Reading Manifesto

Con and Penny via Bookriot have discussed their reading rules. Part of me says I don’t have reading rules, I just read, and read and read…

Is it an addiction? Actually quite a few of the 25 signs You’re addicted to Books are ones to which I find myself nodding in recognition.

So rather than rules as such, I present my reading manifesto, as opposed to my blog manifesto

1. The Book before the Movie is always preferred- truly a no-brainer. In fact it was the release of Pride and Prejudice which prompted me to read the book before it was screened. I fell in love with Austen at the ripe old age of 24 🙂

2. Paper before e-book, but that’s not to say I won’t read an e-book, it’s just I have yet to meet an e-reader I  truly like.

3. I don’t bookmark my books- usually I put it face down, which irritates MrBG to no end. Usually when he is tidying,  he folds it up. I usually flick through, or if I catch him in time, I grab a scrap piece of paper, or a receipt.

4. I don’t like books which give me nightmares. Post apocalyptic literature, zombies, Dan Brown and 50 Shades of Grey fall into that category (honestly if you’re going to write erotica, please do it well). Yet conversely, I am gripped by books which make me cry. All quiet on the Western Front and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas fall into this category.

5. If a book really grabs me, NOTHING gets done until it is finished. Laundry goes unheeded, the vacuuming gets put off (again), and dinner is toast, eggs, or something burnt. In fact when a Harry Potter Book was released when Master BG was simply Baby BG, I read around the clock, stopping only to feed him, (while reading) and play with him (well, he was a cute baby)- I ended up finishing the book in 24 hours.

6. I love my library, the one where I work and my public library. I don’t really feel the need to own all that I read, and I have been known to donate new books back to the library for inclusion in their collection. I also love that I can request a book and my helpful librarian husband is all too happy to acquiesce to my demands requests.

7. Life is too short to read bad writing. I have been sorely tempted to throw books across the room, if they haven’t already put me to sleep. I simply stop reading and move to the next book.

8. I would never perform violence on a book, like throwing it across a room. With my school texts though, are marked with marginalia and underlinings of what were considered at the time key points and passages. It’s strange to come across them again and wonder why they were underlined and reflect a little bit more on the novel.

9. Speaking of coming across passages in old books- There are only two books which I will re read on a regular basis- To kill a mockingbird, and Pride and Prejudice. The letter which Captain Wentworth sends to Anne Eliot in Persuasion will also be read, especially if I feel like swooning afterwards.

10. I will read popular books, just not necessarily at the time. This can sometimes make for awkward conversations…

Mum in school playground (excitedly)”Have you read 50 Shades of Grey? I can’t put it down!”

Me”Er, no.”

Mum (disappointed)”Oh…”

11. I will enter a house and check out your bookshelves. If you don’t have books because they are ‘messy’,’don’t go with the decor’, or are ‘odd colours and sizes’, I will give an involuntary gasp and look pityingly at you.  To put things into perspective- kids are messy, people are messy, books are books…

Do you have rules or a manifesto?