In The Margins {vol. 4 - Bad Habits}

We all have bad habits. Some people have more than others, but everyone has at least one.

And in regards to books? I'm pretty sure we all have a few hidden away that we'd rather not the rest of our reading community know about. Because, well, they're bad. 

I'm here to out myself on a few. Be prepared to tsk tsk me or to gasp in horror. 

Granted, I only do these things to my own books. Never one I've borrowed - be it from a library or a friend - just ones that are mine. 

I Write In My Books

This is a cardinal sin to some readers. I used to be oppose to it as well, but then I realized: they're my books. 

And I love being able to skim back through books to see passages that I've marked with asterics, underlines, a smily face, or the occasional ! when something is super deserving. I've written notes to myself about things I love in certain passages, things I wish would happen in books, or the random thoughts/realizations some passages have brought to mind. I've even started writing definitions to remarkable words in the margins (full, looked up definitions with parts of speech and such - GRE brain, anyone?) because I love that connection to the precise reason an author chose a certain word. Really. My vocabulary grows, my adoration of an author grows, and the book comes that much more to life. 

And then I think about the old books I've bought from yard sales or those that have been handed down to me. All the old notes scrawled in the covers, the passages marked before I was born, the things left behind in a foreign hand. Those things bring the book to life in so many other ways. I love when I turn a page and there's something there for me to discover. I guess, in my own small way, I'm just adding to that tradition. Leaving something there for someone else in the future to enjoy. 

So, scoff at me all you want on this one. I, Courtney, will probably always write in my books. 

I Dog-Ear Pages

Sometimes you just don't have a bookmark handy. 

And you need to mark your place for the time you pick that book up again (because shuffling through pages trying to determine where you were is just so obnoxious).

And sometimes you just don't have a pen handy.

And you need to remember the place of some sort of remarkable quote. Or something amazing happened and you need to be able to flip back to it at a later time.

So, yes. I dog-ear pages in books. Because sometimes I need to. And I can. 

I Bend Covers and/or Spines

I can be a librarian's bitter rival at times, it seems. 

I know it's awful for the books. 

I know, I know! Stop judging me.

But sometimes (especially with hard back books) you just want your book to lay flat on the table in front of you. Or you just want to wrap that cover of a soft cover book back so you can hold it easily in one hand. 

This one is harder to defend. But I do it. Sorry?

So, what about you guys? Any bad habits you need to own up to? Do you do any of these? Or am I alone in my bad habits? 

In The Margins {vol. 3 - Buying vs. Borrowing}

{source}

I will admit it, guys. I have a problem with buying books.

Now, this is not a problem unique to me - anyone I know that's as avid a reader or book-lover basically cannot leave a book store empty handed. It's a challenging task - to go into a place so full of stories. Full of new friends and new worlds and new adventures - and then to leave without bringing one home with you.

And me? I'm awful at that.

I - seriously - probably own more books that I have not read than I have read.

It's kind of a frightening statistic. And one I'm not certain about either. Why?  Because when I moved out of North Carolina to head over to Budapest for two years I packed up my budding library in a multitude of boxes and hauled them north to my parent's basement. Where they've been chilling out for the past three years. I've gone through some of them from time to time to see just some of what I have. But, for the most part? The last three years I've been building onto that library blindly. I've probably purchased a fair number of books I already own.

{source}

Ugh. At least I can make a charitable donation to a local library sometime in my future?

I don't know what it is about owning a book that is so special to me. Having that world for my own. Sure, I write in my books - something you should never do when you borrow a book from a library (Or a friend). I love to underline passages, draw exclamation points at places that surprise me, define interesting words that I've looked up, or any other number of things. Yeah, I'm that reader. It makes my books feel like my own. And when I go back and re-read them or look for a quote I loved I have the Courtney that was there when I read it before to guide my way.

Yes. I like owning books.

I always joke that by the time I have my first house I want to have enough books for my own library. And? I don't think that's too far-fetched of a goal for my life.

{source}

But, what about the library? What about saving all that money from buying books when there's a whole place full of books I don't have to pay for?

I'm getting better. Really.

Lately I've used the library a fair amount. Mostly for audio books for my car trips. And the Song of the Lioness series I read from library books as well as the Immortals series (both by Tamora Pierce). And other assorted books here and there.

I really am trying to take advantage of my local library.

I love the library.

Is it just so bad that I really want to be in the process of creating my own as well?

(My wallet, for the record, says yes, yes it is)


What about you guys? Are you buyers or borrowers? Do you struggle with this problem like I do? Are you a library patron? Tell me all the details! 

In The Margins Vol. 2 {In The End}

You thought I had forgotten about this little featurette of mine, didn't you? 

Truth? I almost did.

Oops.

I've been thinking a lot lately about the things about me as a reader. And as a blogger. And as a reader who blogs. That whole package deal. And, really? I want to do more than just reviews and the occasional weekly look at things I do with reading link-up. I mean, there will be reviews. I mean, I'm crazy-behind with those right now, again oops.

So, I as I was turning the last pages of Insurgent I was thinking, I cannot wait for the last book in this series to come out. And then, bam! I remembered about this featurette. And now you want to know how these two things are related?

The truth? I have serious issues with finishing series.

Or, even, picking up the next book in a series.

Honestly? It was a miracle I even read Insurgent without Allegiant even being close to being released (in my head it's a million years away but, I know that October is almost here - but it's late October for the release!).

Here's a quick look at just a few of the series I am currently in the middle of (please note, these are the series I'm in the middle of and currently own the next book in the series):

Graceling Realm by Kristin Cashore
The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss
The Grisha by Leigh Bardugo
The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott
Thursday Next by Jasper Fforde
Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind

This mini-list doesn't include series that don't have the next book out yet (which will probably be bought the day the book comes out and then sit on my to-read shelf for close to a year or more) or that I just haven't gotten around to buying yet (because, hello guilt for not reading...).

I think I've figured out a few reasons why I do this to myself, though:

1. I Can't Let Them Go - This is more for that last book in a series. The one where you know that once you turn the last page that world is gone forever. Yes, you can reread them as many times as you want, you can visit with those characters any day or night, and you can feel settled (or ticked, depending) with the way a story played out. But, like I am always reminded when one of the kids I work with is reading Harry Potter for the first time. You can never go back and read any book for the first time again. You'll never be sitting at the edge of your chair waiting to see what happens or crying along with your fictional friends over the death of another character. You just can't. And, somehow, just not finishing a series seems a better alternative to me. There's logic in there somewhere, I promise.

2. I Loathe Cliffhangers - This one is more for reading the next book in a series when the following book isn't out yet. I get so, so invested in books and I need to know what happens. Being left at the edge of my seat in one of those wait? what? WAIT WHAT?! moments kills me. Really. I am currently replaying all of the end of Insurgent over and over in my head because - WHAT?! I need to know. And yes, I know that this reason and reason #1 do not go well together. But, at least, if the book is out I know I can read what happens after the cliffhanger. But I get to choose when I want to. It makes sense, I promise.

I'm working on this though.

Really, I am. I read Insurgent - which I was totally putting off because I just knew there'd be a crazy cliffhanger at the end. And I read Clockwork Princess which I knew would leave me devastated to be done with Tessa, Will, and Jem and the Shadowhunters of London. Sigh. I do miss them a lot already.

So, that leaves me a question for you all out there: are you good about finishing series, or do you leave them in unread limbo like me? 

In The Margins {vol. 1 - intro}

It will probably come at no surprise to any of you that I am an insatiable reader. I always have been and always will be. I was that kid with the flashlight under the covers reading when my parent's thought I was sleeping.* Or begging my mom "just two more pages! let me finish the chapter!" Being a reader has always been a part of the definition of Courtney.

With that comes a number of things that can happen to a person. Daydreams about far off places in the middle of a math class. A bunch of pet peeves directed at other readers, non-readers, and characters in books. Issues surrounding which book to read next after having just read the best book ever. How to make a book last forever without stopping reading it mid-book. Issues surrounding not being able to pick up the next book in a series because you just don't want it to be over yet. Grumbles directed at authors who can't seem to publish the next book in a series fast enough. And so, so many more. All you readers out there totally get me on this, right?

So, with that - I've been trying to think about things to write here on the blog that  have to do with reading. Or, rather, how to write about me and reading. Because, while I love them, just doing book challenges, memes, and book reviews doesn't really make me feel like a book blogger or a reader for that matter. I want to write more about what makes me a reader. What makes me a good writer. All that stuff. 

So, you know, that's where this In The Margins feature I'm starting has come into play. I didn't want to limit myself to one type of thing (like, Bookish Pet Peeves, or something like that), or a specific day (like, Friday Book Rants) but rather give myself room to rant, rave, and reflect on whatever bookish whim comes my way. Easy peasey.

In The Margins came from this little idea of mine that so much happens around a book. You have these wonderful stories printed on paper - but there's so much more to reading than that. You bring in so much of yourself and your surroundings. And you leave with so much more to add to who you are. And a lot of the times, for me at least, those moments of personal connection get highlighted, asterisks, and other assorted notes in the margins. That's the space where book life and real life merge. 

So, there you have it. In The Margins. And that's where we're going with this. 

Hope you enjoy these as I get to writing them! :)

---

* They totally knew I was reading. We kids aren't as sneaky as we think.