Top Ten Tuesday #6

Top 10 Tuesday is a weekly meme started by The Broke and the Bookish.

This week’s topic is (freebie)Top Ten Strange Bookish Habits:

10. I’m Obsessed with Fan Art

I just love looking at fan art! Probably a good chunk of my bookmarked internet pages are book fan art and for popular series', there is no lack of it! I like visually seeing others interpretations of characters and how they vary from my mental pictures. When I really love a book, one of the first things I do is look online for fan art to gawk at. 

Fan art done by batata-tasha on deviantart.com

9. I have a Loan System

I’m very overprotective of my books, but occasionally a friend sees me reading something and they ask to borrow. I always try to be nice and share, but under the STRICTEST of circumstances. For instance, after two weeks if I haven’t heard the person mention anything about the book, I bother them to find out if they read it yet. After a month of it being lent, I send a text message saying I would like it back soon. If it’s more than a month and a half, I will bother that person daily until I have my book back. Maybe this makes me sound crazy, but I used to be more relaxed about loaning books and too often, they went missing. 

8. I have Reading “Zones” 

Some people can read anywhere. Some people can read while listening to music, or riding in a car, but I am not one of those people. If I spend a lot of time at a place, I must create a designated reading “zone.” At my house, it is in my bed, with exactly four pillows propping me up and the bedside lamp on. At my parents house, it’s in the guest room, in that bed, leaning up against the wall. At my boyfriend’s house, it’s upstairs in his den, sitting in the overstuffed recliner. I also cannot read unless it is completely silent. I just get too easily distracted by the outside world and I can’t focus. 

7. I talk about Books....A Lot!

I just can’t help but to talk about books too much. When I am out with friends, they want to talk about a new movie or tv show and that’s cool, but I want to talk about the book I’m reading and apparently, that’s weird to everyone else. I don’t get it. I also talk incessantly about books to my boyfriend and my parents even though they very rarely care and just amuse me by listening. Luckily, the book community has helped me a little with this quirk.

6. I do “Marathon Reading”

This doesn’t seem to be as rare as I originally thought, but I like to marathon read, where I shut myself off from the world for a day and read from the time I get up until the time I go to sleep only taking breaks for food and bathroom breaks. I find that it’s really relaxing and it’s a great way to take a break from technology and outside stress.

5. I use Bobby Pins as Bookmarks

I never ever have a bookmark when I need one but I have an insane amount of bobby pins all over the place. They are great bookmarks because they are small enough to fit and they can slide over the pages to make sure it stays in place. 

4. I have Books Everywhere!

I feel insecure if there isn’t a book with me at all times. I think it’s because of all those unexpected moments when you have nothing to do and you can’t help but think, “I’m wasting perfect reading time!” Luckily for me, I have found a foolproof way to combat this issue and that’s to have books everywhere! Some strange examples are: in the glove box of my car, in my backpack at school, and on my parent’s dining room table. I guess you could say, I mark my territory with books!

3. I Smell Books

This is another one that since I became a blogger, I realize isn’t as rare as I previously thought. I don’t think it takes much explanation, but I really do love the smell of a nice, old, paper book. 

2. I have Attachment Issues

I sort of touched on this with my loan system earlier in this post, but I really do get attached to my books. But the weird part is, I get attached to books I didn’t even like! Once, when I was younger, my Dad told me I had too many books and they were overflowing the bookshelves and I had to get rid of a few. I sold several of them to Half Price Book Store and to this day, I miss those books that I let go of. After that experience, I just decided I was comfortable with being a book hoarder.

1. I Feel Obligated to Convert the Non-Readers

My number one strange bookish habit is that I must convert the non-believers! For some reason, when someone tells me they don’t like to read, to me, it sounds like a challenge. I also get personally offended when someone tells me that they think reading is stupid. I have successfully converted about 6 friends, but my greatest accomplishment is my Dad. Before I got him to start reading, he wouldn’t even read instruction manuals to household appliances, but now he sometimes reads more than I do and has very similar tastes to me so we can share books. My theory about non-readers is that they just haven’t discovered the right genre of book that will suit them best.

There you have it, my weird (and slightly embarrassing) habits! I know I can’t be the only person who has some strange bookish habits going on and I would love to hear some of yours as well as see your links to this week’s Top Ten Tuesday posts, so feel free to share!