Reader Confessions Tag

It seems like the people of the book blogosphere have been noticing my existence off-late. I have been tagged by the lovely Kate from The Backwards Bookshelf for this tag. I would strongly encourage you to check out her blog because she’s an amazing blogger from Philippines who reads and reviews a lot of diverse and #ownvoices books. This tag features a bunch of questions where I reveal shocking truths about my bookish life and then tag my friends so I can get them to confess too. Since I’m an impatient person every time someone mentions the word ‘secrets’ around me, I’m going to spare you the wait and get right to it!

1. Have you ever damaged a book?

A. The most recent incident that comes to mind is when I was unboxing the Folio Society editions of The Lord of the Rings, which are the pride and joy of my collection, but accidentally slashed the spine of The Return of the King. I’m sure I’ve damaged plenty of others, but the important thing to keep in mind is that I would never do it on purpose.

2. Have you ever damaged a borrowed book?

A. I used to borrow a book from my school library every week when I was a student, so I’m pretty sure some manhandling has taken place over that time period. However, I’ve tried my best to undo as much of the damage as possible or simply hide it from the public eye if impossible. I don’t remember a specific incident but that behaviour sounds an awful lot like me.

3. How long does it take you to read a book?

A. I could finish one in around 3 days back when I was young and didn’t have to earn for a living. Now that I’ve graduated and joined the big bad world, my average has dropped to 1 week. I just have so many things to do that I haven’t been able to focus on reading as much as I’d like to.

4. Book that you haven’t finished?

A. I received a free copy of a book in exchange for a review around 3 years ago that I put down because I couldn’t get into it at all. I haven’t made any progress on that even now but what makes it even worse is that I have the sequel to it as well. I never communicated this to the author either, so I’ll just show myself into a cell in the bookish jail now.

5. Hyped/popular books you didn’t like?

A. I think half of my followers will disappear overnight on reading this, but I really disliked The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare. The problem is that I really love some of the characters in them but the main characters make me want to stab them with their own angelic swords in their sleep, so I feel extremely conflicted whenever someone mentions Clare’s books. I don’t even know how I managed to read 9 of them and a companion book. I guess I kept hoping it would get better but it really didn’t improve in the slightest.

6. Is there a book you wouldn’t tell anyone you were reading?

A. I’ve definitely gotten better at choosing what kind books I read since I started college and I’ve never felt guilty about reading any of them. In fact, I use Goodreads to help me track my reading, so it’s all out in the open for everyone to see. However, as a thirteen-year-old, I was a huge fan of the Twilight series because I was too naïve back then to realise how problematic the series was. I’m sure a lot of people can relate to this and I’m glad I’m not alone but I still wish I hadn’t bought all of the books.

7. How many books do you own?

A. I think the fact that the number is so small is what would shock people more than anything else. I’ve become a hardback hoarder only since I’ve started working and owned very few books before then. All put together I believe the number would be around 50 books.

8. Are you a fast or a slow reader?

A. I would love to call myself a fast reader but I’m quite aware there are lots of people who read faster than me, so I’d say I’m faster than average but not nearly as fast as non-readers imagine I am. I don’t actively try to read fast because I like to take time to assimilate whatever I read, savour it and remember it long after I’ve turned the last page.

9. Do you like to buddy read?

A. My first real attempt has been The Silmarillion with fellow Tolkien lover, Jenna. It’s still on-going although I think I’ve been a failure. The other one I tried recently was with Charvi for Second-hand Origin Stories, but she had to pull out due to schoolwork. I’m sure you sense a pattern here. I like to read at my own pace, so I’m not sure I’d make a good buddy, so I prefer to read solo. I’ve also planned buddy reads throughout the month, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that they work out.

10. If you were only allowed to own one book, what would it be and why?

A. All of my favourites are series, so I really can’t choose! But since I have to in order to successfully complete this tag, I’ll go with The Martian by Andy Weir. I had to pick something from the SFF genre because it’s my absolute favourite and this was the best standalone I could think of. I don’t own the book at the moment, so make of it what you will.

Now the time has come to get the following people to spill the beans on their wrong-doings:

1. Charvi from Not Just Fiction
2. Aditi from Dreamy Reads
3. Shruti from This is Lit
4. Etinosa from Uwadis
5. Aurora from Aurora Libralis

---

What bookish confession would you like to get off your chest? Do you know how fast of a reader you are? Let me know in the comments section below.