This post was inspired by my fellow blogger Kate and Stephanie who came up with this fun little post. And I immediately started thinking about what facts described me as a reader. Here it is.
1. The first book I read all by myself was Pippi Longstocking. I was second grade and I vividly remember sitting next to my dad reading while he was reading the papers. When I looked at him I told him he wouldn’t read because his lips weren’t moving and he just pretended. When he told me he was reading with his mind and eye it was mind blowing.
2. I grew up with my own private library. My parents have had bookshelves full of books as long as I can remember. So I would often ask my parents what I could read and they would recommend. I would also stand in front of the book shelves browsing for hours. Still do when I go visit. By now their book shelves add up to approximately 13 meter by 2,5 meters. Roughly calculated.
3. I read Anne Franks diary six times in my teenage years. I had a phase when I read everything on the Holocaust and stories of survivors. Anne Frank’s diary and all the autobiographies from helping hands are lining my book shelves. I even had the chance to meet a few authors/surviors and listen to them read their story.
4. I love long books. The longer the book the faster I get through. 800+ pages takes me 2 days while a book with 150 can last forever. For me it feels like the stories are more real, more epic, more exciting. However Goodreads tells me my average book length is 294 pages. I don’t pick a book by its page number as I hardly see it on kindle anyways. But apparently most books are around 300 pages. And I do read short stories rather regularly.
5. My favorite time to read is in the morning with my fist cup of coffee. I love waking up and already sticking my nose in books. When going to bed I still try to read but usually I hardly manage 3 pages before I fall asleep – often not knowing what was going on and re-reading in the morning. I do read in the middle of the night quiet often as I have trouble sleeping more often than I wish.
5. I stopped reading when I started to work after my apprenticeship. Luckily it was only a hick-up.
6. Being gifted a kindle – something I didn’t want to have – changed my reading game forever. I read more now because of a kindle. Having it in my bag at all times I can read whenever there is a few minutes of waiting.
7. I started somehow buying books with blue covers more often. They fit into my room and will double as a decorative pieces.
8. I also kind of collect Christmas books. Compilations or short stories and of course the Christmas Carol – my all time favorite.
9. I have a very specific system to scan for book deals. I wrote all about it in my post on “how to find my next freebie“. Basically I have a lot of lists and I stick to only buying ebooks when there is a deal.
10. I read an average of 5,5 books each month. I have month with eleven or ten books but then there are also some with none or one book.
11. The longest book I have read in the last 5 years had 1,294 pages and was the Bible closely followed by 1,280 pages of The Eighth Life.
12. I have a thing for time travel book. I came across them by chance but I find it really fascinating. May favorite series is “In times like these” by Nathan Van Coop. Can you recommend any other good one?
13. I also have a thing for books that are set in snow and ice. I guess I love reading about something I won’t experience in this way. Same thing is true for adventure novels and expedition log books.
14. I can not tell the different book genres apart. I might get the difference between memoire and thriller but how exactly is fiction different from fantasy. And what are literary books. I guess I could google but I do not care enough. As long aas a book is sparking interest I read it.
15. I do not read horror. So I have never read a Stephan King novel. I am sure he is brilliant but I have enough trouble sleeping at night.
16. A few years ago (maybe ten or fifteen) I decided to get rid of all books that I would not read for a second time. So my shelves are rather slim compared to the amount I am reading. I instead started getting more craft books that I could reference and browse through when looking for inspiration.
17. As you may know I am on a quest of reading one book from every country. I have no specific time limit set for me but I try to move forward on that goal. Still looking for many inspirations.
18. My all time favorite author is Jostein Gaarder. I love his writing (or the German translation) and his philosophical thoughts packed in wonderful stories. I haven’t read all of his yet but I will get there.
19. I started a little game asking people about their five most life changing books. It is really interesting what kind of books those are and why a person picks that particular book. It is also often very personal even intimate.
20. I try to avoid making cracks in my book spines. Sometimes it is not possible to avoid and then it is ok but if I can help it I try to keep them intake. There was a time when I thought books need to look like they have been loved. And I do have a few that fit that criteria.
21. I wish I could read faster. I even have an app on my phone that teaches you to speed read and up your word count per minute. Every once in a while I start training again. My current WpM are 310. I am using this app if you are interested but apparently it is no longer updated. There are few others out.
22. I read mainly English books.
23. I don’t like getting books from the library. When I was unemployed the first thing I did was getting a library pass. But I ended up not getting many books. Often those books I was looking for were not available and when I took some older books home with me they always smelled funny. I didn’t feel like snuggling up in bed with them. So I’d rather do an online library thing but I haven’t found one yet besides Kindle unlimited.
24. It’s more likely that I cry when reading a book than it is that I’ll laugh.
25. I have set my own rating system containing of 1-5*. It goes like this:
★★★★★ – outstanding book, all-time favorite, new thought provoking idea, amazing world building, got totally lost in it, could not put it down, was sad it had to end, dreamed about it, it keeps coming back to me over and over, it left me speechless (in a shattering way), would be a re-read
★★★★ – fun, engaging and entertaining read, perfect to get lost in, to forget the world out there
★★★ – a good, solid book, definitely something worth my time, some improvement in the story could have been made, I maybe didn’t quiet like a character or maybe I just didn’t pick up on the topic overall, also I might have not gotten the whole thing (classics/some hyped pulitzer, etc.)
★★ – it kept me reading, hoping that there is a twist I didn’t see coming, totally surprising me but unfortunately it didn’t happen, so there was a spark but it didn’t become a flame
★ – I finished the book, sorry but it was mainly a waste of time
26. I always read the acknowledgments
Now, so much abbot 25 things about me as a reader. I am curious is there something you also do? Do you have a certain quirk you’d like to share?
Happy reading
10 comments
What a fun concept and so interesting to read. :)
Thanks for sharing!
Thank you Silvie. I loved reading it on other accounts and it really got me thinking. Glad you enjoy it and let me know if you write about it too.
These were some interesting insights.
Does your local library not have a digital selection? I get all of my books through our local library and it works really well. I do know that my Mom also has access to digital books through our local library in my hometown, so I’d assume that bigger libraries offer that these days?
I like the rating system that you came up with. I think I am a little bit more generous with 4 stars and have some real criticism when I give 3 stars or less. (I need to think about my rating system a little more ;))
I LOVE long books, because if the story is good, it won’t end so quickly. If you’re into time travel, I am sure you’ve read the Outlander series?
I have actually not read the Outlander series but have watched the first two seasons of the TV show. It pops u and I think I need to have a look at the books. I am very critical when it comes to rating. I am getting better at it though. As for the library: I haven’t looked into it too much but from what I researched a couple of years ago is that it only works with the “Tolino” system and back then you need to get to the library with your device and have it upload there. This defied the whole purpose of a digital book to me. And until now I am not lacking of books. However I would be interested how your mom does it. Maybe there have been changes.
I always smell my books.
I like to have multiple books going at once.
I almost never read “new” fiction. I like classics and non-fiction now (which is SO different from a decade ago, when I only consumed “new” fiction).
Ironically enough, today my blog post was all about my current reading habits with the kids – books that have accompanying movies. It has been really fun as a reader + parent.
Elisabeth recently posted…Parenting Hack: Read Books With Accompanying Movies
I do like to smell books but only if the smell new or I know where they come from. What do you consider “new” fiction? I can definitely attest that my reading habits have changed too. Or let’s say there are phases. I have to check out your post. I always gift my godchildren books and am currently one the hunt for contenders. So I say perfect timing.
I was also obsessed with Diary of Anne Frank when I was younger. Then in my 20s I went to Amsterdam and visited the Anne Frank house- this was a long time ago, so I’m not sure what it’s like now, but there was a museum on the first floor, and then you could go up and see the rooms they lived in. It was incredible and heartbreaking.
I also love Christmas books. I have a couple I want to read this year.
Great post- I love everything book-related!
Thank you Jenny. For some reason I never made it to the Anne Frank House and it’s a bit sad. Can you recommend any Christmas books? I haven’t gotten one for this year yet and I usually read it in December leading up to the holidays
Wow! 25 things about reading is quite an undertaking! I think I thought at one point in my life that I’d read a book from every country, but that seemed like too big of an undertaking. But you’ve encouraged me! Maybe I’ll do it!
Yes do it. You read so fast I am sure you finish ahead of me. Even if you only manage a few countries I am sure there will be some fun surprises. At least that’s what I am going for.