I came across a challenge at Lust and Coffee the other day, and I found that it might be interesting to join ;)! It is a book blogging challenge created by Good Books and Good Wine. On YouTube I've been watching extremely fun videos of people doing tags and challenges (check out: booksandquills, thereadables, ...) and I always find myself wanting to do those sorts of things on my blog but never had the right time to do so, but here I am now! Finally! I won't do the challenges everyday, I will be doing 3 challenges per month - I promise I will do all 15!
Day 1: Make 15 book related confessions.
1. I always plastic-wrap my books, I don't know how this actually became a habit, a habit I always enjoy. When I was 8 years old, I had this comic book called Hai, Miiko! (I don't remember which episode) which was absolutely one of my favourites. One day when I came home from school, I saw my copy of Hai, Miiko! all crumbled and its spine cracked, the cover cut, and just in a terrible state - my baby sister had ruined my copy! I was really mad at myself for not taking care of my favourite comic book. So I guess that since then I always plastic-wrap my books and take a lot of care of them.
2. I enjoy paperbacks a lot more than e-books, compared to paperbacks, e-books are definitely easier to carry around and they don't take a lot of space. But for me, nothing makes me happier than opening a new book, caressing every page and writing my name on the first page. It is weird to say, but the feeling I get when I finish a paperback is different than the one I get when I finish an e-book. You can't fully enjoy a book in electronic form.
3. I spend too much money on books, I admit it. I honestly cannot leave a bookshop without buying a book. I constantly am looking for new books. This causes my reading list to become extremely high.
4. I either finish a book within days or within months, nothing in between. There are books that keep me awake, literally I would sacrifice my sleep for finishing it. But there are also books that are kind of a pain in the ass, which make me rather regret for wasting my time reading them. Books that don't keep me interested enough will probably not be finished in a short period of time. For example, I have been reading Silver Linings Playbook since.... April, I guess. Still haven't finished it yet.
5. Pretty pretty pretty pretty book covers!! Nothing makes me happier than owning a book with a gorgeous cover. Whenever I want to buy a book, I always look for the best-looking-edition. That feels good, you know, reading a pretty looking book in public.
6. I hate cracked spines, I cannot handle seeing people breaking spines... why would you even do that? One day I had bought a new book when a friend of mine came to me, grabbed the book, bent the book back on itself and started reading. WHAT?! I MEAN NO! DON'T DO THAT TO MY BOOKS. I can still hear the sickening sound as a dirty white fissure ruptured along the once virgin spine. (Reader, it's okay, my friend is still alive).
7. I smell my books, this is one of my habits. Yes! I love the smell of books. New books and that 'fresh from the press' smell are great too. Books have always had this intimate scent that is soothing. I also like the scent bookshops have.
8. Sometimes I feel that my life is so empty when I finish a very good book, simply because some books really impact my life, and because the characters are so lovable, and because the book is absolutely beautifully written that it sucks me into another world.
9. I arrange my books according to height, because it makes feel good when I see a clean, tidy bookshelf.
10. I tend to refuse lending my books to people who are no book lovers... I know, I always feel bad when I have to refuse. But I just cannot handle the thoughts of my books being in somebody else's hands, I might be exaggerating but seriously, I can't. I'm so sorry.
11. Book hangovers (T___T), I have difficulties moving on after finishing a really good book, for example I could not move on and I kept whining together with my friends Estefine and Clairine after finishing Perahu Kertas by Dee. I spent the next days thinking about the characters, why the story didn't turn out the way I wanted it, and so on.
12. I tend to start reading a particular book based on people's reviews on it. One day during Dutch lessons we had to review a book. My friend Nathan had reviewed a book called The Solitude of Prime Numbers, and he managed to review it sooo beautifully that I was convinced enough to immediately go to the bookshop and buy the book.
13. I would never want to read a horror book. When you watch a horror movie, you see the ghosts as they're shown in the movie. But when you read a book, you only see the description of the ghosts described by the author. And somehow your brain manages to make you imagine the worst kind of ghosts. Since I am a coward when it comes to anything horror, I won't read any horror book.
14. I read everywhere, in the bus on my way to school, on my way back home, in the train, in the tram, on my bike, lol jokes. Even though my ability to concentrate is 0,0001%, I am still able to read a book in a very crowded place. I can still be lost and just forget the reality. But my weakest point is reading a book when my phone is near.
15. I am mostly disappointed in movie adaptations, because they're never as good as the books. Movies cannot contain every detail of the book, but still. Small details are things that make books more genuine than movies.
Okay guys, this was my book related confessions, I hope this wasn't too much to read and hopefully I didn't ramble too much. If you want to join the challenge, a picture with the complete questions is below.
Signing off, cheers!
x Elizabeth
