Top 10 Tuesday is a weekly feature created and hosted by The Broke & the Bookish featuring a different topic each week. This week:
Top 10 Blogging/Reading Confessions
- I prefer having scheduled posts. Once upon a time I would always have blog posts scheduled up until at least a week in advance. I like writing posts in my own time, rather than rushing to get them done and posted on the day that I’ve decided on. I hate having to change dates, etc and be unorganised. Unfortunately at the moment, I’m writing them just before they’re supposed to go up – I keep trying to get ahead again but it’s just not happening.
- I’ve never read the Harry Potter series. And I have no plans to ever do so. I get a lot of ‘looks’ when I say this. I’m just not interested in the series, never have been. I really hated a lot of the behaviour that people displayed when books were released – adults pushing and shoving kids out of the way, etc. The frenzy that people were whipped up into…. bleugh. Maybe my kids will read them one day…but I’m happy to leave them on my unread list.
- I keep a blogging journal. I keep track of everything I receive, whether it be from publishers or authors or netgalley and dates that I plan to post reviews to coincide with a tour or if I’ve been given a specific date. I actually like having a specific date because it does help keep me more organised and helps me not put things off. I do change things if required.
- I never buy the first book on the shelf. I usually buy the 3rd or 4th in the stack, one at the back and I always check to make sure it isn’t wrinkled or shows no wear and tear. Which leads into….
- I’m obsessed about my books looking new. This isn’t to say that I don’t read them, or that they’re not well loved. They are. But I don’t crack their spines or dog ear their pages. I had a flatmate once who cracked the spine of every brand new book the day she bought it. Used to make me shudder.
- I secretly want to cull my books. My husband and I have over a thousand books. We have five bookcases, all of which are overflowing. We have no room for new bookcases. Books keep arriving! I want to go through and cull the books I’ll never read again, didn’t like or haven’t read and have no intentions of ever reading and give them away. But my husband won’t let me. He hoards every darn book we have.
- I own so many books I haven’t read that it’s embarrassing. Actually I’m afraid to count all of the unread books on my shelves. I figure I’m investing for my future, when I’m a poor pensioner or something who can’t afford to buy any books. I’ll have all of these unread ones that’ll provide me with years of entertainment.
- I almost never re-read anymore. I used to be a huge re-reader. I read my favourites over and over and over. And now I have so many books that I find I hardly have the time for older ones. There are books I’ve only read once that I know would be so much better if I could re-read them a time or two. But I just never get around to it.
- I hate reading a series out of order, even if they’re only loosely connected. I have done it a couple times in the past but I really don’t like doing it. I prefer to start at the beginning, even if they’re just spin off or companion books about different characters. I also hate it if I start a book without realising it’s part of a series.
- I hate it when publishers change the covers mid-series. I’m not super obsessed with having my books match, there are some I’ll buy in large paperback form, others small (hardbacks are a rarity here in Australia) but I like the covers of a series to be consistent and tie everything together. If the publisher changes the covers and I find I like the new covers better, I always want to replace all of my older books with bright, shiny new ones with the better covers. Sometimes I resist, because well, $$. Other times, not so much.
So there you go – my little secrets! What are yours?
All The Books I Can Read 
I know that feeling about culling, I want to do a cull but I don’t want my wife to know. She’ll encourage it and I don’t want her to have the satisfaction of winning 😛
I’ve asked my husband several times if we can just cull a little bit…. just the ones I don’t like or whatever. He doesn’t even have to cull his own books! But I have to admit, if I really, really wanted to, I could just go in and do it. I’d only be culling books he doesn’t know we own anyway. There’s something stopping me!
Very interesting confessions. I’m the opposite about my books. I like when they look old and kind of loved (so many dog eared, water damaged) etc.
I used to not really care but I’m not sure why I do now, I just love the look of a pristine book. I never highlight or write in them and I make sure I have a bookmark.
you might faint if you saw my books. recently I’ve been writing and highlighting on almost every page.
I’m a book hoarder too and am probably nearing the 1000 mark, but I’m moving across the country and some tough decisions have been made. Even with media mail rates, shipping that many books just isn’t cheap! So I’m really taking a look and determining which books I really like, if I would read them again, if I would actually recommend them to other people, etc.
Books are such a pain to pack and move! We’ve probably almost doubled our collection since we moved into this house and most of our bookcases have been bought since our last move. I shudder to think of packing them all up and moving them, when we have to move again 😦
Brilliant confessions. I agree with a lot of them. I definitely don’t re-read as much as I used to, if at all, which is a shame. I try to be ruthless with my books as I seem to be getting more books in than books out. I have to think to myself ‘Would I really read this book again?’
I think my problem is I’m hanging onto them for that day where I -do- want to read them again! I don’t know when that day will be….but I’m sure it exists!
I’ve stopped looking at my TBR count, but I know what it is (thank you very much, Goodreads!). Even taking into consideration the fact that some of them are reference books that I don’t really “read” so much as “refer to”, that’d only knock at most 50 books off the list. And I still plan to read each and every one! I just don’t think about how, or when. But having a library is really important to me. (That must be obvious – why else would I pay thousands to ship them around the world?!) I could easily cull, especially books I didn’t like, but even those make up a kind of living history for me, not to mention that there are other uses for them. Plus even though I might not have liked them, maybe someone I know (like my kid(s) when older) would? Books go out of print so quickly, and vanish. I hate that.
I like my books to look pristine, too. When I was a teenager I used to cover them in contact paper – I read mostly fantasy, mass market paperbacks – but the contact would bubble around the embossed typeface, ugh. I hate it when you can’t read a book without (accidentally) cracking the spine. I really liked the way North American publishers produced “soft” books, almost floppy – so lovely to hold! UK publishers tend to produce stiff, heavy books that you can’t fully open without cracking the spine. Not keen on that at all.
I allowed my father, a total neat-freak declutterer to donate my childhood books. Lovely versions of Enid Blyton and the like, hardbacks of Little Women and Anne of Green Gables and I regret it so, so, so badly now. I wish I’d had somewhere to store them because my kids are getting to an age where we’ll be able to start reading Enid Blyton etc soon. And I think of all those lovely versions I had and I can’t find ones that are the same. But at the same time, I know they didn’t really have room for them when I moved out and when I was a teen I didn’t have the vision to see that I’d want them again some day. I just wanted to be able to fit my new books into my bookcase.
Random question…why are hardbacks a rarity in Australia?
I also don’t reread as much as I did in years past. I think I have so many books TBR that I feel guilty using the time for a book I’ve already read instead of reading a new book.
There are way more books on my Kindle than I will read in the next few years. I really should go and delete them, but I can’t. I was always donating books, but deleting seems so permanent. Maybe I should just get over myself and purge.
I think it’s the market – we’re a country of a relatively small population and books are very expensive here. Hardbacks set you back around $40-50 and people just won’t pay that. It doesn’t make financial sense for publishers to release everything in hardback. Only certain authors and “special” books get the hardback release mostly.
2. Ditto. No plans either.
5. You would DIE if you saw my books – I fold pages and highlight bits and sometimes even make margin notes. I think of it as ‘showing love’.
6. Do it…. Then you’ll have room for more!
OMG! Noooo haha. I saw a picture on twitter the other day of someone’s copy of I think it was Ulysses by James Joyce. It was -covered- in highlighter and scribble. You couldn’t even read the text. It make my skin crawl, haha.
I’m so glad I’ve found someone else who hasn’t read Harry Potter and doesn’t plan to. I always think I’m some kind of freak for not having done it. People LOOK at me like I’m some kind of freak!
So many of these sound like me. Culling to make room yes. Can I part with anything. No. I wish I was organised like you and had records of what I received and when and from whom. That would be helpful
I have found that it has really helped! I bought a journal/planner online and just write what I receive on what day and what I plan to post each day as well. It also helps me see what I’m reading that I’ve received and what isn’t really interesting or working for me. I find I work better if I have an idea of what needs to be read. I still pick and choose books according to my mood but otherwise everything is just a pile on the bookcase and I forget what’s being published soon, etc.
I agree with you on so many of these – the scheduled posts, not buying the first book in a stack, covers changing mid-series… I also don’t reread as much as I used to, and I wish I would but there’s just so many new books waiting to be read! Great list 🙂
My TTT
Yeah, I know there’s so many books on my shelves that I would understand so much better and appreciate more if I could re-read them….but so many books, so little time! One day I will get to them all again. One day! Thanks for stopping by.
I can’t read books out of order either! It drives me crazy (maybe my bookish OCD is speaking?) and I hate it when my books don’t match. Ugh. I usually schedule posts! It might only be 24 hours in advance, but I always feel better knowing I’m semi-scheduled. 😉
My TTT!
I agree, even 24hrs in advance is good! I post all mine at the same time (9am my time) and I hate getting up and knowing that I haven’t finished a post and I have to sit down and bang it out and feel rushed. I definitely need to try and build up my scheduled posts again. I definitely feel more organised and relaxed.
YES to so much of this list. I always go for the third or fourth book on the shelf, often picking up multiply copies to check which one is the best. Although I don’t mind books I own looking a bit dog-eared, but they just have to start out pristine at least lol. I’ve been rereading a lot more this year after not doing it for the two previous years and I’m really enjoying it. I does mean that I’m not getting to newer books though, but I’ve been doing it mainly through audiobooks so I feel like I’m still getting something new through the different format anyway.
And I HAAATE reading out of order, even if they’re only in the same universe or whatever and not even the same characters. It actually stresses me out lol.
And I own way too many books I’ve never read too. The difference is my husband actively wants me to cull them!
A couple of times I’ve been so keen to get a book that I’ve just grabbed the first one without thinking only to get home and release the spine is damaged down the bottom or the back cover is creased or something. Now I am so much more particular about which one I’ll buy! I’ve found that since I’ve had kids, I’ve had to let a bit of the “pristine” thing go. They all went through a stage where they pulled them off the shelves and carted them around, or put them in their mouth or “read” them. But I still like them to look as smooth and new as possible!
I hate it when covers change too! I had all of Elizabeth Chadwick’s books until they went and changed the covers 😦
Cora @ Tea Party Princess
Yes! So frustrating and disappointing!
I am also a book hoarder however I have been doing a lot better in the last year or so with being able to let go of books that I no longer love or read anymore. I am somewhere in the middle with how my books look, I don’t mind a little wear and tear but I don’t want them half destroyed either. I think every book blogger/lover ever has the problem with more than their fair share of unread books on their shelves. It’s just so hard to say no to the prospect of more books!
I admire you for being able to let go! I just don’t seem to be able to take that step, lol. I always think that I’m going to regret it and want them back desperately one day!
I agree – it is very hard to say no!
Hmm, the term OCD comes to mind! I love a book to look new when it is new, but if I’ve loved it to death I don’t mind it to look that way, like The Velveteen Rabbit. I underline my favourites phrases, and sometimes turn the corners of the pages containing my favourite scenes. I don’t keep any books except my favourites which I’m sure I’ll re-read one day, although I relate to having a husband who’s a hoarder – my husband is a shocker in that department – luckily he doesn’t really buy books.
+JMJ+
Quite a few people have been “confessing” that they’ve never read Harry Potter, so you’re not alone! =) I’m not a huge fan, though I did finally get through the whole series about three years ago. My friends who really love the books have told me they feel a little sad that they can’t fully share their love of it with me. I guess they represent the majority, which is why a book blogger’s admitting that he hasn’t tried Harry Potter can be a little shocking. But it’s really not such a big deal. The books aren’t canon or anything, aye?