SOPHIE LI

Hey everyone!

Recently I read this really fun series of tags by Kaleena @ Reader Voracious about good reading habits and bad ones. (By the way, Kaleena has a super fantastic blog so be sure to check it out!) It really got me thinking about my own reading habits, because I guess I never really thought about them in this way before?

Interestingly, I had a very hard time grouping some of these habits into good vs. bad. For example, is it good to read when I like? Or should I be more structured in my reading?

Psst… Although this is technically a tag, I thought this would make for a good discussion post as well. Let me know what your reading habits are 🙂

Good Habits

1: I read whenever I feel like

I kind of designate certain periods of my day for reading. For example, I would read during my morning and afternoon commute, but if I am not feeling like it, I would put down my book. Conversely if I am super into a book that I am reading, I would spend all day and night reading it! So bottom line is, I read when I am in the mood of reading, and I kind of like it that way.

2: I write reviews right after I finish a book

That’s for two reasons! First of all, my feelings about a book are the strongest the moment I finish it. Whether I love the book to bits or I truly think it’s terrible, I want to write all my thoughts and feelings into my review so that it’s all fresh.

Secondly (and most importantly)……. to be honest, my memory is not that great. Several weeks (or even several days) after finishing a book, my memory of the events and the characters will start to fade away. I will literally not know what I’m talking about.

3: I read one book at a time… most of the time

I mean, I don’t think it is a bad habit necessarily to read multiple books at a time. Sometimes I do find myself reading more than one book at a time, for example last month haha, but it feels a bit disorganized to me. I find that I can get into books more when I am reading just one book. Let me know what your thoughts are on this!

4: I keep my reading budget low

All right, confession here: I am kind of a cheap person? Cheap as in frugal. I try to save money when I can. Back when I started book blogging, my book spending went through the roof. In the last year or so, I kept my book budget trim by borrowing most of my books from the library and buying second-hand books. (However I understand that not everyone have access to a good library or a second-hand book store!)

Bad Habits

1: I am judge books by their covers… and Goodreads ratings

I’m stealing a line from Kaleena here, but it is true that I don’t got enough time to read every Goodreads blurb. After reading a lot of book blurbs all at once, my head spins and they all blur into one! Even though 99% of the books I read are ebooks and audiobooks, I am absolutely influenced by the covers. I am also very dependent on Goodreads ratings, if a book has less than a 4-star (or occasionally 3.9-star) rating on Goodreads, then I will not even look at the book.

2: I stick to genres that I am comfortable with

And that means YA. I’ve very rarely ventured into adult books in the past year or so, which I won’t get into much here. I read most notably YA contemporary, sci-fi and fantasy, and that’s because I know these are books that I will likely fly through, that are almost guaranteed to be light-hearted, fast-paced and overall fun reads.

This next year, I’m going to try to… read a bit more adult fiction? We’ll see how it goes? 🙂

3: I hold grudges

If there is a writer that disappointed me, I might give them a second chance. But if I am still not impressed after two books… then I am done. It could be their writing style, or other quirks that I am not fond of (instalove and shallow characters come to mind.) The thing is that I don’t have much time to read, period, and there are so many other books that I have my eyes on. Why spend time on books that I don’t think I will enjoy?

I don’t know. What do you guys think about this? Do you give any second chances?

4: I am critical about the books that I read

As I read more and more, I find myself being a bit more critical. I have lower threshold for certain things, like instalove or cringe-worthy dialogue for example. I don’t know. Sometimes I think I should just lay back and enjoy the books more, rather than trying to pick things apart, lol 🙂

What are some of your reading habits? Do you read when you feel like or are you more structured? Do you judge books by their covers, Goodreads ratings or reviews? Are you peculiar about which authors you read, and do you believe in second chances?