25 Bookish Facts About Me
1. Before beginning a new book, I have to go through my ritual of reading the synopsis and dedication, then flipping to the back and checking the page number, before finally reading the acknowledgments and author bio.
2. I will nitpick the hell out of historical fiction because I'm a huge history buff- when I hear "history is boring" I die a little inside. And especially if it's about a topic I care about.
3. Most of my favorite books are character studies or character driven stories. I don't really mind plotless fiction as long as the characters leading the story are fantastic.
4. I'm a super fast reader so it's not unusual for me to power through a 300 page book in a few hours.
5. I adore books set in Russia. That shouldn't come across as a surprise to anyone.
6. I don't read fantasy. I tried, but after reading several popular fantasy novels that ended up just being mediocre I realized that the problem was likely me. After that, the genre and I decided to amicably part ways. That doesn't stop me from opening the book just to look at the map inside though. I think I like the idea of fantasy more than most of what of what I've actually read.
7. I don't watch a lot of book to movie adaptations, partly because most of the book to movie adaptations that have come out are for books I haven't read and don't care to and also I have the same taste in movies as a 40 year old woman.
8. I was in a huge reading slump for like two or three years. Interestingly, my life was never better socially during that slump. I think subconsciously the reason why I came out of that slump is because I realized my social life was tanking so I went back to books, because when I was younger I'm pretty sure the whole reason I even started reading in the first place was because I was a very lonely child and books helped me be less lonely.
9. My biggest literature guilty pleasure is clothing and costume porn. Especially when it's in historical fiction novels, though I'm not one to turn up my nose at a shopping montage or several in contemporary books...
10. I can't listen to audiobooks. I have to have an actual copy in front of me in order to get something out of the story.
11. I do my best reading while travelling. If I go on a car ride exceeding an hour I have to bring at least 2 books- one that I'm already reading and one that I have yet to start. I also have an irrational fear of being somewhere with the opportunity to read but without reading material. I always need to have at least one book with me.
12. I have such a problem with cheering for villains. I could fall in love with the hero and still be disappointed when he escapes the villain or defeats the evildoers. I think that probably has to do with my soft spot for chaos or my slightly irrational dislike of doing what most people do.
13. I never used to use bookmarks, but now I can't not use them. No idea how that started, but I think it's because I got sick of never remembering the page that I last left off on (and no, I didn't dog-ear). I don't really have a collection of bookmarks or anything, I just use either index cards or those flimsy bookmarks you get at the checkout counters in libraries like those stickers you get in doctor's offices.
14. I am so sick of tall heroines, especially those who bitch about how tall they are. I really want more short, skinny girls so I don't feel so alone (bonus points if they're blond).
15. I'm not a very emotional reader. I don't usually actually laugh or cry and am rarely given in to fandom-related "feels". Which is strange, because I consider myself to be a very emotional person in most other aspects of my life.
16. I actually learned to read relatively late, not until I was like 6, but since then I've always read at least a grade above my level.
17. This one's a strange one, but when I was little I used to insert my own characters into books and give them pivotal roles and dialogue. I also used to mentally rewrite books if I didn't like the ending or if I didn't like a particular character description or whatever. Sometimes, I would even create elaborate mental scenarios with the character or the children of said characters that I would just come up with myself. This was probably a product of being basically friendless, and I've grown out of it (mostly). Surprisingly, I've never written or even really read fanfiction.
18. I'm a bit of a chameleon when it comes to writing. Oftentimes, I find myself unintentionally picking up the style of the author I am currently reading or just finished reading. Which might explain why some of my reviews are written the way they are. Because of that, I worry I lack a distinctive voice of my own in my writing.
19. Because I hunt out books based on their synopses, I usually end up reading a lot of books on the obscure side. It's rare that I actually pick up a widely known or popular YA book (mostly because they're usually fantasy). This is one of the reasons I started this blog, to prove to people like me that other books besides Harry Potter and The Mortal Instruments exist!
20. I try my best not to judge books I haven't read. Hence why I refuse to say anything negative about Twilight because the closest I've ever come to reading it was Dan Bergstein's Reading Twilight series on Sparknotes (highly recommended, by the way).
21. I don't like to eat while I read or read while I eat. It's probably because of my pathological fear of getting crumbs in between the pages.
22. I don't really like used books. Ironically, the two most beloved books in my collection are my grandfather's copy of To Kill a Mockingbird dating back to 1961 and my mother's copy of James and the Giant Peach dating back to sometime in the 1970s.
23. I can't write in books. I just can't bring myself to. When I take notes on a book for a book review I usually keep my Notes app open and ready on my phone.
24. I really hate the look of cut pages. I also hate those really flimsy dust jackets that are slightly textured and tear all the time, as well as those even more flimsy cheap paperbacks you get on Amazon for like 6 bucks.
25. I think the reason I didn't like Harry Potter was because I read it too late in my life. I never read the series when I was little so I have no nostalgic attachments to base my love for the series off of. My childhood magic was more of the Roald Dahl variety than of the JK Rowling I'm afraid- probably why I like such twisted books now that I think about it.
Since you mentioned falling in love with villians... I recomend the Shatter Me series.
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