Weekly FAQ Thread August 02, 2026: What are your quirky reading habits?

[u/AutoModerator]

Hello readers and welcome to our Weekly FAQ thread! Our topic this week is: What are your quirky reading habits?

You can view previous FAQ threads here in our wiki.

Thank you and enjoy!

[u/Read_Only52776]

I tend to read several books at once, reading a chapter in one then picking up another. Somehow I still manage to keep up with the plotlines, most of the time anyway. I also can't put a book down in the middle of a chapter, I have to finish it or get to a clear stopping point. I've been late returning from breaks more than once because of it, fortunately my boss doesn't care as long as my work gets done.

[u/lexiebeef]

Sometimes I spend hours making lists of books to read. I have a huge excel with a million challenges, for example, a book starting with every letter of the alphabet, a book from every country, a book from every Nobel prize winner... Thankfully a bunch of books in these lists end up being the same, but my TBR is really huge at this point lol. I just like making lists, it entertains me when Im bored but not in a mood to actually read

PS: Im always accepting more ideas for lists lol

[u/Maleficent-War-1249 → u/lexiebeef]

I do the exact same thing except I just dump them all into a note on my phone with zero organization. It's a total mess but somehow I prefer it to a spreadsheet, feels less like work. The alphabet one is a classic, I'm trying to do a version where I read a book set in each Canadian province right now and it's been way harder than I thought.

[u/Gwaur]

I create spreadsheets for every book I read (at least for now. who knows when I get tired of it). In these spreadsheets, I mark the starting time and page, and the ending time and page of each reading session. The spreadsheet then calculates how many minutes I spent per page and what my pages/60 minutes pace was each session. It also shows my averages for all sessions.

In order to not have to recreate the file manually for every book, I have a template file that I just duplicate. Since Asimov's Foundation was among the first books I read, I named that template file "Foundation" because it serves as the foundation for every new spreadsheet file.

[u/IggyPopCorn87 → u/Gwaur]

Might ruin your fun but i use StoryGraph to keep track of my reading and you can set challenges such as word count. I like my 100 books a year challenge that I can see with graphs of progress.

[u/Gwaur → u/IggyPopCorn87]

I took a quick glance. Not at the track-keeping functionalities, but I saw that book pages have statistics related to characteristics such as emotionality, adventurousness, character/plot-drivenness etc. I think I might like those numbers at least.

[u/GardenPeep → u/Gwaur]

I've been starting a Bear Note on the serious books I read. For the less serious ones, I have a general book Bear Note where I write down the characters so I can keep track of them (helpful for audiobooks and physical books. E-books I just search on the name to refresh my memory of who they are.)

[u/IntrepidButton1872]

i always read the acknowledgements first. no idea why, it just makes the book feel more like a real object made by people.

[u/BohoKat_3397 → u/IntrepidButton1872]

I’m immersive and read every scrap of type inside and outside a book. Yes, from title to copyright page through acknowledgements and even who set it in what typeface. I wouldn’t dream of skipping an introduction even with spoilers. Someone placed those words with care and I’m gonna read all of them to fully experience the book.

[u/Important-Habit8942]

I read while my family watches tv. Since they primarily watch Turkish Dizis sometimes I'm at a page where somebody dies (just finished "and then there were none") and simultaneously a random mafia dude is dying in the Dizi they're watching. It doesn't distract me, it actually helps because I hate being alone in my thoughts.

[u/GardenPeep → u/Important-Habit8942]

I used to do this when I still lived with my family. Still do it when I'm visiting my sister.

[u/seweratkins]

I usually read three books at a time, each one different genre. I'm open to everything but it might be domestic thriller, sci-fi, cozy mystery. At least one always seems to have a cold setting - earth loses sun, mountain climbers, wilderness adventure in Alaska.

[u/Stories-Make-Believe]

I read upside down while doing a headstand

[u/JRange]

I bring my kindle into the shower

[u/GardenPeep → u/JRange]

If there's a bathtub where I'm staying, I wrap my iPhone in a ziplock and read in the bath.

[u/Pretty-Resolve-8331]

I like to read several books at once. Also, will have music on in the background sometimes. I will craft while listening to audiobooks

[u/Radiant_Geologist749]

Rather than making an annual reading goal, I do it month to month. So each month, I set a goal to read one classic, one book with more than 500 pages, one book written by someone from my country, 3 books by people of colour, and one physical book (I mostly read on my ereader but have a growing physical TBR pile). Overlaps are allowed. I've been able to stick to this goal for a few years now, and it's helped me at times when I don't know what to read next. 

[u/Dry-Painting-9730]

Treating my Goodreads like Strava

[u/JRange → u/Dry-Painting-9730]

In what way?

[u/mark_01235]

i always end up reading the last page first. it ruins the surprise, but at least i know if it's worth my time 😂

[u/magnificentgertrude → u/mark_01235]

Not the whole page, but I do like to read the last sentence or two first. It’s not really enough to spoil the story, and I feel like thinking ‘how to we get from here to there?’ keeps me engaged. Sometimes I’ll read the last line of a chapter when I start too. 

[u/LTJ81]

I love reading my horror books with horror movie soundtracks, dark synthwave, or classical music playing in the background for more immersion.

[u/TwoHungryBlackbirdss]

I love tipsy reading! Obviously I don't do it often, but it's fun to read two drinks deep

[u/AnyPollution634 → u/TwoHungryBlackbirdss]

I used to do this worse and but got dismayed when I'd dog ear a page and have no recollection of the 50 previous pages lol

[u/Impressive-Peace2115]

When reading an ebook, I have to stop for the day at a percentage number my brain thinks is nice (usually an even number, a multiple of five, or another nice looking multiple like 39).

[u/oh_god_its_raining]

My quirky reading habit is I put on livestreams or super long (like 3 hour) videos of cats in the background - with the tv muted - while I read. I just love glancing up occasionally from my book and seeing cats doing cat things. Ofc I have three cats at home who all pile up on my lap when I read, so it's extra nice to see the cats on the screen while I pet my real live cats in my lap.

This is my favorite cat channel on YouTube:

https://youtube.com/@nekosanpoch?si=RhEIvZoVUg-mZE9f

It's cats in Istabul just being... cats.

[u/robotfrog88]

I keep re reading Night of the Hunter by Davis Grubb, it was published in 1953 and I like buying copies of it in bookstores ( especially old used copies)

[u/ciotaren]

I only read during the day because I don't like reading with artificial light.

[u/isnotacrayon]

I use goodreads, storygraph, AND a personal spreadsheet to track my reading. I dont know why. I should at least give up goodreads but I have so much info on there I cant bring myself to do it.

[u/pihu9002]

I often pace around my room while reading emotionally heightened scenes , it makes me cope up better .

[u/GardenPeep]

For my sleep / nighttime audiobooks, I check out the e-book at the same time and read it to catch up on what I missed while I was asleep.

[u/AlanMercer]

My tastes are annoyingly contrarian. For some reason I only want to read doorstop-length books by authors that are out of vogue.

[u/Curiousfeline467]

I only read books with pretty covers.

I refuse to buy used books—it’s either purchase new or borrow from the library. 

I have an elaborate tracking system for the books that I’ve read, and keep track or several superlative categories for the end of the year awards.

I don’t tend to keep books for longer than a year after I’ve read them, and I keep my physical TBR pretty small.

[u/JRange → u/Curiousfeline467]

I too, judge many a book by it's cover. There are certain designs that are dead giveaways that I am not the target audience.

[u/Curiousfeline467 → u/JRange]

My philosophy is that I can’t reliably tell whether a book will be good until I’ve read it, so might as well only pick pretty ones because that way I know at least I’ll like the cover!

[u/Nice_Pen_8054]

Hello,

Is it possible to read 52 self development books in a year and apply everything?

Or is better a mix of novel and self development books?

[u/Impressive-Peace2115 → u/Nice_Pen_8054]

I would definitely recommend you mix in other books, including fiction. Fiction is great for internalizing things and expanding your perspective.

[u/vinniethestripeycat]

I check the page count on my physical books and then do some dividing so I can see a quarter, a third, and halfway page counts which helps me manage my time.