8 Surprising Reading Habits

Bookworms are united by our shared love of reading! But we also access and interact with books in ways that are intriguingly diverse. On my Facebook author page I recently invited readers to share their unusual reading habits with me. I found their responses fascinating!

#1 To Re-read or Not to Re-read, That is the Question

“I can read books I love over and over and over. It’s like visiting old friends. I have even been known to finish a book, flip it over and start again immediately.” – Sara Brooks

“I’ve never re-read a fiction book. Too many other adventures are calling.” Caryl Kane

#2 Love/Hate Relationship with ‘Spoilers’

“I don’t read blurbs. If a cover (or author) doesn’t sell it for me, I’ll read first page or more to decide.” -Toni Shiloh

“I can’t stand reading book previews. Reading only part of a good book is even worse than only being able read part of a good series!” -Rachel Tanner

“I will not read a book if I know the ending. It ruins it for me. I want to enjoy the story as it unfolds and make predictions as I read (especially if it’s a mystery or crime drama).” -Lori Forrest

“I skip to the end and read the ending. Mostly when it’s stressful but also just to make sure it’s worth finishing.” -Lori Sweet

#3 Series Binge

“I don’t read books unless I have the whole series. I like to read them back to back without waiting for months for the next book to come out.” -Dawn Scott

“Before I retired, I had an older woman who always wanted the entire series. She was afraid she’d forget in between, or heaven forbid, die.” -Jude Zweibohmer

#4 Let Me Count the Ways We Lend/Buy/Keep books

“I’m strictly a library user. Every time I move the
library is one of the first places I find.” -Jude Zweibohmer

“I LOVE walking around in libraries but I don’t like to
borrow books from them. I like to own my books. love owning my books so I can
recommend them and let people borrow them. And, who doesn’t love bookshelves!?”
-Shelbie Groot

“I donate every book after reading. If it is on my
Kindle I delete it, even from the cloud.” -Melissa Parcel

“I have a small group of friends who share books. We take turns buying them and pass them around.” -Sandra DeWitt

#5 More is Better (When it Comes to TBR Piles)

“I have 422 unread books on my Kindle app. I can’t seem to stop getting books — a free one from a new author, a sale on my TBR list, the next one in a series I have read…..the list is never ending. I keep telling myself not to buy any more books until I’ve read most of what I already have, and then, wait! Let me check my email, I think there is a book listed I just have to have!” -Cindy Yake

#6 Thirty-One Flavors of Book Formatting

“I don’t have an e-reader. All paperbacks or hardback.” -Becky Grayson

“I used to have piles of books everywhere until my daughters gave me a Kindle for my birthday. Once I got used to that, it changed my life as I can get a book anytime of the day or night and when I travel I can take lot of books with me.” -Anne Wolters

“I just might have a physical, kindle and audiobook copy of a lot of favorites!” -June Hickenlooper

#7 Balance the Books

“I read multiple books at the same time. Like, instead of just reading one straight through and finishing it, I read a couple chapters of one and then a couple chapters of the other.” -Adrienne Everitt

“I love both contemporary and historical genres. But I can’t just switch from one to the next lickety split. It takes me weeks. I drag my feet.” -Hannah Mae

“I go through phases. I can devour book after book and then hit a time where I barely read at all.” -Ashlee Lowder

#8. Creatures of Habit

“I have a rule of once I read a book by a much-loved author, I don’t read that author again until I read 10 other books. This rule I rarely break and it helps me from binging.” -Nicole Femmerlid

“I can’t leave my characters in peril… as a result, I’m often up late reading until they’re “safe”. I also can’t stop reading unless I’m at the end of a chapter.” -Joy Tiffany

“I didn’t start reading until I was 32 years old. I even used to use the word “hate” reading. Now I am a binge reader and almost always finish a book in two days, three tops.” -Leslie Brown

I love that our approach to reading is as individual as we are! Do you share a reading habit mentioned here? Or do you have a surprising habit that wasn’t mentioned?