I saw the Reader Problems Tag on Olivia's blog, and couldn't stop myself from doing it! This tag was created by Tiffany on her About To Read YouTube channel. I can never resist a good tag! Feel free to consider yourself tagged if this is something you feel like doing.
1. You have 20,000 books on your TBR. How in the world do you decide what to read next?
It feels like this isn't some hypothetical situation that I need to imagine. It feels like my TBR is pretty close to 20,000 books. Okay, maybe that's a slight exaggeration. But I know I own at least 200-300 books that I haven't read yet. Then all the eARCs and ebooks. So, yeah... Story of my life.
I don't have a method for choosing what to read next. Sometimes I am good and go by what review books need reading that month. Other times I just go for whatever I fancy reading at the time, no matter what that is. I've considered a TBR jar or writing a TBR list and sticking to it, but I'm pretty sure that wouldn't work out.
2. You're halfway through a book and you're just not loving it. Do you quit or are you committed?
I am terrible at making decisions, and this is one I really struggle over. Before I started blogging I had never put a book down and marked it as DNF. I always pushed myself to finish it no matter what, even if I absolutely hated the book or was so bored with it that it was painful to read. I stuck with it. I've gotten better at quitting books now, but I still struggle. It depends on how bad the book is, sometimes the truly awful ones make me want to finish them just so I can write a review about why they were so awful.
3. The end of the year is coming and you're so close, but so far away on your Goodreads reading challenge. Do you try to catch up and how?
I haven't gotten too behind before, but if I did then I would probably try my best to catch up. I'd just make sure that I dedicate at least an hour or two a night to reading, something I haven't been able to do recently. Taking part in readathons can help as well, it gives you a bit of motivation to power through some books.
4. The covers of a series you love do not match. How do you cope?
I don't.
There are two kinds of people in this world. There's the kind that don't mind if they have some books in a series in hardback and others in paperback, or that the books are different sizes or the covers don't match. And then there are people like me. Yes, I have hideous bookish OCD. I want all the books to match... the size, the cover and whether they're all hardback or paperback. I know some people couldn't care less, but I do. I care far too much. So I'd try my hardest to get matching covers but if it's not an option then I'll suck it up, but be dying on the inside.
5. Everyone and their mothers love a book you really don't like. Who do you bond with over their shared feelings?
Go to Goodreads. Go to Twitter. Go to the blogosphere. Someone, somewhere will have hated it too, you've just got to find them. I'd usually use the blog to vent my feelings, and then I usually find at least one other person who felt the same as me. That's been the case with books like Fangirl and The Maze Runner, I thought everyone loved them but I had so many people expressing similar feelings to my own in the comments. Oh internet, how I love thee.
6. You're reading a book and you are about to start crying in public. How do you deal?
I hate when this happens, and it has happened to me. I usually like to try to act super casual like'Don't worry about me, I'm not weeping into my book and silently cursing the author for doing this to me', even though that's totally what I'm doing. I try to avoid reading books or the ends of books in public that I am sure will make me cry. But sometimes there's no knowing what will have me blubbering.
7. A sequel of a book you love just came out, but you've forgotten a lot from the prior novel. Will you re-read the book? Skip the sequel? Try to find a synopsis on Goodreads? Cry in frustration?!?
Now I'm wishing I hadn't already used the story of my life gif, it would come in real handy for this one. I have a terrible memory, something I've mentioned a lot on the blog. I reread books in a series before I get to the sequel. It's time consuming but I kind of have to, otherwise I'd just be confused when reading the book and it can hinder my reading experience.
8. You do not want anyone. ANYONE. borrowing your books. How do you politely tell people no when they ask?
 |
| Me when a friend tries to go near my bookshelves. |
This is where I am happy that nobody I know enjoys reading in the same way I do, so nobody ever asks. But I actually don't want anyone borrowing my books. I don't trust people to treat them in the same way that I would. I used to lend books to my mum and sister, but then they'd come back with broken spines and I'd have to restrain myself from hurting them.
9. Reading ADD. You've picked up and put down 5 books in the last month. How do you get over your reading slump?
I'd go and pick up a trusted favourite, something that I am certain I will enjoy. That way it takes the pressure off and I don't need to worry about whether I will like it or not.
10. There are so many new books coming out that you're dying to read! How many do you actually buy?
I have a rather large book buying problem, so I'd probably cave eventually and buy each and every one. Sometimes I'll wait a little while and see what the reviews are like. But, yes, the majority of the time I end up buying them all.
11. After you've bought the new books you can't wait to get to, how long do they sit on your shelf before you get to them?
Days. Weeks. Months. Years.
It varies from book to book, but sometimes it can be years before I finally get to the book. There are some books on my shelf I am not sure I will ever get to. There are some I have given away without ever reading them.
This was surprisingly fun. I'm going to tag a few people below, but feel free to consider yourself tagged if this looks like something you'd enjoy doing.
Amanda & Stacie @ Beautiful Bookish Butterflies
Ebony @ Daring Damsels
Mel @ The Daily Prophecy
Brittany @ This is the Story of My Reading Life
Golden Son by Pierce Brown: Review
Talon by Julie Kagawa: Review
My Weekly Book Haul: 17/01/2015
The Door That Led To Where by Sally Gardner: Review
I love this and I agree with so many of your answers!
ReplyDeleteThanks! :)
DeleteLove this tag and advice for forgetting books in series, use recaptions! It's a blog that basically recaps books in series perfectly and they've already got a huge database of books on there. I plan on using it when Winter by Marissa Meyer comes out because I just know that I'll forget all the important stuff in Cress by then.
ReplyDeleteI really should, but I have tried and it still didn't help for me. I think it's because it gave me the general storyline but not how I felt when reading it. It didn't make me get back into the story and the characters.
DeleteI'm getting better at quitting books as well! It used to take everything to make me put a book down and declare DNF. YESSS What I love the most about the bookish community is that someone out there will have shared your opinion. You are not a lone wolf. It's nice to be able to share your thoughts with likeminded people! :D I end up buying everything as well! I can't help it. I feel like I've just got to see it for myself. Loved your answers, Charnell! x
ReplyDeleteI know, book blogging has been absolutely awful for my bank balance but I have loved every minute of it!
DeleteOh, the horror of covers that don't match. It even bothers me when different books from the same author don't match in size. That's why I started ordering most books from amazon because I get to choose exactly the edition I want from the publisher I want and can even double check that the sizes match. It's taken some fun out of going to the bookstore but still. Great tag! :)
ReplyDeleteWHY DO PUBLISHERS DO THAT TO ME!!! I do that myself too, even getting the tape measure out and double checking.
DeleteOhh, I love this one! I was going to do it... at some point. O_O There are so many hilarious questions. Many bloggers mentioned the Recaptains blog for Q#6, which I'd never heard of before now. They recap novels so you know what happens when the next one comes out, and I heard sometimes the authors themselves write the recaps. O_O A TBR jar sounds like a great idea, only I know I wouldn't stick to it either. =/
ReplyDeleteAre you doing the bookish bingo challenge? It might help with your TBR because you have to find certain books that cross off an entire row, like a 'white cover' or a 'romance'. That'll mean you have to hunt through the books you already have and maybe you'll end up reading older TBR's. Loved this post!
I've heard of it and tried using it, but it doesn't work for me. Yes, it tells me everythign that happened in a book. But it never reminds me how I felt when reading the book or what I made of the characters. I just prefer rereading.
DeleteI love this! We've been tagged by you and Cait to do this tag now, so think I'll be dragging Stacie in on it some time soon, maybe next week, but you do have reader problems, bless your heart Charnell!
ReplyDeleteI know... I'm full of reader problems.
DeleteGreat answers :)
ReplyDeleteAnd as usual, perfect gifs!
THANKS!
DeleteI suck at DNFing books. I recently read a book that I was this close to DNFing but I still pushed through. Did it get any better and was it worth it, you may ask? No, it didn't and I regret wasting a day reading a book that I didn't enjoy. It's just, I get quite optimistic when it comes to books and I always hope that a book will get dramatically better towards the end even though that's generally not the case.
ReplyDeleteI didn't enjoy Fangirl either (as I've mentioned on here before) so it's nice knowing that I'm not the only one that feels that way haha!
Great answers! <3
YAY! It always feels good finding someone else who didn't like Fangirl. Is that weird? :S
DeleteIt's good to see that you did the tag and managed to enjoy it! I have been thinking about a TBR jar for a long time as well because everyone seems to have one, but not sure about that xD I know a lot of people share the same book OCD aspects! I don't mind too much, really. I do like it better when they all match, and I hate when I see a version of a book I love which is /better/ than the one I have. I might be rebuying the Gone series because I want the edges of my pages to have the pretty colours :P
ReplyDeleteHaha, I really want the pretty edges as well.
DeleteI AM WITH YOU WITH THE BOOKISH OCD. When I'm rich and famous (totally going to happen at some point, *nods*) I will have bookshelves of matching books. I have 3 Divergent books ALL WITH DIFFERENT COVERS. *hyperventilates* It really really bothers me. >.> And my The Mortal Instruments are different sizes, but at least the covers match, so I can breathe a little more easily on that. Not much. Just a little.
ReplyDeleteLENDING BOOKS IS HARD. I struggle to lend books to my sister. (But she totally bent the cover of my Paper Towns and that made me mad.) *ahem* But then, she's been asking me for book recs, and I just HAD to make her read All The Bright Places. Then I gave her We Were Liars straight after. I AM A HORRIBLE WONDERFUL SISTER. xD
I love my bookish OCD. Lending books should just be illegal... unless it's a library.
DeleteI don't ever get over it if my covers don't match. I buy another edition so they'll match. It's a terrible habit. Picking a book to read... I go with whatever I feel like reading. There's no sense in forcing yourself to read something just because. I need to feel like reading a book so it can reach its full potential and I can enjoy it to its full extent. As for quitting books... sometimes I do (if I hate it... as in, I can't find any good aspects within the book that I like). Mostly I push myself to keep reading. Because: what if the ending is awesome? What if the story turns around and the beginning is just really crappy? And if it doesn't, that sucks, and I get frustrated. But that happens.
ReplyDeleteHaha, great answers!
I KNOW! Covers should have to much. It should be illegal for publishers to do a mid series cover change!
DeleteThis was a fun interview. I have the same thing with book covers... they must match!! Also, I find it hard to let people borrow my books too. I've finally set up a sheet where I know who my books are going to, when they borrowed them, and when they return. Although, I still only let the people I know who respect my books borrow them. I just think it's beyond disrespectful when someone returns a borrowed book trashed, especially when they should know I love my books.
ReplyDeleteI don't let anyone touch my books, they can't be trusted ;) Yup, I'm that OCD.
DeleteThanks for the tag, darling! :)
ReplyDeleteI feel like my answers will be pretty similar to yours. Lol.
As discussed, the TBR is out of control. New releases I'm totally excited for will sit on my shelves for years as well. It's quite depressing. But they'll get read one day. Hopefully....
I'll lend out certain books and only to certain people. I also don't have many friends that read, so that's a major pro(well in this situation).
Happy reading!
Brittany @ This is the Story of My(Reading) Life
Haha, exactly. It makes me happy that none of my friends read, I never have to refuse anyone.
DeleteThanks for the tag, I will make my post soon :D Almost nobody asks if they can borrow my books, which is how I like it. I sometimes force my sister to read my books, so obviously I wouldn't mind her to ask for them. But most of the times I would say 'no' because not everybody is as careful with books as I am. They are my precious.
ReplyDeleteHaha, that's exactly how I like it too.
Delete