Fact: I don't like coffee. I just like saying Coffee Clutch in my best and deepest New York accent. Considering I'm a New Yorker, I'm pretty freaking good at it. So I've got my tea and I hope you have your heated beverage of choice, because it's time to gab the day away.
1. Acknowledgements
I read them. Sometimes before I even start a book, just to get a feel for the author. A lot of the times they’re really sweet and meaningful and make me love and author more than the actual contents of their books. Not to mention, if I’m on the fence about reading/buying a book, a lot of the times I’ll let the acknowledgements decide for me.
2. Reading the first and last sentence
I have a tendency to read the first and last sentence of a book before I start it. I know, I know, you should NEVER skip to the last page, but I think I do it in order to keep myself form flipping forward as I’m reading the actual book. Because I am that person who would skip ahead and ruin a book for herself. So I let myself read the last sentence in hopes that it’ll keep me from cheating as I read.
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| PLEASE DON'T JUDGE ME. |
3. Closing a book and checking the top
This sounds strange. What I mean is, once I’m done reading for the time being, I’ll stick in my bookmark and check the top of the book to see my progress. It’s kind of like how an e-book tells you your progress in percentages. I look at the top of the book and guesstimate my percentage. I have no idea why I do this, but it’s kind of become a reflex.
4. Book Jackets
I always take the book jackets off the hard cover books. This is partially because I don't want them to get all bent up, dirty, gross, or, GOD FORBID, lost. But it's also a little bit because sometimes the book I'm reading is so GLARINGLY YA and I don't want strangers judging me.
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| Cone of Shame. |
5. I will never allow harm to come to my books
I won’t bend the spine or dog-ear pages. If it’s raining, I’ll find a way to make sure the books in my bag won’t get wet. I love my books too much to allow any harm to come to them, really. So what I’m really saying here is: feel free to lend me stuff, okay blogger friends? Unless something very much outside of my control occurs, your book will get back to you in pristine condition. Or I’ll buy you a new one.
I won’t bend the spine or dog-ear pages. If it’s raining, I’ll find a way to make sure the books in my bag won’t get wet. I love my books too much to allow any harm to come to them, really. So what I’m really saying here is: feel free to lend me stuff, okay blogger friends? Unless something very much outside of my control occurs, your book will get back to you in pristine condition. Or I’ll buy you a new one.
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| It is with this level of fierceness that I protect all of the books. |
There are a lot of other things I do, so I'm sure there will be a Part II to this when I think of them. So for now, try not to think less of me for my bad bookish behavior and leave me a little love in the comments below!
Well, if these are "weird book things", I do most of them too! Mostly #1, #3, and #4. I never read books with dust jackets on, check my progress at the top of the book, and not only do I read the acknowledgements--I also read the pages at the beginning of the book that have the publisher, year printed, and copyright information. Why? I have no idea, but it's a habit.
ReplyDeleteI also do #5 to some extent; I never dog-ear or bend the spine(I kinda cringe every time I see someone doing that!) but I will write in pencil in my book if it's a book I'm going to keep forever, or to mark a favorite quote or something.
Maybe they aren't weird. But I feel like the average reader doesn't do these things? Maybe I'm wrong >.<
DeleteI am glad I'm not alone with the "weirdness" though! =D
I thought I was the only one who checked the top of the book! I love seeing my bookmark move closer and closer to the back, tracking my progress! Since I've been blogging, I've been much more into reading the acknowledgements of books. I think it's because I follow a lot of the authors on Twitter, so I feel like I "know them" and want to see what they've taken the time to write.
ReplyDeleteI feel like following an author on Twitter is the part two of my acknowledgement reading, not the other way around. But I totally get the KNOWING THEM thing.
DeleteI definitely do the first one, as I love acknowledgment pages in books! It's always fun to see who an author thanks in their books.
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I don't do on this list, actually, is #2. Because I like the mystery of it all ;)
I'm mad at being patient. SO BAD AT BEING PATIENT. >.<
DeleteOh my gosh, I check the top of the book too!!! I don't like to know how many pages there are in a book so that's my way of measuring how far I am. I am crazy anal about keeping my books in perfect condition. Like, so much that if it's a book I purchased myself, I won't let it leave my house. I think books are so pretty and also I like to keep everything I own in good condition. This is one of the reasons I get so many books from the library, so I can take them wherever I go without worrying about their condition.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I'm not as anal about book conditions. But I get why other people are. And I love watching the bookmark move to the back of the book :)
DeleteYOU READ THE LAST SENTENCE? Are you MAD??? :P
ReplyDeleteI can't do that, I can't, I can't, I can't. My brain just doesn't allow it, at all. Sometimes I can't even read reviews in case they have spoilers o_O!!
I very rarely read the acknowledgments *hangs head in shame* but when I do, I know what you mean about getting to know an author!
Everything else I do. All of it. Even the checking the top to see how far I am. Why? I cannot fathom. It's why I love Goodreads, it tells me EXACTLY how far in percent I am :P
Jackets are always off.
Books are always pristine - unless it was already a second hand book! :P
Great post as always Gabster.
I am mad. CRAZY MAD INSANE ALL OF THOSE THINGS. I'm just impatient. I'm just lucky I can keep myself from skimming the ending. It's a resistance I've had to build up over the years.
DeleteThanks for the love, darling <3
haha I check the top too. When I start reading I put my bookmark on that page and when I stop reading I like to look at my progress. Makes me feel good when I see a stack of pages.
ReplyDeleteI'd never read the last sentence though!!
For real. Seeing the progress is AMAZING.
DeleteYeah, it seems like I'm the only one who reads that last sentence. But more to keep myself from reading the whole last chapter.
I always read the dedication and acknowledgements - they wouldn't sway me to buying a book, but I like getting a teeny-tiny glimpse into the author's world. Tahereh Mafi writes good acknowledgements. And, you know, books in general, so... One of my favourite dedications is the one in The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater which says, "To Marian who dreams of horses". It's so... simple and beautiful and evocative.
ReplyDeleteHaha, I totally dogear my books. I don't like them being too tatty and battered, but I can handle a bit of a well-loved look. Besides, dogearing helps me find my favourite quotes/paragraphs/entire sections faster. On very, very rare occasions I'll underline a quote (usually in silver squiggly lines) but one time I used the wrong pen and it BLED THROUGH the page and my book was PRACTICALLY RUINED. *sadness*
Dogearing is USEFUL, it just makes me sad once the page is bent forever. I'd rather stick in random bits of papers and forget about them, put them on my shelves and be annoyed with myself later for leaving millions of makeshift bookmarks everywhere. >.<
DeleteI almost always read the acknowledgements in a book - I'm glad to see that other people do it and I'm not weird. I always love it when the author takes a small paragraph to thank the people who are reading the book. That always makes me love him/her a little bit more. I know if I ever wrote a novel, I'd be thanking the people buying and reading my words!
ReplyDeleteI like reading the last sentence, too, but that usually doesn't stop me from skipping ahead. I hate it when I skim ahead and accidentally find out something crucial to the plot early, though, and I have to be like, "You have nobody but yourself to blame." Lol
Very protective of my books as well. My friend accidentally bent the cover of my copy of Fire by Kristin Cashore and apologized to me profusely for like a week because she knows this. But it's okay now that it's straightened out. ;)
Thanks for your thoughts.
I've read ahead and ruined a book for myself more times than I can count. I read the last sentence to try and keep myself from reading the whole ending.
DeleteThank YOU for stopping by, Becca :)
Oh, I loved this one. I ALWAYS read the acknowledgments, check how far I am in a book (yes, I DO THIS TOO! I also check how many pages/chapters there are before I start, just to get a clue of how big a book actually is, and also how long it will take me to read it haha.), take book jackets off for exactly the same reasons and do WHATEVER it takes to keep my (and other's) books in a perfect condition. I'm terrible with lending books to people, but if I know that person will take good care of it (not RUIN it like my copies of Twilight - I don't even care about that - and the Hunger Games - CRYING) I won't mind. The only thing I don't do is read the last sentence, because usually it's MAJOR SPOILER ALERT. Okay, I do this sometimes. When I'm reaaaally curious. Another all over the place comment, hope you liked it :D
ReplyDeleteHaha I love the all over-need :)
DeleteThe last sentence doesn't really tell TOO much, I don't think. And I just can't stop my fingers from flipping the pages forward, so at least I limit myself to just one sentence.
I never read the last sentence. In fact, people in school used to steal my books and try to read the last page to me for some torturous reason. I got violent. I do, however, find my eyes wandering a few paragraphs ahead or over to the next page if things get really intense. It's like a compulsion. Sometimes I have to put my hand over the parts I haven't gotten to yet so it won't be ruined.
ReplyDeleteI always, always check my progress. Sometimes I'll even stick a bookmark in while I'm reading just so I can see how far I've gotten.
Reading with the book jacket on is such a pin in the rear! It just gets all flappy and I'm in a constant state of worry that it'll get ruined.
I also do this kind of weird thing that I don't think anyone else does. Before I read a book I have to look at the back, read the synopsis, and then look under the jacket if it's a hardcover. I don't even know why I do this, but I can't start a book without it.
These people you went to school with? MEAN. MEAN MEAN MEAN. I don't approve.
DeleteBut I'm glad to see I'm not alone in some of the crazy things I do!!! ^_^
I'm always checking my progress.. sometimes I even boast about it to my fiancé. xD Sometimes he couldn't care less, sometimes he's actually quite impressed. It's a little sweet actually.
ReplyDeleteAND I do the book jacket thing. But only so I don't mess the covers up. I don't give a crap what people think of what I'm reading. :D
I try not to care what other people think of what I'm reading but SOMETIMES I can't help myself.
DeleteAlso, that thing with your fiance? CUTE.