January 3, 2012

I'm a Bad, Bad Girl

I told my friend Jana (of That Artsy Reader Girl) that I would post about my own bookish bad habits right after this post came out on her blog. But then life got in the way, in the form of the holidays, work and a review writing slump, and I wasn't able to do it. And now, here I am, in the wee hours of the third morning of 2012 and I just wanted to put my own two cents in.
  • I buy a book when I see it's recommended or specially displayed in a store. Though I have ended up with some great books, for the most part, I almost always end up with books I don't enjoy or don't read at all. And speaking of not reading books I buy at all...
  • I often buy books, but then I neglect them.  I have 40ish unread books sitting in a book pile, and most of them are actually books I bought for myself. When I see or rearrange them, I always get excited - and then something else comes along and I forget all about them.
  • If I love a series, I have to have the hardcover editions. I know I'm in the minority on this one, but I love hardcover editions of my favorite books. I just feel like they're more solid, if that makes any sense to any of you.
  • I read more than one book at a time. It's bad for my concentration, attention span and especially writing reviews. I often character names or places mixed up because of this habit. But I can't help it if I forget to bring a book, and just bring my Kindle sometimes.
  • I often write my reviews weeks/months after reading the book. I have that awful habit of setting down a book, marking it as read and moving directly on to the next one. I know that it would be easier and whole lot more efficient if I just wrote the reviews straightaway.
  • I always have to finish a book. Even if I greatly dislike it, even if it makes me mad or has me bored to tears (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, I'm looking at you.), I will always, always, always make myself finish a book.
So there you have it, my list of bookish bad habits. I'm working on most of these (especially writing reviews, reading just one book at a time and working my way through my reading pile), so hopefully, I'll have crushed some of them by the end of this year.

What are your bookish bad habits?

10 Comments:

  1. Oh my gosh I think this just proves we were meant to be friends because I have almost all of the same bad habits. I am notorious for reading more than one book at once and I often wait way too long to write my reviews! These may not be the best habits but hey, they are what work for us!

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  2. I swear, I commented on this and everything! I did! I have no idea where it went, but when I was perusing your blog, I noticed this one had no comments! LIES!

    Thanks so much for participating in my bookish bad habits discussion! I really enjoyed thinking about how I handle my blog and my reading. You're so lucky you only have 40 unread books in your TBR pile. I have hundreds, and I kid you not. I also HAVE to own my favorite series (what is the plural of series? Seriously.) in hardback. Usually the covers are so much prettier on hardback novels! And finally, I wait forever to write my reviews. I embarrass myself! I also feel bad for doing it, because I feel like I'm not being dedicated enough to the author (especially if I got a free copy from them). I'm doing my best now to write the review the next day. OH. And I also ALWAYS have to finish a book. Well... unless it's completely revolting or the marketing people failed to mention it's erotica (has happened to me before!). I'm trying to get better at quitting if I hate it. Reading should be fun, not a chore!

    Thanks again for joining in on my fun!

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  3. Oh no! A lost comment - I shall see if I can figure out what happened to it.

    And of course. Your discussion really made me think about and assess what bad habits I have when it comes to books. Turns out there are quite a few.

    We do the same thing! It's so hard for me to DNF a book, and I don't think I've ever done that yet.

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  4. I neglect books I've purchased too. I almost didn't let myself get a Kindle until I finished all the unread books on my shelves. Of course I have no self control so I bought the Kindle anyway. (I LOVE it by the way!)

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  5. I totally am with you on the buying books and neglecting them. I want to read them all, but there are just too many, especially with review books in tow. What a dilemma...and bad bookish habit. =p

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  6. oh gosh, if I wait too long to write a review, I am in trouble!! lol!

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  7. Oh, I have so many of these problems too! I might need to write one of these posts as well, with the hope that writing them down and airing my faults will help me conquer them for good! I have to say, I'm particularly bad with buying the books and neglecting them. My biggest pile of unreads is a bunch of paperbacks I bought at Borders TWO YEARS AGO that I haven't read yet. AT ALL. Amazingly, sometimes I suck at reading.

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  8. Yay, Alexa! SO happy you did this! I love your bad habits. Haha. I'm also one of those people who has to have hardbacks of beloved series. They are usually prettier! Haha. And I also write reviews WAY after I've finished it. I end up having a hard time remembering! It's frustrating... Thanks for participating, and thanks for entering my giveaway! I hope you win Nocturne, because I know you'd love it!

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  9. Yeah, you're bookish bad habits resemble mine... ;) I am such a book hoarder as well! And it's gotten more obvious now I've started using Goodreads to keep track of this bad habit and now I KNOW I have 149 books I own that have remained unread so far... EEP!
    I would love to be able to get hardcovers for all my favourite books! The main series I want to do this for is Harry Potter, as I own the last 3 in hardcover and the rest in paperback. And yes for waiting too long to review books! It is such a problem!
    I'm tempted to do a post like this as well :)

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  10. ...and yay! I'm here again. Haha. Just noticed your other comment! I'm glad you loved my class's story! The illustrated hardback is completely adorable. Each kid got to illustrate a part of the story, and then we put it all together. You'll LOVE Cinder too! For some reason I thought you'd already read it... Hmm.

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