The Guilty Reader Book Tag | #Blogtober22 – Day 26

Being a bookworm is a study in self-control. I should get that new book. NO! I should reward myself with 5 new books because I finished one. NO! I should read just one more chapter before I sleep. (This at 2 AM.) NO! Only, the answer to this is usually yes, which is why so many of us have dark circles from not getting enough sleep. I should just say that I’ve read the book these people are talking about because I don’t want to feel left out. ABSOLUTELY NOT! What is wrong with you?!

This is how my bookish conversations with myself go, more often than not. So when I found this book tag to gauge whether I’m a guilty reader or not, I immediately did a video about it. I put out this video a long, long time ago (here’s the link: The Guilty Reader Book Tag)and I’m now about to see if any of my answers have changed. 😂

This tag was created by Chami on YouTube. The video is no longer available, I don’t know why, but that’s where it originated. 😊

So yes, let’s jump right in and let me answer the questions of the Guilty Reader Book Tag! ❤

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Have you ever regifted a book that you’ve been given?

This answer has changed since then. There are now conditions to this. If I’ve been gifted a book, then absolutely not. I’m super sentimental about the books that I get as gifts and would never regift them, irrespective of whether I end up liking the book or not.

But if I received the book as a review copy or if I bought the book, and if I don’t love the book with a piece of my soul, I have no qualms about regifting. In fact, before I came to Sydney, I gifted a bunch of books to my friends. It made me super happy that they were going to trusted homes and it made them happy too. So win-win.

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Have you ever said you’ve read a book when you haven’t?

I’ll say no. But I do DNF books and irrespective of how much of a book I get through before DNFing it, I consider it read. Because I tried, didn’t I? So it’s a mixed bag, really.

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Have you ever borrowed a book and not returned it?

No, I’ve never done that. But I know of people who have done that to me. XD

It’s a funny story that involves the book The Devil Wears Prada. My closest friend borrowed the book from me and said that she’d read it. Years go by and I don’t see a peep of the book coming from her and when I ask her about it, she says she lost it. I glared at her comically and she giggled. I’d be lying if I said we forgot all about it because I made sure she didn’t, prodding and teasing her every chance I got. But then, I’d made my peace with the disappearance of the book and bought a new copy.

Years later, however, she’s getting married and in the whole hullabaloo, what should rise from oblivion but that old copy of The Devil Wears Prada! She messages me excitedly, asking me to guess what happened, and since I’ve erased it from my memory by then, never even dreamed what she’d say next. I could hear her laughter from the message as I myself burst into laughter.

So it was that I decided to gift her the sequel, Revenge Wears Prada for her birthday a couple of years ago. We had a nice laugh at this too. And it makes me super happy that she’s started reading it.

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Have you ever read a series out of order?

YES! I won’t say which because it’s one I don’t want to promote in any way. So let’s just leave it at that.

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Have you ever spoiled a book for someone?

I hope not! I hate spoilers and I think that they are the absolute worst. They take the fun out of the reading journey. So I’m pretty careful about not giving out spoilers when I talk about books with anyone. But if someone’s okay with it, if they want spoilers of their own volition, then I’ll oblige, albeit after asking them repeatedly for confirmation.

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Have you ever dog-eared a book?

Text books, sure. Novels? Maybe when I was a kid but I’ve changed a lot now. I hate dog-earing books so much it makes my blood boil. But then again, I used to hate annotating books, and highlighting and writing in them. It’s changed now and I love highlighting and making notes, but only if I’m sure about keeping the book with me. So one can never tell what will happen.

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Have you ever told someone you don’t own a book when you do?

I haven’t. But even if I have, it’s probably because I have a fish memory and can’t remember stuff for the life of me and not because I don’t want people to know that I own it. I’m a paradox in myself, given how I try to read all the books while not being able to remember things. 😂

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Have you ever told someone you haven’t read a book when you have?

I haven’t, I think. Even if I don’t remember the details, I do remember if I’ve read a book or not. So it has never happened to me that I’ve read a book and told people I haven’t. Just one exception, however, that I read a book and completely forgot that I’d read it. It was a P.G. Wodehouse book and I picked it up, intending to read it and found it familiar. I later realized, thanks to my excel sheet where I keep a track of the books I’ve read, that I, in fact, had read the book a couple of years prior. Fish memory strikes again!

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Have you ever skipped a chapter or a section of a book?

A few years ago, my answer would have been, “Textbooks, yes. Novels? Never. I go through the entire book, even if I’m hating it with all I have.” Ever since, I have indeed skipped chapters and sections of a book because I gave up and DNFed it. But if you’re asking me if I finished reading a book while skipping chapters in between, I’ll have to say no. Skimming, yes. Skipping, no.

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Have you ever bad-mouthed a book that you actually like?

I don’t think I have. If you follow me on social media, you’ll know that I talk about the books I love very passionately. I tend to defend the books that I like. However, I also like to talk about both the upsides and downsides of a book to give a balanced picture of what the reader can expect. I wouldn’t call that bad-mouthing, though. So, no.

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So those were my answers to the Guilty Reader Book Tag. I feel like my answers have shifted a little since the last time I did this. I’m a little guilty this time around. Doesn’t matter though. I’m not blaming or shaming myself one bit. 😉

What are your answers to these questions? 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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