My reading rules.

Over at BookRiot today, there's a post about personal reading rules:

When I started thinking about this piece, I thought about it as just a list of my (many!) seemingly arbitrary rules for reading. Once I got started, though, I discovered that those rules actually tell you so much about me that they double as personality traits. In fact, they say so much about me that I’m actually a little uncomfortable sharing them now, but I’m going to anyway because I’m done with the piece; this paragraph is actually, chronologically, the last one I’ve written, and who wants to waste all that effort?

Which (obviously) made me think about my own set of personal reading rules.

1. I'm a note taker. If I don't have pencil and paper at hand—or am too lazy to get up and go find pencil and paper—I will dog ear pages. Yes, that's right, I AM AN UNREPENTANT DOGEAR-ER.

1a. Since I realize that this confession will probably result in you all shunning me forevermore—you're totally going to cross the street to avoid me at BookExpo next week, aren't you?—I'm going to go ahead and ADMIT ALL: Yes, I even dogear library books. (I always un-dogear before I return them, though.

1b. If it makes you feel any better, I dogear the BOTTOM of the page, not the top.

1c. I don't write in books. Ever. I do use the Note feature on my Kindle a hella lot, though.

2. When Josh gets ready to read a new paperback, he preemptively breaks its spine, and I flinch every single time.

3. Halfway through any given hardback, the book jacket starts driving me bananas and I take it off and throw it behind the couch. I retrieve and replace when I'm done reading.

4. The only genre I seem to be capable of reading without going into Literary Analysis mode? Vaguely smutty historical romances.

5. I've said this before, but it should be included: I'm a really, REALLY visual reader. When I'm wrapped up in a book, it's like I stop seeing the words and have an actual movie playing in my head: therefore, I had to stop listening to audiobooks in the car because I kept running stop signs.

6. I'm a vocal supporter of Putting The Book Down If It Isn't Working For You, but I find that I rarely actively do that myself. More often, I realize months later that I set something down and never returned to it. 

7. I'm a one-book-at-a-time girl. And I always have at least two back-ups in my bag, JUST IN CASE.

So. YOUR TURN.

Comments

[Katie]

I totally dogear! No shame! Didn't use bookmarks till I worked at a book store, where a bookmark is easier than dogear-ing every few pages to serve someone.

I also crack paperbacks and read one book at a time.

LOATHE book jackets. Have since I was a child. ALWAYS remove them immediately, and it's only out of being shamed by my mother that I don't throw them in the recycling.

I'm a super slow reader. My mum said it's because I read every word and I was like "well, duh." I didn't realize others don't. I have a boss who skips all description and finishes books in 2-3 hours.

I'm actually so used to reading paperbacks to save money (and I have repetitive stress from sewing work) that I find reading hardcovers physically uncomfortable to try curling up with. O_o

Since I started working the a book store, I'm more willing to give up on a book because it's either an ARC or I got my discount. When I had to pay full price I almost always finished books even if it meant hate-reading.

I'm one of those freaks who's utterly grossed out by library books... I've recently started using them for research but still can't do fiction from the library. People get comfy with fiction...

[Amanda]

I don’t dogear but I will lie a book flat to hold my place, which isn’t any better.

Can’t listen to music (if it has words) or have the TV on in the same room while I’m reading.

I will read more than one book a time, but if I’m doing that, it’s a sign that I’m not all that in to any of them. If I’m digging it, I’m faithful. (Hmmm...)

[Jenn]

I used to dogear pages when I was younger, but now I just use random scraps of paper or receipts as a bookmark. My mom will buy me bookmarks, but they are never at hand when I need them.

If it's a book I love (and own), I will underline favorite passages or write in margins, but only with pencil or a pen with archival quality ink. My book history professor said that old books with notes in them are actually worth more sometimes, because they tell a little bit about the people who read them and give the book history.

Now that I'm living out on my own and have a tight budget, I mostly get my reading material from the library, so I put down books that aren't doing anything for me with no shame whatsoever.

Despite scrawling on the actual pages of the books, I am anal about keeping the outside of the books in as pristine condition as I possibly can. One time, I made the mistake of lending out my paperback copy of The Queen of Attolia to a friend and I caught him reading it with the pages rolled back and then he laid it down open on a table instead of using a bookmark. I almost lost it.

I see the book played out in my head as well, but for some reason it doesn't prevent me from listening to audio books in the car. That's probably the only place I can concentrate on them. Anywhere else and my mind starts to wander. I'm like that dog from Up with the squirrel.

[Jen Robinson]

I don't dog-ear - I am a dedicated bookmark user (it helps that I have MANY). I'm definitely of the "keep a book pristine" school. I use post-it flags to mark up books that I'm going to review.

I am also a vocal supporter of the "put a book down if it isn't working" school. I just put down a middle grade novel that I was 2/3 of the way through - couldn't have been more than an hour left. But I kept falling asleep, and it was keeping me from reading other things.

Interesting stuff to think about. Thanks!

[Ms_lilyanderson]

As a fellow librarian, I guess my secret shameful rule is that I cannot read library books. If I read something in my professional library that I love, I will stop reading it, buy myself a copy, and finish it from there. I have this thing about owning the "original" copy of something (for instance, I pretended to lose the library copy of Princess Bride I read when I was 11, just so I could keep it).

I have a problem with reading "seasonal" books. If a book feels too much like winter (and sometimes that's just a matter of prose), I will wait to read it until the weather is more appropriate. Reading about snow in the middle of California summer is dreadful.

I don't use bookmarks. I always end up leaving whatever receipt or bill or scrap of paper I did use to hold pages in the book so that I can have a point of reference for rereading.

I cannot abide price tags. I will tear them off before I even read the first page.

I will keep books I didn't love if I feel like I know someone who would love them.

I only make notes in plays and poetry, but often find myself buying a clean copy to sit next to the marked one.

I love audiobooks, but I hate that I can't see the sentence structure. More than once, I've looked up a book I'm listening to on Amazon just so I can see how a particular passage is crafted.

[dangermom]

Oh, I absolutely dogear. I'm a bookmark addict too, but dogears are to mark important bits.

I'm so cheap that I hardly ever buy books. (My house is full nevertheless.) Mostly I use the library, and actually purchasing a book is something of a Big Deal, only to be done with great deliberation if I can't get it at the library *and* really need to own it. I have a whole list of books that I want to ILL so I don't have to buy them.

I must have several books going at one time, and at all times there must be a variety to pick from. I'll take 3 or 4 books on an overnight trip that won't have hardly any time for reading. PLUS my tablet, which must have 60 books I haven't read yet on it (though to be fair a lot of those are really weird old books that are hard to read). By now I am nearly incapable of reading one book until I get to the end. I am a butterfly. I flit.

I try never to break a book's spine. Ack.

I learned to put books down in library school. Don't love it? It's gone.

[Charlotte]

Oh goodness my husband is a spine cracker and it hurts!!!! I never dogear. It makes the book cry. But I do leave books drapped open all around the house--I have about five going at any given time, and Natural Selection works well to weed out the ones I don't care about enough to find again and finish.

Viz seasonal reading--unlike Ms. lilyanderson, I actually do like to read the wrong weather. I am all for snow in summer!

[Sarah]

People have been buying me bookmarks my entire reading life and I never use them. They sit at the bottom of a monogrammed book bucket (very Kate Wetherall) which sits at the bottom shelf of my nightstand. The bucket is full of very fun but ultimately useless reader helpers like flag notes and a highlighting pencil. I rarely write in books or take notes about them, I just remember. What I am making for dinner, what I was just saying, I forget, but if I read it, I remember it.
I don't dog ear either, not out of some moral objection, I just don't. I do leave books open all over the house. I am a one book woman, but drop books quickly when they aren't working. Sometimes that's the book, but it is often my mood. Those get put on a try again later list.
I read library books constantly and since I leave them lying around and eat and drink while reading, I consider the occasional ruined library book my super reader tax.
I have a lot of books and I do buy books, but it is mostly a treat, unless I stumble across a treasure at my library's weekly book sale. That sale has been both wonderful and horrible. My TBR pile is monstrous, but I picked up some amazing books for a dollar each.
I do try and weed about once a year. I hate getting rid of books and try to only buy books I already love. It seems like I am even more nostalgic about books the older I get. To make matters worse, my daughter is reading a lot of my favorites. So I am buying books for a second time.
My one unbreakable rule is I absolutely cannot read a new book near bedtime. I have a small pile of books that have made it through a very rigorous testing procedure (happy, no death of any person or pet, and no aggravating flaws) that I read before bed.

[Chrissy]

Not really reading, but I hate it when my sets don't match. It annoys me to no end when a publisher releases a series in one format (paperback for instance) and then switches midway through the series or changes the artwork.
My son, for reasons I don't understand, is a bookmark stealer. Now I have to either hide my books from him or put them out of his reach so he won't yank my bookmark and make me lose my place. I've had some success using post-its.
Reading is also like watching movies for me. Graphic novels and comics screw this up for me, so I don't like reading them as much as I would like to be able to.

[Lisa]

Ditto on putting down boring books. I got over the guilt long ago--too many books, too little time.

But I'm also usually in the middle of 3-4 books, and will pick up whatever I feel like reading that day...

[Francesca]

I read the first few pages, I read the last few pages, I read a few pages here and there in the middle and only then decided if I want to read that book. Then I start again at page one.

[Jessica Silverstein]

Oh thank goodness, I am not the only dog-earing booklover! But not my signed copies. Those I'm nice to. And ditto with the visuals; I definitely could not listen and drive, if I could drive at all. I find that I like podcasts for my walks, though--I fear I would miss things in audiobooks, or else walk into traffic.

[Brooke Shirts]

And yes, I realize that there may be a connection between my unscrupulous filching of bookmarks and my conspicuously unmarked Bible. Ahem.

[Brooke Shirts]

Wait . . . wha? My first comment (which explains the unmarked Bible and said filched bookmarks) somehow disappeared! So . . . .arrrgh. #awkward

[Ruby]

*I write in all my books... Sometimes more my writing than the authors on a page; I do a mini analysis as I read... don't hate me! :P
*I don't dogear....
*I leave books lying face down instead, open to the page I'm at. Shame.

[Eliza]

1. Hardbacks - I immediately take off the book jacket before reading the book both to protect it (especially if it's my commute book) and because they annoy me. Maybe the reason covers on library books don't annoy me is 'cause they're taped down so they're not flapping about.

2. I'm totally a bookmark user but they have to be a certain size and thinness. I don't dog ear pages and, in fact, un-dog ear any such pages in the library books I'm reading.

3. I don't write in books unless it's a reference or professional book or cookbook. My cookbooks are full of notes (and stains)! I do keep a notebook where I write quotes and passages that strike me while reading. I love to look back to see what struck me at the time. I've noticed that different passages stand out when re-reading a book especially if there's been a substantial passage of time between readings.

4. I usually have more than one book going at a time - my commute book, an audiobook, and my book at home. I've learned the hard way (e.g. the train is stuck on the tracks for hours, I've finished my book and now have nothing to read) to always carry a back-up (or two) with me. This is why I'd love to have an e-reader so my commute bag won't be so heavy and I don't have to choose between the book I really want to read but can't 'cause it's too heavy and the paperback.

5. I love audiobooks. In fact, my iPod is about 97% books, 2% podcasts and 1% music. A talented narrator can add so much to the experience. Plus they're (a) a great way to be able to follow a story and still be able to people watch when on public transport or waiting in line; (b) a way to get in extra books and reduce the ever growing TBR when otherwise you can't read; (c) a way to make mundane chores such as cleaning house or ironing go more quickly; and (d) total lifesavers for commuting. I have to admit that the books I listen to when driving and taking public transport or walking are different. Books for driving have to be on the lighter end of the scale 'cause after all my main focus has to be on the driving and not the story.

6. If I'm not clicking with a book, I (a) give it at least 90 pages before giving up; (b) try to read at least 20 pages in a row without interruption so I get a sense of the narrative's flow, (c) will flip through and read ahead and the (gasp!) ending to see if there's something that will catch my interest. Yes, sometimes I read the endings of books before finishing it. No, it doesn't ruin it for me. In fact, often knowing how it ends allows me to relax and enjoy the story.

7. As mentioned by a couple of folks already, sometimes it's the case of the right book at the wrong time. So, that book is filed away in the to be read later pile.

8. Totally love the library. In fact, due to being currently broke, I haven't bought any books in over a year and the library has been my lifesaver.

9. I periodically cull my books and give them away both to friends, strangers (leaving a book on the train, bus, at a cafe) and organizations. I own way too many books.

10. I love re-reading books. There are several that are my comfort reads. Sometimes I'll dip into a book just to read certain sections.

11. I can't go to sleep without reading - even if it's just a few pages. Unfortunately, this sometimes unintentionally leads to very late nights.

12. I take an assortment of books when I travel because I don't know what I'll be in the mood for and books in English are so expensive in other countries. This is another reason why I'd love to have an e-reader.

[LindaY]

I don't dogear, but I riffle the top corner, so it eventually makes a bookmark. I read several at once, depending on what I feel like reading. Used to take an assortment of books with me on vacation (so did my husband), which was absurd because we always BOUGHT books on vacation. Now we just take our small tablets. (Well, I take the small tab to read books and the large one to read my magazine subscriptions.) I don't write in books, but as a kid used to draw pictures of the characters in the endpapers. I have ALL THE MOWGLI STORIES with Bagheera and Mowgli drawn in it.

[Leila]

@LindaY: I LOVE that bit about the endpapers. I've never been a draw-er, but I have an old copy of Michael Crichton's Disclosure in which a high school friend drew a stick figure flip book of the lady sexually harassing the main character. It probably speaks to my immaturity that it still makes me laugh.