Reading Habits Book Tag

This is an older tag that I’ve had sitting in my list of things to do on the blog for years, so here I am finally doing it!

I found this blog through rachaelrexds, but it was started in a YouTube video that no longer seems to be available.

1. Do you have a certain place at home for reading?

The short answer is no. Up until recently, I was living in Japan in a rather small apartment. I did everything in one place because it was the only place to do anything. I’ll pretty much read wherever I happen to be. I prefer it to be quieter so I can concentrate, but anywhere it’s quiet is fair game.

2. Bookmark or random piece of paper?

I’ve been known to do both in the past. I won’t really buy bookmarks myself, but because everyone knows I’m a reader, I get given them as gifts sometimes. And they’ve come in Life’s Library packages as well, so I try my best to use those as much as I can.

3. Can you just stop reading or do you have to stop after a chapter/certain amount of pages?

I usually stop at the end of a chapter. It just seems like a natural stopping point, and stopping in the middle of action can confuse my brain once I pick the book back up.

An exception to this is when a chapter is really long and I just can’t finish it before needing to do something else.

4. Do you eat or drink whilst reading?

I will if I’m hungry or thirsty. At times, I’ll read during meal times, but I don’t do that often because I find it difficult to both eat and focus on the page. But it happens sometimes! Eating small snacks while reading is more common for me, but I don’t do that all of the time either.

5. Multitasking: music or TV whilst reading?

Nope! I can’t focus on anything else if music or the TV is on. I know there are people who even write better with music on, and my brain has trouble comprehending how that’s possible. I can’t even read. I’ll get too distracted, even if it’s instrumental music. I need as much quiet as possible.

6. One book at a time or several?

Usually, I’m reading several books at a time. In the past, that was usually because I was reading books for school as well as books I personally wanted to read. Now, it just tends to happen for various reasons. I don’t have trouble keeping track of what’s happening in each book. I read a wide variety, so they’re usually quite different from each other anyway.

7. Reading at home or everywhere?

This question feels a little different in 2021... 

As a kid, I took a book with me everywhere. Now I tend to only read at home. Like I mentioned before, I read best when it’s quiet, and that doesn’t usually happen out and about. I also just get distracted by more things in general if I’m outside or something.

8. Read out loud or silently in your head?

Silently 100%! I would get so tired reading out loud all the time.

9. Do you read ahead or skip pages?

When I was younger and really eager to know what would happen, I would sometimes flip ahead to see if I could catch any hints, and sometimes I did. I don’t know if it’s just because I’m older now, but I tend not to even think about reading ahead anymore.

10. Breaking the spine or keeping it like new?

Keeping it like new if at all possible! Honestly, that’s probably the biggest reason why letting people borrow my books makes me nervous.

11. Do you write in your books?

College (I was an English major) made me a lot more receptive to writing in books. It was expected for us to either do that or to at least keep a set of notes with each book.

These days, I don’t write in every book I read, but sometimes, there are books that just give me certain feelings and I end up scribbling notes throughout them. It’s not necessarily about liking them more either; it’s just when I feel like I need to engage with the book in a certain way.

And that’s all for the tag! If anyone else answers the questions, please let me know in the comments. I’d be interested in hearing your answers.