Hello everything and welcome to something a bit different today here on bibliobeth. One of my bookish goals/resolutions was to do something different at least once every month, for example a tag, so a big thank you to the lovely Stuart at Always Trust In Books for tagging me and I’m looking forward to confessing all my bookish secrets! Please go follow Stuart if you don’t already. He is an awesome reviewer, a great buddy reader and writes such intelligent and thoughtful reviews that I always enjoy reading them.
Here we go!
What is the longest amount of time you can comfortably go without picking up a book?
I think the longest time I’ve ever gone without reading is two days. At the time, I was reading a book that was only “okay,” and it put me into a bit of a slump where I didn’t look forward to picking it up again. For future reference Beth – just DNF! Ideally, I love to read every day but I do get a bit twitchy if I go for longer than a day without losing myself in a book.
How many books do you carry on your person (or kindle) at any one time?
Uh-oh. Now I’m in trouble. If I’m reading a “real” book I just carry one at a time unless I’m quite near the end of the book and then I take two. I get incredibly nervous if I finish a book in a day and don’t have anything else to read on my commute home. The idea of not reading on the train (unless I’m not feeling well) is horrifying!
I’ve just checked Amazon for the total amount of books I have on my Kindle and it’s er….quite a lot. Okay, okay, it’s 1856. Shocking, I know. And I don’t think that counts the Netgalley ones which is about 40. Oh and I had a big clear out and deleted about 100 not long ago so it was worse!
Do you keep every book you buy/receive or are you happy to pass them on to make space for more?
I used to keep every single book, I just love seeing them there all stacked up (rather haphazardly) in my bookshelves. Then I tried moving house with all of them and realised how ridiculous I was being. I heard about something recently that if you want to do a book cull you should look at your books, be honest with yourself and only keep books that bring you joy. Just before we moved away from London, I did exactly that and got rid of about 150 books! I mean, if you’re not going to read them or re-read them what’s the point?
How long would you spend in a bookshop on a standard visit?
If they didn’t have to close and I didn’t have to do life stuff or eat/drink/work I could happily spend days in a bookshop. It also depends who I’m with as well. If I’m with my boyfriend, he gets bored quite quickly and leaves the bookshop to wait for me outside. Even though he tells me to take my time, I still feel a bit guilty and spend maybe fifteen to twenty minutes. If I’m with my sister or another book lover, easily an hour or longer.
How much time per day do you actually spend reading?
I read on my commute to and from work so that would be about an hour and a half. Then on my lunch break for about half an hour whilst the other half hour is spent reading other bloggers posts, re-tweeting them and replying to comments. Then finally, before bed for up to an hour. So… about three hours I think?
Where does the task ‘picking up a book’ appear on your daily to-do list?
Quite high. If I didn’t have to work it would probably be my only priority haha. My last thought before I leave the house in the morning is: “Is my book in my bag?!”
How many books do you reckon you own in total (including e-books)?
Oh dear. This is where I hang my head a little bit for my obvious lack of control. So, 1,896 on Kindle, including Netgalley review copies and then real books – at a conservative estimate it’s probably 900 or a little bit more. That makes 2,796. I have a problem, right?
Approximately how often do you bring up books in conversation?
Depends on who I’m talking to I guess. If it’s my sister, it’s usually the first thing we talk about after we’ve said “Hi” of course! With my boyfriend it’s maybe once a day, usually encouraging him to read more!
What is the biggest book (page count) you have finished reading?
Just had a look at Goodreads and it was back in 2011 where I re-read The Lord Of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien which weighs in at 1,216 pages.
Is there a book you had to get your hands on against all odds i.e searching bookshops, online digging etc?
I don’t think so. I normally manage to get hold of books that I really, really want quite easily. I am quite precious about my Penguin clothbound classics which have all been bought for me as gifts but again, they’re relatively easy to find I think!
A book you struggled to finish but refused to DNF?
Current read – Blood And Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause. I’m deliberately not DNF’ing it because it’s part of my Banned Books series with my sister and fellow blogger, Chrissi Reads. I’m very much looking forward to sharing my thoughts on that one though, it would DEFINITELY be DNF’d if it wasn’t for our series. More on that on Monday!
What are 3 of your main book goals for 2018?
Put less pressure on myself to blog every day – I struggle with a chronic illness and work full-time so am often in a lot of pain and don’t feel like blogging. I’m apt to beat myself up if I don’t have a post going out every day but I need to stop doing that!
Gradually reduce back list by continuing to do mini pin-it reviews – I’m getting on really well with this goal, I’ve done 20 of these so far which is equivalent to 80 books (4 in each review) and I should hopefully be on top of it by the end of this year or early next year at the latest.
Be better about commenting on other bloggers reviews – I’m also doing well with this. I love getting comments myself and am really enjoying the interaction with other bloggers. It’s a wonderful community and I feel I’m making some real blogger besties which is lovely.
Have you ever had the privilege of converting someone into a reader (maybe via inspiration or incessant nagging)?
Yes! My boyfriend, for sure. He never used to be a big reader and he always says that I have converted him into someone who looks forward to reading now which warms the cockles of my heart. He has lost his way a little bit recently but I’m hoping to bring him back to the fold soon. I think he’s getting a bit fed up with my voice whining at him: “Why don’t you READ?!” whenever he goes to bed!!
Describe what books mean to you in five words.
Happiness
Home
Passion
Obsession
Life
So that’s it! Hope you’ve enjoyed my answers to this book tag. I’d like to tag any blogger that wants to do this and hasn’t done it already. I always feel like I know someone a lot better with tags like this, I hope you feel you know me a little bit better and I’d love to get to know you too.
Lots Of Biblio-Love
BETH
xxx
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