My Reading Habits: The Good, The Bad, & The WTF Malli!

Today’s post is brought to you by me apparently wanting to show you all the skeletons in my closet!

Look, I know I just did my Random Bookish Facts About Me post, but then I had this thought… let’s go deeper! Let’s talk about those reading habits, let’s discuss the good and bad, but also let’s throw a few skeletons in there that many people may not know I do. This post will range from buying books, reading, note taking, even bookstgramming! And I’m kind of excited to share these reading habits. I think many of you will be surprised with some of the things I’m about to reveal. Buckle up readers, it’s about to get bookish up in here!

The Good

➸ I read diversely in terms of representation!
This was something I worked really hard to achieve and in no way am I saying that it’s perfect. I know for a fact that there’s always room for improvement, room to grow, to add more into the mix. That’s the beauty of the now and the future, we have the chance to keep doing better. What I am saying, over the years I’m more aware of the books I’m buying, the kind of representation in the book, and really upping my game in researching on who’s stories are being told and how they’re being told. It’s not perfect, but I’m constantly striving to do better.

➸ Reading in any format!
I never thought I’d be here saying this and maybe this comes from a place of privilege, as well. There was a long time in my life where books were earned through hard work (outside of school, you know) and now… I have physical books, but I also have access to audiobooks, kindle books, and I even get to receive arcs/alcs. I never thought I would ever reach this point where I have so much literature at my fingertips. Not only that, but I feel more comfortable and confident with these reading formats. All of this took a long time to be okay with, but I’m really glad I made it to this point in my life and I grateful to have these experiences.

➸ Better at prioritizing!
This is another one of those things that I really had to work at to be better about. What I mean by prioritizing is what books I need to read over others. Which in hindsight might come off as really weird phrasing or like I’m not giving books chances, but that’s not it at all. By prioritizing I simply mean commitments I’ve made. This may include blog tours, arc reviews, buddy reads, and even commitments to goals or posts I actually want to make. Remember when I talked about all the sticky notes I buy in bulk? Yeah, some of those get put on a wall as a way of helping me stay organized and prioritizing books I really want to read or the commitments that I make. This also includes blog posts, social media posts, etc… A way of having structure when I constantly feel like a chaotic gremlin.

➸ Being picky about arcs/alcs!
Again, this comes from a place of privilege because not everyone has access to arc/alcs or may not even be able to obtain those books despite requesting them, etc… This is another thing I worked really hard at being mindful about. I used to request any book that sounds interesting or even accept any email I would get offering an arc/alc. However, last year helped me realize that I have a huge backlist, but also that I don’t have to request every single thing that sounds good or like something I’d read. I’ve been slowing down my process and really taking the time to really debate how badly I want an arc, how excited I am about the release, and whether or not it fits into my current reading. This has eased up some of the pressure I put on myself as well and keeping my tbr a little lighter, in the process.

The Neutral

➸ Impossible not to take notes!
I’m not saying it’s a good thing or a bad thing, but what I am saying is don’t try to talk to me or ask me things when I’m in the process of taking notes. I literally can’t stop or pause taking notes. No matter where I am, no matter who I’m with. If you see me reading and taking notes, just wait till I’m finished because I’d rather answer questions afterwards than lose my train of thought, scraping my current notes, and then retaking them all over again. Yes… I will rip the page out of my notebook and start a whole new page of notes and yes, I will make little gremlin noises in the process.

➸ I can’t read more than two books at a time!
I feel like this is a neutral thing and one where I haven’t seen may people say, let alone discuss. I’m one of those people who doesn’t fit the mold of reading all the books at once or can only read one book at a time. However, I have learned, in the past few years, that I thrive with reading two books at a time. Actually, I thrive on this so much that I get more reading done than I thought I ever would. Being realistic though, there aren’t many pros or cons to all of this. Except the weird spike in reading due to switching to this method. Otherwise, I kind of feel like an oddball with this haha!

➸ I read with all the noise!
I like to have noise, a lot of noise. Now hold on, it’s not as wild as you think. I usually just put on a Chillhop or Lofi video and then I let the rest of the chaos, a.k.a my pets, create the rest of the environmental noise. Surprisingly, I get really focused or even more into a book with this.

➸ I can’t read hyped books!
Look, hyped books are not my cup of tea. What I mean is if a book is overly hyped by a lot of people even people I know, it’ll ruin a book for me. Even to the point of never picking up a book. Currently, I have over 20 titles on my back list that were overly hyped books recommended to me. It’s a bit of a problem and I might unhaul these books later. There’s also the chance that if I do read it, there’s a good chance it won’t make it above a 3 star rating. There’s only one person who has hyped books to me that actually turned out being books I really enjoyed and I think that’s due to having very similar reading tastes.

The Bad

➸ Buying books and never getting the chance to read them!
This is a really bad habit of mine that I’m currently working really hard to break. Surprisingly enough, with the move coming up, I haven’t been buying books. I’ve only been buying books in terms of what I’m actually going to read. However, before we decided to move, I was buying nothing but books and never getting the chance to read them.

➸ I read the most at night!
Out of all my habits, this is probably the worst one. I’m already have a difficult time sleeping due to chronic illnesses and insomnia, but add reading on top of that and you’ve got yourself a potion for disaster. This can lead to my sleep schedule getting really messed up to the point of being awake over 48 hours or more. I’m trying to fix this habit with setting a cut-off time for reading every night in hopes to prevent my sleeping time to descend into chaotic madness.

➸ I read all over the place, in various positions!
I’m labeling this as bad because it’s certainly not good for posture or when you have chronic illnesses that deal in pain. And I wish this was only limited to chairs, but it’s not. Counters? Yes. Laying across a coffee table? Sure, why not?! Draped over the back of the sofa smacking myself in the face with the book I’m reading? You bet your sweet booty I do! The limit does not exist of all the places I find myself reading. It’s a problem, a big problem. One that my body glares at me over every single day.