Book Tag | Book Addiction

 

I found this just now when I was visiting CK's blog, Seeking a Little Truth.

1. What is the longest amount of time you can comfortably go without picking up a book?

Less than 24 hours. I have to read every day, whether it is my own books or with Eleanor. When I don't, I feel jittery and unfocused.

2. How many books do you carry on your person at any one time?

I always have my Kindle with me on occasions where Eleanor is not with me and I know I will be waiting - like getting an oil change, or at the doctor/dentist. If Eleanor is with me, we have one of her chapter books.

3. Do you keep every book you buy or are you happy to pass them on to make space for more?

It always surprises people with how few books I actually own. I tend to not reread, because I read nonfiction most of the time. Once a book is read it goes into the bag to be resold to Half Price Books. If it is on the Kindle, it is deleted. I also very rarely buy new books, so I have little issue with deleting a $.99 book from the Kindle. I keep books that are special - Dan Jones (of course), and an assortment of others, favorites from my childhood, etc.

4. How long would you spend in a bookshop on a standard visit?

Not terribly long. I mainly buy used books from Half Price Books, so I can sell them back to buy more. I always head straight for the US and World History sections, where I can find what I want pretty quickly. It depends how many books I find that I am interested in that I have to scan to add to my Goodreads to-read shelf! When Eleanor is with me it takes a bit longer, but not much. If I am looking for a book that I want to keep, I shop at a "new books" bookstore if HPB does not have it new - which they sometimes do. Probably no more than half an hour. Except for the time that I met a man whose wife is a descendant of Eleanor of Aquitaine. We chatted for a looooooong time.

5. How much time per day do you actually spend reading?

At least an hour, either to myself or with Eleanor. On weekends like this when she has to go to her dad's house, I can spend the entire weekend reading and blogging.

6. Where does the task 'picking up a book' appear on your daily To Do list?

That's kind of a weird question. I do not make daily to-do lists. The only to-do list I keep is related to everything I have to do at school, preparing materials for students, meetings, etc. At some point in the evening Eleanor and I will read together, and after she goes to bed I read anywhere from 1-3 hours.

7. How many books do you reckon you own in total?

Around 600 on the Kindle currently, and another couple hundred on the two five-shelf book cases and the two-shelfer that is part of my headboard. Probably have around 1,200 at the moment combining those numbers, but this number is always changing as I sell books back once I am done with them.

8. Approximately how often do you bring up books in conversations?

Depends on who I am with and what our relationship is. I do not typically recommend books to people I do not know very well, unless they ask and are interested in a specific topic. Friends who know I love to read are constantly asking if I have read this or that, if they should read it, etc.

9. What is the biggest book (page count) you have finished reading?

The English and Their History by Robert Tombs, which came in at 1040 pages. However, I have been working on The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer for a couple years, which tops 1,600 pages.

10. Is there a book you had to get your hands on against all odds?

None of the books I am interested in keeping are hard to find. Once I have the funds to do so I am going to begin collecting the varying UK/US covers of all of Dan Jones' books, but those also will not be hard to find as he's kind of popular and all.

11. Is there a book you struggled to finish but refused to DNF?

Nope. I used to struggle with DNFs in general because I am very competitive, even with myself, so I felt like I had to finish every book I ever started. But then I realized that was stupid, because there are so many books waiting for me to pick them up and now I DNF at-will. I could be 50 pages in, I could be 5 pages in, even 200 in, and if I decide I am done, I am done.

12. What are three of your main book goals for 2021?

Nothing spectacular. I need to complete the President Challenge I set for myself back in 2016. I also need to get more reviews done because I am hopelessly behind on those, which you can see and gawk at HERE. I am aiming to read 300 books, also but might have to adjust this depending on how reviewing goes.

13. Have you ever converted someone into a reader?

I made Eleanor a reader before she was even born. I started reading to my little sea monkey fetus at about six month pregnant. I read Where the Wild Things Are to her twice a day during the week (upon waking and before going to sleep) and more on the weekends. When Mom and I brought her home from the hospital, Mom was holding her and I began reading the story to her for the first time post-partum. Eleanor turned her head in the direction of my voice and didn't move until the story was over. She's been surrounded by books her entire life and has three three-shelf bookcases of her own crammed with all kinds of reads in her play room.

14. Describe what books mean to you in 5 words.

As necessary as breathing air