Thursday, July 28, 2016

Twenty-five Bookish Facts about Me

1. I currently own 572 books, not including textbooks, reference books, cookbooks, duplicate copies, etc. If I include those books, I own 595 books.

2. I don't like owning more than one copy of a book because I don't see the point in that. This has become a problem ever since I got married to a bookworm like myself because now we have many duplicate books.

3. I used to not own very many books, perhaps only fifty books from my childhood. But then I bought my first bookshelf (Billy from IKEA), and ever since then I've acquired books like crazy. That's the secret to buying more books: buy a bookshelf.

4. After much thought, I've decided that I prefer paperbacks to hardcovers.

5. I very much dislike ebooks. I will never purchase an ebook, and I won't read an ebook unless absolutely necessary. I also don't own any form of tablet or e-reader or ever intend to purchase one. I do, however, love audiobooks.

6. I used to hate Goodreads and never use it, but earlier this year I suddenly became obsessed with it and now it's my favorite website.

7. I usually don't reread books. I've only ever reread maybe five books. The book I've reread the most is Incantation by Alice Hoffman. I think I've read it four times.

8. The best book I've read is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. The worst book I've read is Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis.

9. I buy most of my books discounted through either Book Outlet, Amazon Prime, the Barnes & Noble membership program, or used bookstores. I've also received a lot of books free from friends who don't want them or from a program through my library that gave out books to high schoolers who review books. Yay for free books!

10. When I was younger, most of the books I read were from the library. I always managed to pick up books that were lesser known, so I didn't grow up reading the popular books or the same books as everyone else.

11. Reading library books led me to prefer books that are lesser well known. I own lots of books that many people haven't heard of, and these tend to be my favorites. The really popular books tend to be only okay for me, not great.

12. Reading lesser well-known books led me to read the Harry Potter series for the first time last year when I was twenty years old. I know, I know, that's a disgrace. But I love it, so that's okay.

13. I don't like novellas, short stories, novelettes, between-the-series books (0.4, 1.5), etc. I only like full-length novels.

14. I have a hard time getting rid of books I own. Whether I read it and didn't like it, I don't want to read it, or I own two copies, I still want to keep it. I'm currently trying to overcome this problem.

15. I like my books to look pristine. I don't like writing in books, folding the pages down, or bending the spine back. But if I buy a book from a used bookstore, I'm okay if it has some wear on it. There's a fine line.

16. I'd like to be a writer someday, but that's never going to happen. I haven't really written any stories, nor do I have any ideas for stories. I just think being a writer sounds nice.

17. I cannot listen to music while I read, even instrumental music. If I do, I'll start singing or humming along and completely lose focus on my book.

18. I also cannot eat and read at the same time. At all. I either focus entirely on reading or entirely on eating.

19. I'm a total cover shopper (who isn't?). What I mean by this is that I will only pick up a book and read its description if I like the cover or if it was recommended it to me. But I will only actually buy a book if I like its plot.

20. My bookshelf is super organized because I can't stand a messy bookshelf. I organize first by type of book (adult fiction, young adult fiction, nonfiction, classics, etc.), and second by series or standalone. Thirdly, all standalones are organized by title alphabetically, and all series are organized by author last name.

21. I don't have a favorite spot to read, but I tend to do most of my reading on the couch.

22. I prefer reading contemporary and historical fiction and dystopian. I have a hard time reading books that aren't believable, which is usually why I don't read fantasy. For me to enjoy a fantasy book, the story has to be believable within its own world, if that makes sense.

23. I believe that my favorite book ever hasn't been written yet, or at least not read by me yet. I've never had that moment with a book when I immediately want to restart it once I finish it, nor have I had the burning desire to reread any book every year. I think that when I feel that way about a book, I'll have found my favorite book.

24. One of my biggest worries is that I will die without having read all the books I want to read. Obviously, that's a tall order since new books come out so frequently, but I at least want to read all the books I own and all the books on my immediate TBR list.

25. I currently have over 1,000 books on my TBR list, but I'm hoping to narrow that down to around 100 and keep it there.

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