Top Ten Tuesday: Outrageous Things I’ve Done for the Love of Books

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Some of these stories are a little embarrassing, but I can’t help but to share them with you. Here are ten outrageous things I’ve done for the love of books.

1. Snooped

The interesting thing about this is that I have no desire to snoop in other people’s home in general. If you have a drawer filled with private items that you don’t want other folks looking at, I’m the last person in the world who would open it. With that being said, I’m also the first person in the world who would wander over to your bookcase to see what kinds of stuff you like to read.

2. Packed Books Before Clothes for a Vacation

I technically ended up with enough clothing for that trip, but just barely. Having extra socks or t-shirts is much less important than bringing that extra book or two.

3. Intentionally Befriended People Who Liked the Same Genres

This isn’t to say I’d refuse to be friends with someone who had no interest in science fiction or fantasy, but I’m much faster to invite an acquaintance out to do something if I know we can talk about Star Trek or similar topics while we’re getting to know each other.

4. Brought a Book to the Noisy DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles)

For those of you who don’t live in the United States (or who have never needed to get a new driver’s license), the DMV isn’t exactly a peaceful place to read. You generally need to sit in a loud, bright waiting room with dozens – or even hundreds – of other people for quite a while before a clerk is ready for you.

It’s not the quiet environment I generally like to read it, but it was a nice distraction from that environment.

5. Got a Sunburn 
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One of the Harry Potter books had just came out, and I was reading it while sitting in the sun. I was so enthralled that I didn’t notice my face had burned until it was too late.

6. Taught My Brother How to Read

He was about five or six, and I thought he should be learning how to read faster than he was. I taught him to sound out words that his teacher hadn’t introduced yet, and I was quite proud when he figured out how to read slightly more difficult books than his classroom had.

7. Used Half of My Closet Storage Space for Books

It wasn’t a big closet, either, but I preferred to have a smaller wardrobe if it meant I could fit another row of books into my bedroom.

8. Formed Opinions of People Based on The Content of Their Bookshelves 

I don’t judge people based on what genres they read, but I do have a strong preference for hanging out with folks whose bookshelves are filled with some sort of books! People who buy bookshelves and leave them empty confuse me quite a bit.

9. Turned Scary Books into Small Talk

A few years ago, I read a sci-fi book about an alien who wore what was essentially a human suit in order to blend in on Earth as she collected human men for nefarious purposes. I loved that story so much that I explained it in great detail to someone I’d just met. She wasn’t as excited about it as I was, but it did make for an interesting conversation.

10. Quoted Books to See How Others Reacted

If I quote one of the less well-known passages of something like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings and you catch that reference, I’m automatically going to be just a little more interested in hanging out with you.

Comments

  1. That’s amazing that you helped your brother how to read! Also I can totally relate to 9 – I’m always ready to share something really cool I just read with complete strangers, which probably explains why I don’t make friends that easily these days… I love snooping through people’s bookshelves, too – you can learn so much about a person from their bookshelf.

    • Thank you!

      I’m glad to hear I’m not the only one who talks about characters and storylines with strangers.

  2. hahha quoting books is a good one! I actually do that too!

  3. Deb Nance at Readerbuzz says

    Even restaurants now aren’t reader-friendly, much less the Department of Motor Vehicles! Good job, you!

    And extra brownie points for teaching your brother to read. We’d have a much better world if more siblings helped siblings.

  4. Oh I’ve definitely checked out peoples bookshelves to take a ‘capture’ of them- especially which ones have been read and not- sometimes you can even see if they’ve bought ‘the right books’ because they have the books people expect to have but they haven’t been touched.

  5. That’s mighty sweet of you, teaching your brother to read. Good job, big sis! 🙂 And now that you’ve mentioned it, yeah, my books are also starting to take over my closet. 😮

  6. Oh I’ve got sunburned while reading so many times!
    My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2019/04/09/top-ten-tuesday-206/

  7. I usually decide what books I want to bring to a vacation before packing clothes too. I admit I used closet space for books as well.

  8. I am definitely the kind of person to browse your bookshelf titles. I think you can learn a lot from what people read.

  9. Krystianna says

    I have packed books before clothes too. I always need something to read!
    Krystianna @ Downright Dystopian

  10. That’s so sweet that you taught your brother to read like that! Oh, and I bring a book or Kindle everywhere, even the DMV!

  11. I’ve totally done the sunburn thing! Oops.

  12. I’ve made friends with people I know I can rave about my favourite genres with too ?

  13. Haha love your list! I’d totally snoop into other people’s bookshelves too 🙂

  14. Haha love #10! Finding someone who “gets” a book quote definitely helps break the ice lol. And I will check out someone’s bookshelf for sure! I mean if it’s prominently displayed then they must not mind, right? 🙂

    • I couldn’t agree with you more. If they don’t want us to see them, my thought is that they’ll go pack them away in a private drawer somewhere.

  15. Courtney Gendreau says

    I am totally guilty of number two! I also leave a lot of space so that I can pick up books while on vacation

  16. Oh I agree — Ican’t help but form opinions about people from their bookshelves. And I hear you about taking books to the DMV — that’s why I love my phone — I can load books or resort to an audio if all I have to do is look for my number to come up.

  17. I’m such a book snooper! Even on tv, I pause the screen to see what books are on shelves 😀 And great idea on using quotes to see reactions.

  18. Haha this list is awesome. I think I’ve done almost all of these, too! Especially snooping through people’s shelves – that’s one I refuse to apologize for, and I LOVE it when people snoop through mine. ?

  19. I do the same thing with other people’s bookshelves. I am pretty paranoid about snooping in all aspects of life and like you would be the last to go through someone’s drawers for example, but like… bookshelves? FAR GAME! Hahaha

    • Yes, exactly. I figure that if they don’t want someone to know they’ve read a certain book, they’ll put it in a closet or something. 🙂

  20. I also snooped on people’s bookshelves and used my closet for books instead of clothes. I quote Harry Potter all the time, but none of the people in my house know what I’m talking about.

  21. I can never remember quotes long enough to actually tell them to other people haha. When I am walking around town with my son I always glance into windows to see if I can see book shelves filled with books. I have no shame haha.

  22. Ohh wow great post and amazing list, thank you so much for stopping by my TTT post last week.

  23. I love your list so much! I have definitely done #9. After I read Project CAIN by Geoffrey Girard – which is a book about people making clones of infamous, real-life serial killers – I drove my coworkers nuts by talking incessantly about murderers and debating nature vs. nurture.

  24. I had books a plenty in my closet, and still do! Also, I take a book with me EVERYWHERE, no matter where I go. It’s RARE that I read when I’m out, but you never know when you might have a chance to sneak in a few pages. 😀

    Thanks for the Finding Wonderland visit last week.

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