Hello!!!

So, as usual, I saw something on a blog and knew I had to do it too! I mean, that should be my tagline by now. Still, this is something I haven’t seen before and then I saw it on Svetlana’s blog and I knew I had to do it too!

As someone who’s very firmly addicted to books of any kind (mostly SFF but I am trying to change that a little bit), it is my duty to do this one, don’t you think? I am unfortunately not only addicted to books but also buying books which is why my bank account suffers constantly. *shrugs*

So without any further delay, let’s just get into these questions, shall we?

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

I doubt I can actually answer this one without being totally inaccurate. I am such a moody reader that it all depends on when I will devour three books back-to-back or won’t touch one for an entire week but I think that’s the limit of me going without a book. I don’t think I can last longer than that. I would pick up a favourite for a re-read just to get rid of the funky mood.

How many books do you carry on your person (or kindle) at any one time?

Oh, boy. My kindle has close to 50 unread books at the moment, 3 of which are e-ARCs. Oops. I tend not to carry any physical books with me because everything is close by and there’s not enough travel time whenever I want to go out.

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

I don’t keep all the books I buy/receive simply because I don’t have enough space for them and secondly, some books I think I have gotten over? I mean, the sheer amount of Mills & Boon I would have if I couldn’t let go of them! It’s rather unimaginable.

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

Ooh! It all depends which bookshop it is but generally even in a bookshop with limited stocks, I spend at least fifteen trying to find a shiny new book. Mostly I fail but then I never said I am smart. In a shop where there’s tons of books that would appeal to me, expect at least an hour for me to be okay enough to leave the shop. It might be embarrassing if I weren’t above those things in a bookshop.

How much time per day do you actually spend reading?

I don’t think I can calculate it. Some days, I read an entire book and some days, I don’t even touch a book. It’s all up to my moody mind, really. So I would say on an average, let’s say I spend an hour? Maybe?

Where does the task ‘picking up a book’ appear on your daily to-do list?

I think mostly once I am kinda done with all my tasks and can just relax. Sometimes I do listen to audiobooks (depending on the book) while I am doing my chores so it all depends on my schedule and the mood I am in. My schedule is such a weird one nowadays that I can never be sure when I will pick up a book but trust me, I try to find time whenever I can. Otherwise I will wither and die. *dramatic music enters the scene*

How many books do you reckon you own in total (including e-books)

Is this question meant to call me out? I probably own close to 400 physical books and I don’t have any idea how many I have on my Kindle and iBooks, sorry! I mean, I am pretty sure there’s at least 100 total that are unread including the ebooks but well, what can I do? They are there already and I wanna read them all. I really can’t be sure how many I have at this point because I haven’t counted them properly since last year.

Approximately how often do you bring up books in conversation?

Not as often as I would have thought. My sister knows my obsession but we talk about other things more than we talk about books, same with my friends. Some of my coworkers have read books recommended by me and loved them but they are casual readers and I am just happy that I got them to read at all. (That’s not to say that they weren’t readers at all but that they were re-introduced to the love of reading again). In my family, I am maybe the only obsessive reader so that sort of cancels out bookish discussions, mostly because those who do read have vastly different tastes than mine.

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

Ooh! I might have to check out that. So I checked it out and it turned out that the longest book this year was The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon.

Is there a book you had to get your hands on against all odds (i.e searching bookshops, online digging, etc.)?

I think this question was made for Uprooted by Naomi Novik because damn but it took a long while to find a proper paperback copy (forget about hardcover) and even then, it cost a bit more than I would have liked but I was just happy that I finally got it. It took me literal months to find a copy at all. It was very frustrating and well, I am still salty about not having the UK hardcover but that’s going to be a dream, I think.

A book you struggled to finish but refused to DNF?

I think that might have been City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments ) because for some reason, I was really over the whole Clary and Jace thing by the time I got to the third book. The only thing that made me continue was that I wanted to see it to the end. I am not sure when I will pick up the rest of the series (it was initially my goal to read one book in the series a month, clearly, I failed at that majestically!). Let’s see how it goes then. I have heard that the books do improve afterwards so I am not completely giving up on the series quite yet. Maybe I should try to read the physical copies (which I don’t have).

What are 3 of your main book goals for 2019?

One of my goals is to DNF books I am really not enjoying. So far, I haven’t done too well with that but that’s fine. There’s time still for me DNF books. It’s hard for me to let go and well, I feel ridiculously guilty. So that’s a work-in-progress.

Another one of my goals is to read outside of my comfort zone (which is fantasy) and I think I have been doing fairly okay with that so far. Mind you, I am not stopping my fantasy reading any time soon but I am also slowly dipping my toes in other genres.

Lastly, a close to impossible goal. I want to limit my book buying. I really need to stop being impulsive and buy books as soon as I find them even remotely amazing. It’s a weakness and I probably need help with that. The therapy kind of help. I also stress buy books which is also a bit problematic so hopefully, I might reduce that. (Fat chance of that happening.)

Have you ever had the privilege of converting someone into a reader (maybe via inspiration or incessant nagging)?

Funnily enough. I feel a personal accomplishment when my sister reads anything recommended by me because she’s very definitely not a reader. She reads her coursework because there’s no other option. So that’s always a brilliant feeling then there’s some of my coworkers who have read books recommended by me and loved them too. That feeling is something else entirely. Words can’t contain that emotion, I think.

Describe what books mean to you in five words.

Everything. Or as close to everything as is possible. I don’t think there’s been a month or a year when I haven’t read books for comfort or just for the joy of reading. It’s something as easy as breathing for me at this point and ever since I started blogging about books, I have become even more of a book-lover than I ever was before. I doubt it’s gonna stop being a thing for as long as I live.

 

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So, that’s me. I think we can safely assume that I am a book-addict through and through. I mean, considering everything I post about on this blog and on my bookstagram is about books, was there ever any hope anything else?

What about you? Are you as obsessed about books? Is this a problem you face regularly in life and happily? How much do you look forward to a new favourite book? Is there a genre you wished you read more of? Tell me all about it in the comments, you know I always wanna know more about you!