How do you read?

A fair few months ago now, Jocelyn wrote a really interesting post about how people read...she invited people to share how they read, so here's what I do...

I love bookmarks.  I had lots when I was a child (mainly the red leather ones you get from touristy places) and still have quite a few now.  My favourite one was magnetic, and said 'I know how this ends' which a friend had bought for me - very apt, as I do always skip to the end of a book.  Sadly, when I was on a train a while back I thought I'd slipped my book into my bag, but I must have put it between the bag and the side of the train, as it wasn't in my bag when I got off the train (moral of the story: always check where you're putting things!) and so hopefully someone else is enjoying the book and the bookmark.

My bookmarks now form a varied collection, this red string with a wooden star on the end, a magnifying bookmark which belonged to my grandmother, and an owl bookmark from Ben.  I have lots of magnetic bookmarks which are dotted around various academic and non-fiction books I will get round to finishing one day.

One thing I will never do is fold down the corners of books.  Oh, it pains me to see folded corners!  When I borrow library books (especially from university libraries) I always unfold the poor corners...I don't care if it's marking an interesting or important place, make a note of it somewhere else, or do it in your own copy!

Equally, I never purposefully break the spines of books.  My copy of Lonely Planet's South America On a Shoestring guidebook is over 1000 pages long, and travelled with me for four months round ten countries, living in my rucksack.  It was used regularly by myself and my travelling companions, and barely looks used...the spine is pristine and just a few of the corners are a bit squashed.  Some books you can't help break the spine on, as you can't open them properly otherwise, but if I can avoid breaking them, I will.  An ex-boyfriend's mum once borrowed a book from me, and started reading it when I was staying with them - the first thing she did was crack the spine, oh it made me wince!  She did apologise when she saw my face, but it just shows the different ways in which people read!  I will admit to leaving books open face down, but only in a book which already has a damaged spine.

I also never write in books.  I love sticky notes, and will stick them all over the place (well, in academic books anyway) but I never write in the actual book.

(That's a lie, actually, I've just realised.  I do write in cookery books, normally a note of how many cupcakes the recipe really made, or how long the cake took to cook, but that's not a true reflection of how I read!)

I never have just one book on the go - always a fiction and a non-fiction, and often another fiction book too depending on their size.  A smaller book (or Kindle) to fit in my bag and a fatter, heavier book to stay in the flat.  

I also always have a pile of magazines waiting to be read - I have subscriptions to the three magazines in this photo.

Bed is my favourite place to read, and features in these photos.  It's so comfy, so warm, just the way I like it.  

So tell me, how do you read?