Blogging at http://sumthinblue.com
Sumthinblue's 100 random book quirks
(or, a peek inside the crazy mind of a biblioholic)
100. I learned to read at three years old.
99. I have no scars from childhood rough and tumble because I preferred reading to playing.
98. I used to think endpapers / flyleaves were blank so you could draw on them.
97. When I was about five, I got lost at SM North EDSA (then the biggest mall) because I wandered off inside a book store.
96. The first book I bought with my own money was Sweet Valley Kids #6, Lila’s Secret
95. I got my first pair of glasses in 2nd year high school, when I couldn’t read the subtitles off Il Postino, which we watched for Lit Class. I started out at +0.75/1.00 grade.
94. I am currently wearing +2.50 contacts.
93. I like books on trivia and useless information.
92. I am a big Harry Potter fan and I have a collection of international editions of the series, numbering nearly 80 books now.
91. My cousin and I once threw a birthday party in honor of Harry Potter.
90. I cannot read a book that has not yet been covered in plastic.
89. When I borrow books I usually return them already covered in plastic, except when I know the owner prefers books naked.
88. I abhor mass market paperbacks and I love hardbacks!
87. I visit the bargain bookstore at least twice a week.
86. I don’t buy books at full price if I can help it.
85. I have loyalty cards to National Book Store and Powerbooks. My next target is a Fully Booked loyalty/discount card but it’s so expensive (P15,000 purchase in 1 year, or P700 outright – I am thinking of the number of books I can buy with that money)!
84. Romance novels are my guilty pleasure.
83. I have only recently learned to read several books at the same time, I used to strictly stick to one book from start to finish before I pick up another one.
82. I currently have nearly 300 books in my to-be-read pile.
81. I prefer female authors to male authors, although I read a fair amount of both.
80. I am not a Twilight fan and no amount of persuasion can make me change my stand on the series.
79. My favorite series are Harry Potter, Cirque du Freak, The Bartimaeus Trilogy, and The Thursday Next series
78. I read all sorts of books, except self help/inspirational, drama, and political novels. I also don’t like cutesy talking animals, so I am very picky about books with animal characters. Give me a grisly murder anytime.
77. I remove price stickers using WD-40, but only for glossy finishes (otherwise the oil seeps through). Sometimes sticky-taping the price sticker works too.
76. I don’t dog-ear. If I don’t have a bookmark, I’ll use a receipt, a gum wrapper, tissue, or anything I can insert inside a book. Dog ears break the fibers of the paper and one day, the dog-ear will fall off.
75. I always lose bookmarks so I dare not buy any expensive ones. Once I leave a bookmark inside the book, I tend to forget about it until the next reading.
74. I like reading in cars and other modes of transportation, I’ve gotten so used to it that the movement doesn’t bother me.
73. I also like to read while eating – one hand for the food, one hand to hold the book up.
72. At any given time there are three to four books on my bed – under the pillow, tangled in the sheets, etc. I like my bedtime reading, especially in the dark with my Lumos book light.
71. There was one mystery series I liked more than Nancy Drew – The Three Investigators! I loved Jupe, Pete, and Bob’s team up, and the sleuthing gadgets they created.
70. Aside from my work as a PR writer, I moonlight as a newspaper contributor and a children’s book illustrator.
69. I get disturbed by deckle-edge books, although I don’t really have much choice if the book comes in rough cut. More edges for dust to sit on…
68. I frequent bookstores to find new titles to mooch. Even at Book Sale, when the book is over P100 and I don’t have to have the book, I end up adding it to my BookMooch wishlist.
68. My books usually have a bookplate sticker and my name handwritten on the flyleaf.
67. I have a fluffy pink duster on my bookshelf.
66. I have a separate bookshelf for to-be-read books, which overflows into several stacks on my workdesk, taking it over completely.
65. I “upgrade” mass market paperbacks into trade paperbacks, and trade paperbacks into hardcovers, and as you may know by now, my book club friends call it “doing a Blooey”
64. Vlad Tepes from the book The Historian scares the hell out of me.
63. Once, at Book Sale – Cash and Carry, one of the clerks came up to me and asked if I was the illustrator of Alamat ng Atis, causing me to blush beet red.
62. Once I forged all the signatures from the letters inside the Harry Potter books, and then invented a few more… (crazy!)
61. I get sad when I walk out of a book store without buying anything.
60. In our sixth grade production of Shakespeare’s A
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