20 Weird Things Readers Do

Readers are a special kind of people. As writers, we love them, of course, but their great love of books makes them do strange things. This post is about 20 weird things readers do.

20 Weird Things Readers Do

Readers are perfectly normal – or so they think. People who don’t read find them quirky. Let’s take a closer look. In this post, we’ll count down the twenty weird things, debunk a few myths, and confirm all that you have ever thought about bookworms. Let’s count them down. Enjoy!

The Top 20 Bookish Quirks

20. Use books for better posture. Tried and tested. Place a heavy book on top of your head and slowly walk around the room. In the old days, girls used to do this to improve their posture. Today, we all know that avid readers can truly develop a hump, so this countermove is highly beneficial. Think of it as physiotherapy.
19. Believe that reading guarantees mastery. A popular delusion among readers. They read about a skill, and instantly, they have mastered it by sheer osmosis. Sorry, it doesn’t work that way! But the reading part is fun.
18. Feel invariably drawn to cats. There’s no scientific study about this, just my personal experience. Readers love cats more than other pets. They share cat videos, love petting cats, and wear cute cat T-shirts. Honestly, I don’t know where it comes from. Or why don’t they love dogs or fish?
17. Enjoy bookish gifts. You’d be amazed at what you can gift: blankets, socks, coffee mugs, brooches, pendants, reading lamps, book cushions, and book-themed cases for reading glasses. Anything adorned with a book is perfect!
16. Keep a ‘To Be Read’ pile. Or a ‘To Be Read’ list. Insiders use the abbreviation ‘TBR’ (for both). Usually, the pile is kept on the nightstand, and the list needs to be handy, so it’ll be on most readers’ cell phones. Items are taken off this list, but the speed at which the TBR grows is much greater.
15. Feel anxiety when they run out of books. As the TBR pile gets slim, readers feel nervous. This turns into downright itchiness, bordering on a frenzied impulse to buy new books. That’s why they always carry more books in their suitcases than anyone could ever read. Of course, professional readers have a book subscription on their digital reading devices. Thank God for inventing smartphones!
14. Use books to decorate every room. Everybody does that, right? It just makes you look smart. Cookbooks in a kitchen are common, but books about the art of cleaning in the laundry room? Now, that’s a true reader. Decorating with books stops you from buying overpriced souvenirs when you’re on vacation.
13. Feel itchy in houses without books. Honestly, how can you live like that? And why would you want to?
12. Sniffing books. Can there ever be a more delightful scent? It’s like being transported into the fictional world of the book. Antique books smell differently from modern ones. If I don’t like the smell of a book, I won’t buy it. Can you believe there’s even an online store selling fragrances according to your favourite book? I wasn’t surprised.
11. Keep reading journals. The reading journal completes the cycle of a book in any reader’s house. First, it’s on the TBR list, then on the TBR pile. Once read, any book requires an entry in the reading journal. How else would you keep track? It’s like the hero’s journey, but for the book itself.
10. Despise others for cruelty against books. I won’t even discuss burning a book. That’s a capital offence. Yet even using a dog’s ear instead of a bookmark, tearing the cover, or even soiling the book in any part – what a shame! Book cruelty is the epitome of social decline.
9. Own more book bags than purses. Readers are stylish people, too. If you’re a bookish lady, then your book bag needs to match your outfit. And any stylish gentleman should bring an extra book bag just in case his bookish lady has bought more books than she can schlepp.
8. Keep a reading pharmacy. Ever heard of that? Think about it this way. Whatever the mood, a true reader always owns the perfect book. So, there are action books for powerful days. And when we need to wallow in our pain, then there are books dripping with melancholy. It’s a fact that just owning a book can lift your spirits. I strongly believe in emotional support books.
7. Visit foreign libraries and bookstores rather than the sights. When you’re on holiday, you can read about any touristy sight in a book. But the libraries, or the bookstores, those you must experience. Honestly, why would you want to mingle with the tourists when you can mingle with other bookworms?
6. Choose furniture according to reading comfort. Bookworms need armchairs with lamps and footrests. Reading furniture must be designed for prolonged stays.
5. Evaluate other people according to their bookshelf. Let’s say you’re invited to this new friend’s home. Readers will always check out the bookshelf to find out more about their new friends. The selection of books is a psychological profile.
4. Hide their most cherished books from view. Book selections are incredibly intimate. It’s like showing the dark spots of your soul to visitors. Enthusiastic bookworms hide their treasures in the bedroom or the private office. The living room only gets the surplus.
3. Never finish mid-chapter. It’s just not satisfying! Yet putting the book away when the chapter ends on a cliffhanger is virtually impossible. That’s why readers always get very little sleep.
2. Talk about fictional characters as if they’re real. That’s because they are. Period.
1. Believe that books are always the answer. And they are. If the answer is not in a book, then the answer doesn’t exist. But you’ll find a book about someone who tries to find that answer.

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The Last Word

I hope you’ve enjoyed our humorous look at the 20 weird things readers do. Do you recognise yourself? If you have strange habits we forgot to mention, please leave a comment! Happy reading!

By Susanne Bennett. Susanne is a German-American writer who is a journalist by trade and a writer by heart. After years of working at German public radio and an online news portal, she has decided to accept challenges by Deadlines for Writers. Currently she is writing her first novel with them. She is known for overweight purses and carrying a novel everywhere. Follow her on Facebook.

20 Weird Things Readers Do