10 Weird Bookish Things I Do | #Blogtober22 – Day 23

As human beings, we all have our quirks. We do certain things in certain ways which sometimes surprises other people. Of course, the world in itself is a weird place to be in, given how it ruthlessly cracks down on people who do things differently. But every person is different. And there isn’t just one solution to every problem. There are multiple ways of looking at things. Given, some of these ways may be weird, but that doesn’t mean they’re ineffective or bad. Diss on the bad and harmful, not on the weird. (Life lesson done for today, phew.)

As bookworms, we’re prone to doing even weirder things than is considered normal. It could be immersing ourselves in a book while at a doctor’s appointment or reading while eating or the way we store our books – every bookworm has their own quirks. More than the average human being, even.

So a few years ago, just when I’d started my YouTube channel, a friend did a video where she talked about the weird bookish things she did. I loved the idea immediately and after running it by her, I did one too. It was in my early BookTube stages, which is why it’s a pile of awkwardness and meh. I also did a part 2, which I’m slightly happier with. I still avoid both with everything I have. 😂

Here are the links: Part 1 | Part 2.

I decided to club both videos together and compile a list of the weird bookish things I do for my blog here. I’ve deleted some points and I’ve modified some, but the essence remains the same. So here we go!

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I Read While I Eat

While so many people watch TV or check their phones while eating, I prefer reading as I eat. That’s my kind of entertainment. I could read a physical copy or on my Kindle or on my phone – but I love learning about fictional lives while I try to sustain mine. Yes, there’s a lot of wrestling to make sure that nothing gets spilled on the book or the device. But I am a neat eater and moreover, I’d move heaven and earth to make sure the books are neat.

I also have the urge to chomp on something while I read apart from mealtimes. Or drink. This happens especially when the book is particularly gripping and I have to have something to do subconsciously or I’d have a coronary.

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Using Anything and Everything as Bookmarks

This is something that I think most bookworms do.

If we’ve to pause reading the book, we need to mark the place. We’d be FURIOUS if we didn’t and we can’t waste time trying to find a bookmark when absolutely anything will do, albeit as temporary placeholders. And that’s exactly what I do too. The frequency has reduced because I’ve forced myself to cultivate the habit of picking up a bookmark when I pick up a new book. So if I’m reading 4-5 books in parallel, you’ll find a bookmark in each of them. It still happens though, and when it does, there are multiple things that replace bookmarks.

You know those markers that come with T-shirts you buy online? Those. I use those as bookmarks.

Boarding passes.

Supermarket bills.

Sticky notes.

My phone.

Coasters.

Another book.

A notebook.

A pen.

The TV remote control.

I mean everything.

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Slamming the Book Shut When a Conflict Arises

I’m the kind of person who just can’t take it when a conflict arises in a book. I have to process the possibility and prepare myself for it before actually reading it. It could be something that’s going to make me uncomfortable or angry or sad. If something’s about the make me uncomfortable or sad, I’ll close the book and put it aside for the time being. And if something’s making me angry or about to make me angry, I’m going to slam that book so hard, the walls shake. Gah, who am I kidding? The walls don’t shake. I’m not that strong. I just slam the book shut as much as my arthritis will allow me. 😂

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Not Buying the Kindle Version of a Book I Really Want

Yeah, it’s a weird habit, this. If I really find a book interesting and the physical copy is expensive, I’ll not buy the Kindle version, no matter what. Instead, I’ll wait for the price to come down or for an occasion where I can afford to splurge on the physical copy. I’ve done this for so many books so far, I’ve lost count. Of course, I didn’t like all these books. But that’s okay. Book excitement is a thing and I experience it quite often. I don’t mind when it’s dampened now and again. It’s an extreme sport in itself. 😛

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Buying More Books Even Though I Haven’t Finished the Ones I Have

This is a serious book hoarder problem, honestly. It doesn’t apply to me here in the buying sense, but I did go and borrow 4 books from the library when I already have two library books that I need to read, plus the books that I own that I got from India. Again, book excitement. I mean, it might look harmless at first glance, but the hoarding becomes faster than I can say ‘sale’ or ‘library’. Hence the number of book haul videos on my channel. 😂

Yes, I’ve become a tad bit more comfortable with this because my mind has accepted the fact that now, no matter what happens, I’ll have a book to read. I’ve also given up on hurrying myself through books just because I have to ‘get through my TBR’. But my bank account sometimes sneers at me. So, this time, I’ll put a pause on it just to respect my bank account and not because ‘oh I have so many books on my TBR’.

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Reading Multiple Books at Once

I even did a whole video about it, talking about how I read multiple books in parallel. It’s a fun thing, really, because you have your toes in so many stories at once. You’re experiencing so many different worlds, walking along with so many different people, and widening your horizons. Yes, it might seem like a lot to take in. But somehow, I’ve always been confident about picking the story up from where I paused it. It’s a whole other matter that once I finish the book, my mind cannot, for the life of me, remember the details.

But I can’t bring myself to read just one book. If I’m not following any challenge, I’m reading one paperback/hardcover, one book on my Kindle device, and one on the Kindle app on my phone. Of course, it also depends on my mood, the kind of book I’ve picked up and the format I want to read in. But I do this.

People ask me how I can keep track of all the plots. All I can do is stare at them as if to say, “What do you mean how?” It’s just how I work and moreover, it makes life exciting for me!

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Forgetting the Outside World

This is also something that is very common across the book world. If you’re invested in a book, you’re going to be forgetting a lot of things. The outside world, food on the stove, water running in the sink – a LOT. I’m no different.

When I’m reading a book, I get in the story and roam around with the characters. I have no idea what’s going on around me in the real world. There are so many times when I’ve burnt the milk vessel and only noticed something odd because I started coughing because of all the smoke in the house.

People get angry at me, saying things like, “keep your head in the real world, what do you get by reading books?” Which, I think I should do a seminar for, honestly, but that’s a different story altogether. Yet, I keep swearing I won’t do it again, but what do you know? Us bookworms are a stubborn lot.

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Have a Quote Book

I either write down quotes from a book I am reading in a notebook or use sticky notes to mark the pages where the quote is. If it is my Kindle device or the Kindle app on my phone, I highlight them. And then, when I’m done with the book, I write down all these quotes in a dedicated quote book. A lot of people do this, too. But for people around me, who see me sitting and writing them down dedicatedly, it seems weird that I should take out so much time to do this seemingly inconsequential thing. It’s fine. I’m comfortable in my weirdness. 😉

I did a whole video about this recently. It was a flip through of all the quote books I’ve made over the years (4 of them). It wasn’t a hit but I loved revisiting all the quotes. Here’s the link if you’d like to watch it: Quote Book Flip Through.

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Writing Down My Reactions as I’m Reading a Story

There are conditions, however, because if I’m reading an easy, breezy book – like a romance or a comedy – then I won’t do this. I’ll fly through the book without bothering to make notes. But if the book is even slightly intense or if I have to review a book, out comes the pen and the notebook and like *this* starts the furious scribbling. It’s a boon for me because irrespective of how I feel at the events in the book – angry, happy, sad, disgusted, sorry – I feel pretty strongly, so it helps me lighten the murmuring in my head before I can go on with the story/content.

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Assuming I Can Read Much More Than I Can

It doesn’t matter if I’m in a reading slump or not. If I’m going on a 2-day trip, I will carry at least 3 or 4 books because why not? I need that choice in my life, even if I’m not going to read any of those books. This is why I have more than 500 books on my TBR – books that I own, because I always think, ‘I’ll read them someday.’ As I mentioned earlier in this blog post, now that I have a library membership here, I’ve taken to borrowing a bunch of books at a time. There’s a three week deadline (which can be extended, but that’s not the point) but look at my optimism, thinking that I can finish 6 books in this period! Heh.

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So those were the weird bookish things that I do? Do you do any of these? What are some that are not on here that you do as a bookworm? Let me know in the comments below. I’d love to hear from you! 😊

I’ll see you in tomorrow’s Blogtober post.                                                                               

Until next time, keep reading and add melodrama to your life! 😀

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