Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Top Ten Bookish Confessions

TTT is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish!

Top Ten Bookish Confessions (...."You dog ear, you hated a book but said you loved it, you have $500 library fines...anything goes!")

1.  My library *may* have discontinued my library card. I have no idea why, but my library card no longer works on my library website. It claims my card number doesn't exist. Maybe they discontinued it because I kept racking up (but paying back!) small but repetitive late-fee fines? I need to see if I can get that fixed soon, I miss checking books out of the library.

2.  I mark up classic books (The Scarlet Letter, Walden, et cetera). I highlight and put asterisks by favorite passages. I don't think I'd ever do this for YA books, but I find it useful for the classics.

3.  I use thin, glossy hardcover books as mouse pads. Whenever I need to use a wireless mouse for my laptop, I grab the skinniest book with the glossiest cover I can find (glossy = smoothest surface for mouse), and use it as a mouse pad. I used to use Breaking Dawn (I figured I should get some use out of it since I felt like I'd wasted money buying it), but I've found thinner hardcovers are better. 

4.  It took me almost a year before I read The Hunger Games, because I wasn't a fan of the cover. Weirdly, I love the cover for this book now and think that it suits the story perfectly.

5.  I claim to have read Pride & Prejudice, but I've really never actually finished it. I made it about three/fourths of the way in, and gave up (twice). I've seen the Kiera Knightly movie though, so that counts, right? ;)
(Forgive my terrible art skills when it comes to the above cartoon of YA Book Queen as a kid, but I needed something to fill this space. Me + 15 minutes + Microsoft Paint = a very, very bad idea)

6.  I hated reading when I was younger. Absolutely hated it. It wasn't until fourth or fifth grade that I started to like it, when I was gifted The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot. That book made me a fan of reading, so I've always had a soft spot for novels by Meg Cabot. 

7.  I've been reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak since March 14th, 2012. That's like, a little over five months. And I'm still not done. 

8.  I stop reading awesome books after 100 pages, only to have to reread the book  two or three more times before I actually finish it. Sometimes it can take me well over a year to finish a book when this happens. This might be my one bad reading habit. I did this with Jellicoe Road, Finnikin of the Rock, Code Name Verity....and maybe The Book Thief (see #7).

9.  If you ruin or otherwise destroy a book of mine, I might secretly resent you. If you ruin an ARC, that's fine. A finished copy that I purchased and let you borrow, thinking you'd actually take care not to bend the pages / poor water on it / rip the pages out / mark up with a pen or pencil / et cetera? Yeah, I might be mad at you on the inside (especially if you don't offer to replace it or apologize). 

10.  I likely won't let you borrow any of my finished copies (see #9). I always feel bad about this, but I will rarely let anyone borrow finished copies from me. I've had too many bad experiences with people not respecting my books or not paying me back when they do ruin them (it's even worse when the book is autographed, because that's so hard to replace), so I rarely let anyone borrow my finished copies unless I trust them completely. 

What's one of your bookish confessions? 
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20 comments:

  1. *giggles* I also hate lending out my finished copies! I had a big fight with my mom over this when she wanted to have my Twilight books and I told her I'd rather buy her a copy then give her mine!

    Also, I like Nr8.: It never occurred to me to start again on the beginning before finishing! :)

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  2. You know, it's totally embarrassing but I actually cried once when I lent a friend of mine a book and she ruined it by bending the spine and pages! So don't feel bad about #9 and #10 haha c: As for #4, well, if it makes you feel any better, Harry Potter came out more than ten years ago and I still haven't read it, nor watched any of the movies? :P Anyway, loved your list!

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  3. I no longer lend my books to people because I've learned the hard way that people don't always respect others' property. My sister has a habit of bending pages as a way to mark where she is in a story (even when I give her a bookmark). Now I mostly buy books on my Kindle and I'd happily loan e-books to other Kindle users :)

    Your library card may not work on the website if it has expired (a lot of libraries set up expiration dates as ways to check user accounts to make sure the address/phone is still correct). If that is the case, it is easy to fix. Or if you haven't used your card in a certain number of years it may have been deleted automatically from the system.

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  4. I don't lend other people my book and I don't feel bad about it.. It's my money and my possession, so I can decide what I do with it :) If someone wants to read it so badly, then buy a copy yourself.. But it's easy for me, since nobody in my surroundings read (and that's also 'alone' sometimes)

    My top 10 Tuesday.

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  5. I don't borrow my books to other people too! LOL. I just can't! :)

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  6. How cute! I'm guilty of a few of these.
    Especially 4 & 9.

    O girl you must look into that library card thing. That's tragic.

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  7. I rarely let people borrow books I love. Not because I don't want to share the love, but because I don't want to let them out of my sight! It's a little ridiculous, but whatever! :)

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  8. Ohh... I like the idea of using hardcovers as mouse pads! I must try that. Though I have very large hands, so it would have to be a large, thin hardcover... maybe a picture book?

    Love your confessions - thanks for sharing!

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  9. I completely agree with number 9! My sister treats my collection like her own personal library and it drives me crazy when I see her or one of her friends "mistreating" one of my books. As for Pride & Prejudice...I've done the same thing.

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  10. I used to hate reading as a kid too because I couldn't follow the lines with my eyes! And I was too embarrassed to used to use bookmark underneath the lines so I wouldn't get lost! I'm glad I got over that! Great confessions :) My TTT:

    Crystal @ Elegantly Bound Books

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  11. You've got to finish PRIDE AND PREJUDICE! Much different than the Keira Knightly -- watch the Colin Firth one if you actually want to see how it's supposed to end.

    And I highlight classic books! I keep two copies - one for marking up and one for reading and liking.

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  12. I was late to start the Hunger Games, too, just because of all the hype. And I wouldn't worry about your library card! I don't know how your library works, but at mine, the cards have to be renewed every few years. Maybe yours just expired?

    Great list!

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  13. Confession nunber 1: DITTO!!! Lol. It seems we book lovers are all of us rubbish at taking books back to the library. I guess we consider it doing our bit to keep the libraries open - paying all those fees lol :D

    Here are my bookish confessions!

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  14. I completely understand about not letting people borrow books, this one is on my list as well. Do you think perhaps your library got new cards? Ours got new cards a couple of years ago with all new numbers. Great confessions, here's mine: http://whatsontheshelf.wordpress.com/2012/08/28/top-ten-tuesday-20/

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  15. I'm horrible at turning in books on time but I always figure it's just a little donation to the library. You must have been NAUGHTY to get yours suspended (or cancelled!)--bad girl! Shame, shame, know your name! heh. Oh, and I seriously hate lending out my books because I hate to see the spines bent or dog-ears, even though I'm a horrible dog-ear-er of library books (shame!!).

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  16. I can definitely relate to some of your confessions! I also hated to read when I was younger, but all it took was one book by R.L. Stine to turn that around. And I totally don't blame you for not lending your books out, because I feel that it's blasphemy to return someones book back to them in poor condition!

    -Shanon @ Escaping With Fiction

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  17. It's funny you wouldn't read The Hunger Games because of the cover, I wouldn't read it because of the name Katniss. I just couldn't get over the unusual name. Thank goodness I came to my senses - I loved the series!

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  18. I was so not a reader when I was younger, either! I didn't become converted until I was like 25.
    Also, I've checked out The Book Thief from the library more than once. I've never read a page of it. :(

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  19. I mark up classic books too, I think that habit got stuck on me when I started my path as a literature major but I don't limit it to just classics. Though, you won't see it as often in my YA books. Mostly my adult and classics.

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  20. You drew that in 15 minutes?! Good grief, that would have taken me ages. She's so cute!!

    I'm really loving the Top Ten topic this week - I feel like I can relate to the things everyone is admitting to and I don't feel so ashamed :)

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