Reading According to Me: my bookish preferences & pet peeves

These are some of my preferences and pet peeves when it comes to reading books. Let me know if you share any of these! Or if you disagree with any. Or if there are others I may have missed out on! 

I'm just hoping by the end of this post you don't think I'm completely crazy. 

1. A reading preference of mine is reading print copies. As long as I don't have to peer into a screen and further destroy my eyesight in the process of reading something, it is a win! I already watch enough TV and read enough blogs on my laptop so if I can avoid further damage I shall. That doesn't mean I would never own a Kindle or some sort of e-reader. Those devices can be pretty useful for travelling. :)
2. I dislike glossy book covers. Whether it is the jacket of a hardcover or a normal glossy paperback, if it's slippery in my hands I won't like it. Yes, of course I'll read it because most of the time I have no other choice, but the point is that I get clammy hands sometimes so fabric covers (or just normal paper/cardboard covers) are far more hand-friendly than the sleek, glossy kind. 
3. I have no qualms about dog-earing pages from my books. Especially if I know I will keep the book permanently, not re-sell it or give it away or swap it. I dog-ear probably for the only reason people ever do it - because I don't have a bookmark handy. I do try to always use bookmarks, but there will always be times where I misplace them or I need one right away and there are none around. Obviously, I would never dog-ear someone else's book if I was lent it. That's utter disrespect right there.
4. I secretly hate it when I lend a book to someone and they return it to me with stains splattered on the pages inside. Like, seriously... you can eat and read, but BE CAREFUL! I totally don't mind if the book is returned to me with creases down the spine and the corners slightly tattered, because that's at least natural book behaviour, but stains can be easily avoided. Or should be more easily avoided it seems.
5. Bending the book back against itself. I'm sure there is a better way of describing this deplorable action, but every time I see someone doing this to a paperback book or novel I cringe. Like, just rip the whole thing in half why don't you!!? 
6. I like stories written with short sentences. Divergent by Veronica Roth for example. If that can't happen, then I like stories written HILARIOUSLY. Like Sophie Kinsella, or Louise Rennison, or Jaclyn and Liane Moriarty. Be funny, and we'll have no problems on my end. This is because I'm a very lazy reader. If you can't captivate me by one means or another, I will probably give up before the end. 
7. When reading on public transport I get extremely defensive about people seeing the title of the book I'm reading. Or just the cover in general. Rarely would I ever wish to flaunt the title of the book I'm currently reading. But thank goodness I no longer need to take the train/bus to get to uni because I have a parking permit now! (By the way.. I'm also this way about music. Really really defensive about  telling people who my favourite bands and artists are. Like I want to keep it all a secret. Forever.)

some bookish visual inspiration

I'm just letting y'all know I'm gonna be AWOL for the next couple of weeks while I figure out what I'm going to write for my major essays and while I study for other major tests coming up. 

On other news, I'm really tempted to hold another giveaway soon! But I don't want to attract people to follow this blog unless it's on their own volition. I might wait 'til I have over 100 followers before I do another giveaway. Unless it's author/publisher provided. 

Anyway, I need to back to work. I'm really tempted to start reading Howl's Moving Castle but I need to read Troilus and Cressida by Shakespeare. I also need to read Beloved by Toni Morrisson ASAP. And study Greek! Eeeeeeep. D:

So here are some pretty pictures, provided by the wonderful website called Tumblr, to hopefully motivate us all at least a tad. 

Have a nice evening, everyone!

x Arielle

what's at the top of my skyscraper-high reading pile?

Here is a little insider's peak into what I need to read/want to read in the next couple of weeks! 

Let me know if you've read any of these, you might be able to help me in my assignments/exams, hahaha. :) 

academic reading:

Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Mythologies by Roland Barthes

Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe

Essays on Defoe by Virginia Woolf

Shakespeare's Sonnets

Goblin Market by Rossetti

reading for leisure: 

The Lying Game by Sara Shepard

Rhubarb by Craig Silvey

As you can tell, this is what I have been doing this past study week:

Yup. Sitting on my bum.

Happy Middle of April!

new on my bookshelf: all american edition

The Maze Runner by James Dashner

Another AMAZING dystopian YA that has been on my wishlist for SO LONG! Despite the extensive height of my TBR pile sitting on various shelves in my bedroom, I decided I had waited too long to get this. 

Go check out the synopsis on Goodreads!

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

I'm not sure what exactly made me order this one. It's not like a need a bigger reading pile. But there's a movie coming out for this and I think it's got a good rep around town. Hmmm. It's a bit of an oldie, but if you haven't heard of it, click here for the blurbity blurb!

Lonesome Traveler by Jack Kerouac

I thought I'd expand the scope of my reading a little bit and order a couple Kerouacs online. There are songs about him and he started the Beat Generation, if there is such a thing. Lonesome Traveller is, I think, like Jack Kerouac's own travel journal. I'll get around to reading it some time soon I hope. He is rather relevant to my American Lit unit.

review : nick & norah's infinite playlist

only one word can describe this: SQUEEE!!!

Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist // Rachel Cohn & David Levithan

YA Contemporary // Random House // 2006 // 183 pages

This short contemporary YA novel by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan was pretty darn good. It felt so incredibly real - Nick and Norah were real people to me. Like I could fly back to New York right now and if I went to just the right nightclub I would find a dozen Nicks and Norahs. N&NIP is contemporary YA at its best. The writing was funny and lucid (both Rachel's and David's), the characterisation was extremely well done, and although I did see the movie first and loved it, the book is much, much better. For example, after reading the book I had extreme difficulty imagining Michael Cera as Nick. 

I found myself wishing I was friends with Nick and Norah. And have friends like the friends they have. I found myself wanting to be in the same room as them, the same club, or the same diner. Now, even weeks after experiencing this story I still feel like I'm merely two long flights and one taxi ride away from stalking them as they sit in a Ukrainian restaurant in East Village together at stupid o'clock in the morning. 

The musicality lit the story alive for me. Music is a big part of how I identify myself and people in general, and to form relationships over it is a spectacular thing. It's signing yourself up for songs that stick to memories that stick in your head and heart 'til you grow old and die. You can be deaf and play music in your head for eternity. You don't need a brain or even ears to hear it. Only a soul. 

This novel taps into that idea, at least it does for me, and for me it can't get much more beautiful than that. 

new on my bookshelf

Rhubarb // Atonement // The Time Traveler's Wife // Jasper Jones

Rhubarb by Craig Silvey (2004)

I forgot to add this to my last New on my bookshelf post so here it is! It's still relatively new... I've only read  the first chapter or so. The story is about this girl Eleanor who is blind, and her guide dog, Warren. I love Warren already. And then there is this maker/player of cellos, Ewan Demspey, who comes along. I got pretty excited about it when I realised one of the characters was a cellist! 

Cello = best musical instrument in the universe.

Atonement by Ian McEwan (2001)

I liked the film, and apparently the book is good. So I got it! 

Atonement, if I can recall correctly, is about a person who told a lie when she was very young, a lie which had detrimental consequences for numerous people in her life. She felt the consequences of that and for the rest of her life, tried to atone for her mistake.

Game of Thrones Season 2!

Game of Thrones Season TWO begins tonight! 

I can no longer suppress my excitement... it's been culminating since last year, and finally the show is back! 

The producers have promised plenty of battles, but I'm more excited to see what happens with Jon Snow and Dany's dragons! Oh and Arya too. She's cool. :) 

Look what I found! A Game of Thrones cast photoshoot BTS video for Rolling Stone. 

So freaking amazing. 

Are you a fan of the show? And the books? 

What are you most excited to see happen this season? 

I haven't even finished the first book yet (I'm such a slacker).