Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for a book tag because, who doesn’t love them?!
I’m also facing a MEGA reading slump and, after seeing this tag on Komoberi, I decided it was time to get back in the tagging game and give it a go!
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1. Do you have a certain place at home for reading?
I have a beautiful (and very comfy) armchair in the living room which is perfect for snuggling up in with a book. However, it can sometimes get a bit too comfortable, as I’ve recently found myself falling asleep whilst reading – especially if there’s a blanket involved.
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2. Bookmark or random piece of paper?
WHICH AWFUL HUMANS WOULD TURN THE CORNERS OF A PAGE?!
I always use a bookmark. I have a selection of them to use (for some reason I keep being given bookmarks as presents. Go figure!) but I’ll always have a receipt or travelcard handy as well, just in case.
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3. Can you just stop reading or do you have to stop after a chapter/ a certain amount of pages?
I’ll stop when I finish…
Kidding (mostly). I try and hit the end of chapters but it does completely depend on how tired I am. I’ll do my best to stay up, but it’s just as likely that I’ll fall asleep mid word.
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4. Do you eat or drink while reading?
Only snacks, food is too dangerous to put near books. Also food needs love and attention too.
Whatever I do choose to eat, the chances of me forgetting to eat/drink the intended snack drastically increases with the quality of the book. I’ve lost count of the cups of tea that have gone cold because I had to finish a particularly epic chapter.
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5. Multitasking: Music or TV while reading?
Sometimes, it completely depends on the type of book/music or TV on. Angry hip hop, for example, just wouldn’t work. Neither does a highly visual film or documentary. But sports I can generally read with (I just make sure I look up whenever the crowd starts screaming).
I’ll also put on some instrumental or chilled music when it’s too loud to read on public transport. Because, you know, music trumps people…especially in the mornings.
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6. One book at a time or several at once?
I used to be a die-hard ‘one book at a time’ kind of girl. Then I discovered the problem of commuting while reading a 1000 page heifer. So now I tend to have a book on my Kindle and a physical at home on the go at the same time. Oh, and an audiobook for the days when it’s too crowded for even a Kindle.
And sometimes a non-fiction too, because I like to pretend I’m intellectual.
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7. Reading at home or everywhere?
Everywhere. No one should ever be without a book.
In fact, make that two, just in case you finish the first one before you get home.
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8. Reading out loud or silently in your head?
I’ll read silently in my head for novels but I’ll repeat passages out loud for non-fiction that I’m struggling to understand (a particularly hard bit of philosophy, for example).
I’ll always read poetry out loud too – it’s feels wrong not to.
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9. Do you read ahead or even skip pages?
What madness is this? Why on Earth (or any world/space/dimension, depending on whether your story is a fantasy or not) would you ever consider skipping pages?!
OK, OK. That was a bit of a lie.
I have done it once but only for a review book I was really struggling to finish. I couldn’t bring myself to give up (I was over 70% through) and the thought of actually having to read the other 30% upset me greatly. So I may have skipped 20% of it.
But that was the only time, I promise!
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10. Breaking the spine or keeping it like new?
Though the bookworm in me screams internally (think banshee meets wolfish howl) at all the broken spines in the world, the rational side of me (I swear it exists!) knows that – sometimes – it is impossible not to break the spine.
Put it this way: one day, I will grow old. Life will leave its scars and wrinkles. My hair colour will fade and thin. I might even stoop with age.
But that’s OK. Each scar is a story told across my skin; each wrinkle a memory of an evening spent laughing with friends; each white hair proof of a (metaphoric) battle won. And I’ll always be dancing.
The same will happen to my books; they will grow old no matter what I do to protect them. I can throw them about and batter them, which will speed up the process. Or I can respect them and love them – slather anti-aging cream on them* – and, hopefully, they’ll last for as long as I will.
*please don’t actually put anti-aging cream on your books.
11. Do you write in your books?
WTF?
No.
Categorically not.
I’d maybe consider it for a book I was studying. But even then, there’s a reason Postit notes exist. Maybe we should use them.
Just a thought.
A Literary Mind 