Your Bad Reading Habits

[Chae]

Everybody has at least one - what's yours?


Mine include:

- Forgetting to read headings (I'm not kidding it's really weird)
- I like breaking the spine of a book
- Utter chaos in my shelf
- Reading at ungodly hours

[ashlesha]

-having silly obligations for myself like reading "good literature" I'm not extremely interested in or finishing a book I've started even when I'm not feeling it

-I keep my books in my huge purse to read on the bus along with my lunch and my umbrella that I throw back in wet and everything else, so by the time I finish them they're torn and wrecked to hell

[ouronis]

buying everything that seems interesting and never reading it

[Sanguine Miasma]

I tend to only read scientific (and sometimes mathematical) books. Lately I have read books series on history of mathematics. In a way it is easier as your mind do not go into millions of new hypothesis. I tell you it is hard. Dense representation makes concentration easier. Spend a lot of time in library as a child. I have eye issues which makes fast reading pain. Not so great when you combine it with concentration. I have listened audiobooks which makes it easier.


I have known EIE who constantly read books about philosophy and art interpretations. Mass consumer.

[Subteigh]

Obsessively putting my fingertips only in the margins.

[wasp]

- i read the whole book in one sitting or i read 20 pages before losing it in the abyss
- i don't remember enough to pick up where i left off, but i remember just enough that reading it from the beginning would be a bore
- i sparknotes critically-acclaimed books so that i can pretend i've read them
- 90% of the books on my bookshelf are only there for show
- i fold down the corners of pages with my favorite quotes so that i can revisit them at a later date (which i never do)
- i only retain a small portion of what i've read
- i carry books with me everywhere (but i rarely, if ever, remember to read them)
- my goodreads lists ~70 books but i think it's closer to 200-300
- i write personal notes all over the margins :3
- i spill things like coca cola and burrito sauce on my books
- what's wrong with judging a book by its cover?
- this one isn't bad but i can't read a book unless i'm in a comfortable sitting/lying position

[Aylen]

For years when asked how many books I had on my bookshelves I would just say, "about 400". A couple years back I was adding some new books, I inherited, when the person helping mentioned I had over a thousand books. I was a bit shocked. I guess I am not good at estimating. He said I had over a hundred just on one smaller bookcase. I have bookcases throughout my house, even in the hall. I have read about 2/3 of them but haven't gotten to some of those I inherited.

I put them together by subject not in alphabetical order. I also arrange by size so that they don't look awkward to me when I look at them. I can spend a bit of time moving them around until it looks like I just threw them together and they ended up looking that way effortlessly. I like to mix it up by adding old books in with the new so nothing looks too new. They make me happy when they look nice and people are impressed.

I am protective of my books. I love to keep them in pristine condition so that slight yellowing is the only thing that tarnishes them. I don't mind some frayed edges on older hard copies. Newer books don't tend to yellow like some of the ones I have had for years. It is probably the humidity here that caused it.

I get a little nervous when someone asks to borrow a book I really love. I don't loan out expensive copies. I have bought a paperback version and given it to friends when I feel I can't part with the one I have. If I loan a book, I ask them not to fold pages and to wash their hands before reading them. If they return the book(s) in a condition other than I loaned them I tell the person to just keep it and I buy another.

People have taken some of my books over the years and not told me so when I go to get it in the spot I left it and it is missing, I pretty much know who took it due to the subject. I will call them and I ask if it someone I am still in contact with. When they confirm and say they have meant to return it, I tell them to keep it since I was only wondering and I must have forgotten they asked to borrow it. I know they didn't ask and so do they. I am just putting them on notice not to do it again. lol It is kind of funny to call someone years after they took it because I only just noticed it gone.

My bad habit is an unhealthy obsession with the condition of my books. I have tried to reform by allowing my brother to read them and not get on his case about washing his hands first or whatever. He knows to use bookmarks at least. When he puts one back on the shelf I might go wipe it down. He loves to read like me so it would be selfish of me not to let him have access to what is here. I am probably less anal about it now than I was a few years ago. They're only books but I have respect for them.

I guess I have seen them as an extension of myself in many ways.