Top Ten Reading Habits

What are your reading idiosyncrasies? We all have them. There are rituals we have or particular things we do when looking for books or when reading them. Here are mine:

1. I’m often lured in to reading a book based on its title. I love a good poetic-sounding title.
2. I prefer literary fiction to any other genre. Books like that come closest to the kinds of books I fell in love with when I was younger.
3. I can also be drawn in by a good cover image. But title and genre win out. Just think of the original covers of The Secret Life of Bees and The Help. Not much on the cover to lure me in there, yet some of the best books I’ve read.
4. I can’t seem to get out of a bookstore without having to use their bathroom. As soon as I start browsing the shelves–generally when I’ve found something really interesting–I suddenly have the urge to pee. Happens every time. I know–TMI–but there it is. 100% true.
5. While living in China, I fell in love with audiobooks. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy of Leif Enger’s So Brave, So Young and So Handsome. I was teaching ESL at a university at the time. A student’s father was traveling to Singapore. She’d heard me mention how much I missed being able to read English books, and offered to have her father buy me something while he was there. So I ordered So Brave, but I found out it came out on audiobook, and I just couldn’t wait. The actor who read the book did different voices for each of the characters, and read so well, I was entranced. Plus I could “read” while doing the dishes!
6. I NEVER skip to the end of a book or a chapter. Once or twice my eyes have flitted to the opposite page, and I see a detail too soon and I get really mad about it. I want the story to tantilize–to draw me along and make me wonder and guess. I detest spoiled endings.
7. Now that I’ve been learning the craft of fiction writing, I find it hard not to critique a book while I read. A really great book is one that makes me forget about all that and just sink in and enjoy it.
8. Until recently, a few books I read made me despair of ever being published. If the writing was good, I was tempted to compare all the way through.
9. Once I start reading a book I like, I find it hard to put it down. I will forget about all my other responsibilities in the face of a good read.
10. I don’t own a decent bookmark. I’ve been known to shove pieces of toilet paper between the pages to mark my place (not from the bookstore bathroom, though, just in case you wondered).