on social media, like John Green, J.K. Rowling, and Neil Gaiman, but others you have to stalk their website for any new info. I once checked my favorite author's site while doing a report on her and found that she was going to be in my city that very night for a signing (which I totally dropped everything I had to do that day and met her)! Besides potential meet-and-greets, author websites are filled with neat facts, extra writing, and fans just like you. Maybe you won't admit to it, but you've definitely internet stalked a well-loved author of yours a few times.

5. Imagining Your Life As A Novel On A Daily Basis

As a book-lover, you like to imagine how your life would look if it were documented in a book. You think that making eye contact with that cute guy on the subway or having the best night of your life at a concert would make a great first chapter. If your life were in book-form, it would probably be a lot more exciting, which is exactly why you love thinking about it.

6. Creating Perfect Music Playlists For Reading (Or Specific Books)

Creating playlists to listen to while reading a new book is one of my favorite things to do, because once I'm done reading, that song will always remind me of that book and those characters. If you haven't tried this already, I guarantee it'll become one of your favorite new secret habits.

7. Using Phrases From Favorite Characters As If You Came Up With It

After finishing works by Virginia Wolff or Jane Austen, it's impossible to resist using incredible phrases like "as long as she thinks of a man, nobody objects to a woman thinking" and "intolerably stupid." Of course you very well know you didn't come up with it, as do most people, but you still love doing it.

8. Lying About Your Weekend Plans

Not every book-lover is confident in saying her weekend will consist of devouring a few books and loving every second of it. Even if you love boasting about it, there's probably been at least a few times where you've told a little white lie about spending Friday night out and about rather than in your bed all curled up with a book.

9. Pretending To Have Read Each And Every Classic Book Out There

There are plenty of books you don't have to pretend to have read because being a book-lover means you've read more than most. However, when it comes down to certain classics you know you'll probably dislike (or gave up reading in high school) you can usually fake it if it ever comes up. There's a certain pride that comes with being addicted to reading, and that sometimes means pretending to have read more than you actually have.

10. Book Buying > Grocery Shopping

You can live off of ramen and mac and cheese. Books are more important because they feed the soul, anyway. Every reader is guilty of this. Don't even try to lie about it.

11. Taking Forever To Finish A Book Because You Don't Want It To End

No matter how quickly you can read, you take forever to finish this certain amazing book. Rereading chapters, pausing to think about a certain scene, wishing there were more pages as you get closer to the end... It's not an everyday habit, but when this happens, you're torn between wanting to finish and not wanting to move on.

12. Going To Your Favorite Authors And Books For Advice

Friends and family are usually great resources for advice on just about anything you're struggling with, but the best for us book-lovers is found in books. Even after I've been given monumental advice from someone I trust, I have a habit of picking up a favorite book (sometimes one that has nothing to do with my problems) and find more clarity that way.

13. Spending A Significant Amount Of Time Worrying About A Fictional Character

If you ever ask a book-lover what's on her mind if she can't sleep, odds are it's a character. Worrying about what's going to happen in the next chapter, thinking up all sorts of wacky possibilities, and hoping for the best outcome are common thoughts I'm faced with mid-book. Even on the train, in the middle of class, or during a dull meeting at work — thinking about characters is a major secret habit of any and every reader.

14. Traveling Means Getting To See The Most Incredible Bookstores Around The World

Traveling is one thing a book-lover does everyday (in our minds, of course). When we actually get to leave our home and visit new places around the globe, a habit I have, and many of my book-loving friends also share, is having to visit new and amazing bookstores everywhere we go.

Images: Fotolia; giphy (15)
https://www.bustle.com/articles/134779-14-secret-habits-every-book-lover-is-guilty-of-having
www.bustle.com
crawl=CC-MAIN-2021-17
59344
application/http; msgtype=response
sha1:Q5GSTLOJ3F3D3ERE5RSMO3YVONF6Z3II
<urn:uuid:96f7692e-1ed7-458b-a51e-5d355fe257b3>
2021-04-13T11:27:20Z
13.249.42.62
text/html
sha1:LRQYNZSIUE5YN37ARU6YUMHPQIEN4PCQ
<urn:uuid:be1fcb4b-9551-4d88-be1f-7bc519a6189e>
https://www.bustle.com/articles/134779-14-secret-habits-every-book-lover-is-guilty-of-having
response
<urn:uuid:2f5f171f-32df-4878-a04b-39807c4527af>
isPartOf: CC-MAIN-2021-17
publisher: Common Crawl
description: Wide crawl of the web for April 2021
operator: Common Crawl Admin (info@commoncrawl.org)
hostname: ip-10-67-67-51.ec2.internal
software: Apache Nutch 1.18 (modified, https://github.com/commoncrawl/nutch/)
robots: checked via crawler-commons 1.2-SNAPSHOT (https://github.com/crawler-commons/crawler-commons)
format: WARC File Format 1.1
conformsTo: https://iipc.github.io/warc-specifications/specifications/warc-format/warc-1.1/