How I Read | Book Tag

I discovered this tag on Mary and the Words. Be sure to check out her beautiful blog. This is a nice little tag about reading habits. I’m not going to tag anyone specifically but if you want to do it please do 🙂

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Do you have a certain place at home for reading?

I read most often on the couch and in bed. I would love to have a special reading chair at some point. I have my eye on one of those round spinny chairs.

pinterest.com

Doesn’t look like this one spins but it looks mighty comfy and I love that little snack shelf.

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

I can just stop. When I tell myself I’ll stop after a certain chapter/point in the book I’m really just bargaining with myself and have no real intention of actually stopping. So, I’ve learned to just stop. This is probably because I usually keep reading until my eyes are so sore I simply cannot continue and just put the book away.

Bookmark or random piece of paper?

Literary whatever is close by. I have a ton of bookmarks but I can never seem to find them when I’m reading…. I manage to lose them once I’ve taken it out of the book to read. When I’m annotating, I use one of the mini book journals I made earlier this year.

Multi-tasking: music or TV while reading?

Himself watches TV while I read. It is pretty distracting though and slows down my reading. I read much faster in bed when the house is silent than with the TV on. Even when what he’s watching doesn’t interest me in the slightest (football ugh) it still grabs my attention every now and then.

Listening to music while reading can be very relaxing. I love those ambient playlists on YouTube that have music and sound effects. Plus, many of them are themed on adaptations of books so there’s always something to suit the book genre.

Do you eat or drink while reading?

Yes. I spend as much of my free time as is possible reading so that includes the times when I’m getting lunch/dinner and tea. One of my favourite things to do (which I haven’t done in months with this darn pandemic) is to spend a few hours in a coffee shop with a book drinking coffee and eating treats. I love the ambience and energy of a coffee shop as well as the delicious aroma of coffee.

The Irish Readathon Week One Reading Vlog Coffee and Cake Tray Elaine Howlin
Oh, coffee shop, how I miss thee…

Reading at home or everywhere?

EVERYWHERE!! Well, everywhere I can get away with it. I wouldn’t whip out a book at a wedding. That’d be a tad rude….though I wish I could do it for the church bit, snooze. I used to read on the bus, in coffee shops, the park, on my phone during previews at the cinema and at home but now it’s just at home.

One book at a time or several at once?

Usually several at once but I’ve been reading one book at a time recently. I used to have an audiobook, print book and ebook on the go at the same time but since I’ve been making myself stop reading at midnight I haven’t listened to as many audiobooks. Also, in the beginning of the pandemic I found it very difficult to concentrate on reading anything at all and I think my habits have changed a bit since.

Reading out loud or silently in your head?

Silently in my head. Who the heck reads out loud all the time?! I was thinking of doing a podcast where I read Irish fairy tales (to go with the auld Irish accent) but I’m in two minds about it…. I find it difficult to keep up with everything I do on the blog and my YouTube as it is so a podcast would probably be too much. It is something I’m really interested in doing though so maybe a monthly reading or something like that….

Do you read ahead or even skip pages?

The only time I do this is if a book is absolutely dreadful and I want to see if it will improve at some point. They usually don’t.

Breaking the spine or keeping it like new?

I’m in two minds about this. I think a cracked spine looks bad but it is a sign that the book was read which is good. I suppose it’s kind of like keeping a toy in its box versus playing with it. The toy wants to be played with and the book wants to be read.

Falling For A Dancer by Deirdre Purcell x2 1

Do you write in your books?

Yes, I do. I’m a big fan of annotating and make many notes. I even return to the book after I’ve read it and stick in pictures and other things that remind me of it. I don’t this with all the books I read though. The majority of what I read I don’t annotate at all (unless they’re ARCs) but I love doing a really deep read of some books.

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That’s the end of the tag! Thanks so much for joining me today and as I said above please feel free to do this tag too if you want to. Be sure to leave a link below to your answers so I can read them 🙂

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20 thoughts on “How I Read | Book Tag

  1. I remember being in school and told not to ever mark up books. Then, in University and College, I would highlight books.

    Now, I read e-books and have continued to use a highlights to mark of sections that are important for me to come back to.

    Good article! Thanks Elaine for reminding my how much I like to read.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. Loved this! I hate having background noise while I’m reading but I do it if I must haha (i.e. when my bf is on the playstation and I just have to deal with his sudden violent reactions, it keeps it interesting haha)

    Liked by 1 person

  3. This such a fun tag! Hehe. Your answers were fun to read! We had most similar but some I’m completely the opposite. Haha. I hate writing in books. I might just be too lazy to do that. Lol. Hated it when I was in school and I had to do it too. 😂

    Liked by 1 person

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