Any time we do anything on a regular basis, we develop habits. Constantly misplace your keys? Put a key bowl on the bookshelf by the front door. Husband devours your favorite snack b/c it’s there? Put it on a different shelf (b/c if it’s not where it’s “supposed” to be, it doesn’t exist).
But when the regular thing is something you love, the default for what you do in your free time, those habits become less pragmatic and more . . . quirky.
Beloved series coming to an end? Procrastinate reading the last book. Or bookish separation anxiety, as I like to call it.
That’s probably my biggest reader quirk. It’s less common than others, b/c “you love it, how can you not read it?”
I KNOW.
But if I read it, then it’s over.
And if it’s over . . . *wails*
The worst example of this is Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time. You’ve may have seen several one of the ELEVEN reviews I’ve posted so far, but what most of you don’t know is that I’ve read the first eight or nine books half a dozen times. After that the number of rerererereads diminishes to the number of rereads preceding new installments. For example, I’ve only read #12 and #13 once.
That last installment, though?
NOPE.
Not yet, anyway. But that’s what this most recent reread is about. And b/c I scheduled an over a yearlong buddy read with my BB&B peeps on Goodreads, I’m cautiously hopeful that I’ll finish this time. B/c SUPPORT SYSTEM.
Did I just admit to orchestrating a fourteen-month group read of over 12k pages on the off chance that I might not chicken out of reading the final installment (again), if I’m not by myself?
Maybe . . .
But that’s only the beginning of my bookish insanity.
I’ve also been known to:
1. Buy entire series as they’re released without ever actually reading them.
I’ve gotten better about this b/c, seriously, there’s only so many books I can fit in the designated book areas of my house—Hubs gets cranky when they start to line the hallways in waist-high stacks. #iknowthisfromexperience
2. Rererereread my favorite books just b/c.
Especially when I have a multitude of shiny new books waiting to be read. The usual suspects are Beginnings by Kelley Armstrong, The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare, Uprooted (my most recent addition to list, though I suspect Nevernight by Jay Kristoff will also be a joiner), or almost anything by Kristen Ashley.
3. Arbitrarily assign accents to characters.
I’m not talking about giving a cockney accent to a street rat, or hearing Lumiere, if someone is French. I’m talking about noticing that some guy not-from-Louisiana-nevermind-Creole is speaking with a Cajun accent in my head.
I do all these things and many more.
But what about you? Do you hear random accents in your head? Do you take a vacation day when your favorite author releases a new book? What are your bookish quirks?
My name is Jessica and I live in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I’m trying my hand at writing, but mostly I read. My favorite genres are Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy, and the YA versions of those genres, but if there is a book of a different color getting lots of buzz, I’ll read it too, just to be informed. If I’m not reading or writing, I’m probably on Goodreads or Pinterest or baking blueberry pies because I love them.
Wow, you’re quirky…lol. 😉 🙂 I hope you make it through to the last book and finish! I am not a rereader cause I have too many unread books. I think I am really bad about buying books and not reading them. My house is packed with unread books. It’s something I am hoping to change next year. I have been known to stop reading a series if I hear something about the ending I don’t like instead of finding out for myself. I also start many series and then forget about them (just cause there are so many books out there I forget.)
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Hahaha great post! I do the same thing when it comes to the last book in a series. I’m still hoarding the last few Terry Pratchett books even though I’ve owned them since they were released… I like that you hear accents in your head! I only do when the characters do but then I pick up the accents in real life. My weirdest quirk is changing names of characters when I misread it wrong the first time or they just have a weird name. Good luck finishing the Wheel of Time!
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I love it. I have re-read many of the books because sometimes I forget what has happened in a series. I will sometimes wait until an entire series or trilogy is published and then buy it.
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Okay I’m like you. I have about five different last books in series to read, but haven’t “gotten around to it yet”. I did go as far as picking one of them up, even started to read it but then chickened out because, it’s the last one ever in the series. That was about six years ago, maybe more.
Also buy whole series, and they do look ever so pretty on my bookshelves. Haven’t read them yet. I Also re-read some old favorites while waiting impatiently for the next book in one of my beloved series to release.
Accents, yes, totally here them in my head. The Game Maker series, oh I was hearing sexy Russian accents in my head, purring words of hotness in my ears and yet, I’m genuinely not positive if I’ve heard in person a sexy Russian accent, or maybe I should say I’m not positive if I’ve ever heard a Russian accent in person.
My other quirk is getting confused on what book to read next. I’ll pick up one beloved book, and decide your it. Then I’ll see another (I’m positive they wink and wave at me to get my attention) and I pick that one up, have a debate between the two of them and then, yep I spy another book. Sometimes I go back to the first, sometimes it’ll take me a while longer to decide what I’m in the mood to read.
Oh boy, you could have been describing me with your book separation anxiety issue and the buying of a whole series and not having even started the first one. I have occasionally re-read a series right before a new release, but that’s not an always thing.
One of my quirks is that I’m not a good binge reader. I do best if I separate out books in a series by at least a month in between or I start to see patterns and little issues grow huge if I keep encountering them too closely together.
I go on tangents where I prefer all paper copies or prefer to only read from my e-reader.
I’m sure there are more quirks.
I do so many of the same things! LOl Especially not reading the last book in a series I adore. I can ignore it for quite some time before finally caving in. And I do a lot of rereading of favorites even though there are many new ones waiting for me. Not sure about the accent thing. Have to watch for that. LOL Something else I do is only read with my Kindle when in bed. I read print books somewhere that I might not fall asleep and damage my precious book.
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I do these things. I buy whole series and then don’t read them (shatter me, court of thorns and roses off the top of head). I also hear accents when I read, sometimes I say tings outloud to hear the accent. I sound a bit crazy.
I also don’t read the last book in a series b/c I can’t deal. Morning Star has been on my shelf and taunting me since I pre-ordered it. Can Peirce Brown just write something else so I can safely read the last of Red Rising knowing the author will still entertain me?
Readers are quirky!
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Sometimes when I LOVE a book and cannot bear to part with the world within, I’ll delay getting to the ending as long as I can stand it. 🙂
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I…hmm, I do not know if I give accents to peeps, that is so interesting
I think we all have those quirks!!! I think when it comes to accents, I do it mostly when I am reading a scottish themed book. Or that southern cowoby drawl? love that. So it depends on what I am currently reading. I always bring a book with me wherever I go. The family teases me about it so badly hehe
I feel like none of the characters I read have accents. I just forget to assign them accents so everyone is stereotypical AMerinca. Hahaha.
And I’m with you on your fear to read books. Crooked Kingdom is still on my shelves collecting dust for that very reason.
I have a habit of giving people British accents – even if other accents are specified. B/c honestly, I don’t know what 1/2 of the American accents sound like, so I just stick with what I know. Sometimes I give them non-descript Hollywood-style accents. And Welsh accents/pronunciations come in handy with all those made-up fantasy words!
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Hmm, funny we have similar quirks. But I assume most of us bookish types have similar quirks. 😉 I just finished reading The Undead Pool and I’m contemplating reading The Witch With No Name but then I hate for The Hollows to end. Of course, that means I’ll just reread the series. 😉 But maybe I’ll hold off – I’ve been holding off on With All My Soul because I couldn’t bear for it to end. *sigh* Ooh, and I totally give accents to characters. LOL