Top 10 Tuesday: Bookish Confessions

Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl is hosting another week of Top Ten Tuesday. I enjoy participating each week for a couple reasons. I'm a compulsive list maker and love a good list. And, I love a connection with other readers as I wander their book blogs. This week's prompt is a Halloween "freebie", meaning I get to choose the theme. Hmmm. Something spooky? Something terrifying? No, I think I'm going with BOOKISH CONFESSIONS. Here goes.

Here are some of my secret (and not so secret) bookish confessions:

1 - I'm a skimmer. I skim all the time, especially if the descriptions get too long or detailed or boring or angst-filled, I skim. Sometimes that's to my detriment and I have to go back a few paragraphs when I realize I missed something important. But I still do it.

2 - I don't like classics. Sorry. I've tried MANY and struggled all the way through a couple but mostly, I just don't enjoy the writing style of the true classics.

3 - I don't enjoy romance novels. I've tried and tried over the years. They do nothing for me. I find myself a little surprised at how many book blogs are almost exclusively romance focused. Clearly I'm in the minority about not enjoying them. Luckily there are other genres for me. :)

4 - I've been known to read at traffic lights. I'm one of those lucky people that can pick up a book, immediately find my place and be back in the story - I can read as little as a paragraph or a page or two. I read during commercials on the rare occasion we can't fast forward through them. I can read anywhere and in pretty small snippets of time. I love that about me! :)

5 - I feel like I'm maybe too generous with my rating stars sometimes and also that I'm a bit inconsistent. My ratings are somewhat based on the feeling I have at the end of the book.

6 - I do NOT like books that don't use quotation marks. They serve a very specific and helpful purpose and I've never understood what point the author is trying to make by not using them. Any ideas on that?

7 - I always use a bookmark. Always. No folded edges or crinkled pages for me.

8 - I often don't get the 'deeper' meaning in books. I don't know if it's because I never took an English Literature class in college to learn how to analyze books, or if I'm just oblivious, but I miss themes or connections that other readers seem to make. Sometimes that makes me feel ...... unobservant or something. But, I have other reasons I like or don't like a book.

9 - I love coming across a new word or two in a book. BUT, I do not like the use of 50 cent words just to impress - they need to be appropriate to the dialog or tone of the book.

10. Final confession: Hi. My name is Terrie and I'm a list-a-holic! I'm fanatical about keeping lists of all types, but specifically about books - what I've read, what I want to read, what I'd recommend, books by theme, by author, by page count. You name it, I can find a list I've made that tracks it. I swear I spend as much time tending my lists as I do writing reviews or posts for the blog! But, I'm not giving them up!

How many of my confessions resonate with you? Do we share a few traits? Probably.

I'm looking forward to seeing what direction all you other bloggers go with this freebie week.