50 Things About Me As A Reader

I love when people share what they love about books, their reading habits, and memories around reading.

Back in 2020, I read a blog post from Modern Mrs Darcy called 100 Things About Me As A Reader. I loved the idea of compiling a list like this, and I asked a friend if she would like to start creating one too. So over the next several months, we jotted down our thoughts on reading.

I had fun capturing my stories about reading and some of my quirks as a reader. Once my list reached 50, it felt like I had a good portrait of who I am as a reader.

I found my list the other day and enjoyed reading through it, and thought it would be fun to polish and update for my blog.

I also just went back and read Anne Bogel’s post for a second time. I love seeing similarities and differences in how people read and interact with books. If you like all things bookish (and Jane Austen, clearly) be sure to check out her blog. It’s a treasure trove for bookworms.

50 Things About Me As A Reader

1. Fantasy is my favorite genre.

2. It drives me bonkers when a book series is out of order on a shelf. I may have put books in the proper order at a bookstore, on more than one occasion.

3. I have kept a reading journal recording every book I’ve read since 2008.

4. I vividly picture what I’m reading.

5. I frequently dream I am book characters. Sometimes, I’ve even dreamed I am a character in a story I’m writing.

6. I loved the book-loving culture of the library system where I worked for 8 years. I love being able to pick up my library holds when I went to check the office mailboxes.

7. I never read the ending first.

8. Sometimes I will skip ahead a few paragraphs or pages if the story is too suspenseful, or if I’m hoping a new POV or chapter is coming up.

9. I used to pride myself on finishing every book, but I’ve learned that it’s helpful to stop a book if you’re not enjoying it.

10. There have been a few times when I have seen someone in a crowd that looks so much like the way I imagine a character that it stops me in my tracks.

11. I like to daydream about owning a bookstore.

12. When my dad was teaching me to read, he would end each lesson by reading from a Narnia book. I remember how thrilled I was to think I would be able to read books like them whenever I wanted.

13. I read more e-books because I find it easier (especially because I can prop up my Kindle to lessen hand/shoulder pain), but I like both physical and digital books.

14. I love the smell of books.
    

15. I usually read multiple books at once.

16. A good mix is: fiction, nonfiction, Christian/apologetics, maybe fiction of a different genre, and the Bible.

17. I’m collecting different editions of Alice in Wonderland. So far I have two editions with different illustrations and one French edition with the original Tenniel illustrations. A friend got it for me in France.

18. If I’m reading and you want to get my attention, the best way is to say my name. Otherwise I might not hear you.

19. Whenever I lost a tooth as a kid, the tooth fairy left me a book. I felt so lucky to get books!

20. In a perfect world with unlimited bookshelf space, all my unread books would be shelved together.

21. I have dropped a book on my face while reading lying down.

22. I try to read a book before I see a movie it’s based on.

23. I usually like the book best.

24. Broken spines on books don’t bother me. They show they are well loved.

25. Apparently my facial expressions sometimes mirror those of a character I’m reading.

26. The Book It program and earning a personal pan pizza is a core memory for me.

27. So are Scholastic Book Fairs.

28. Spotting someone reading a book I love sometimes feels a bit like catching someone reading my diary.

29. I think Hermione is the character I am most like. (Specifically book Hermione, vs. movie Hermione.)
    

30. I would like to have tea with Jane Austen and C. S. Lewis.

31. Pages should never be dogeared.

32. In college, I worried I wouldn’t love reading anymore because I was reading so much for class. Thankfully that never happened.

33. I’m not really a fan of mystery books. I’d rather watch them as TV shows or movies.

34. I have spilt food and drink on books more than I would like to admit.

35. I find audiobooks hard to concentrate on unless they are nonfiction.

36. If I own a book, I sometimes tend to think of that cover as the “right” cover. It can be jarring to see a familiar book wearing a different face.

37. I can’t read ghost stories—my imagination scares me to pieces.

38. I don’t frequently reread books.

39. I feel kind of lost, like something is missing, if I run out of books. It’s an antsy kind of feeling.

40. I’ve heard this bothers some people, but I’m not embarrassed by kid or teen book art on the books I’m reading. “Kid” books are for everybody!

41. I would like to get pictures at libraries wherever I travel. So far I have photos in front of libraries in Paris and California.

42. I would much rather a happy ending I saw coming than a sad ending I didn’t see coming.

43. Pretty much, I prefer happy endings, unless I know it’s tragedy.

44. Perhaps this seems contradictory, but I prefer Shakespeare’s tragedies to his comedies. (My favorites are Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet.)

45. Poorly formatted e-magazines and picture-heavy e-books are the bane of my existence.

46. One of my favorite memoires around reading is teaching my little cousin to read as part of my junior high classes.

47. Fairy tales are my comfort food. Reading fairy tales feels like arriving home, and at the same time, it feels like traveling somewhere far away you’ve always wanted to visit—and finding it feels like home there too.

48. I frequently laugh outloud when reading.

49. My TBR Word document is over 20 pages long.

50. I want a bookcase in my house that is actually a hidden door.

Bonus: My dream is to publish fantasy, historical fiction, children’s, and devotional books.

 

Want more bookish content? I enjoy posting mini reviews of books on my blog and on Instagram.

Also, you may enjoy my blog post about gift ideas for Jane Austen fans.

Which numbers on my list do you most relate to as a reader?
I’d love to hear in the comments if you write a list of things about you as a reader too!

You may also like:

Get To Know Me Tag—Writer’s Edition
My First Short Story Has Been Published
Thoughts on a Disappointed Butterfly

 

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Photos of me by Monica Cate