Hi, my name is Isabelle and I might be addicted to books. Or not, reading is a choice and I can stop anytime I want.

I was tagged by Sam @ Fictionally Sam, one of my favorite people in the bookish community whose blog you need to drop by if you haven’t done so recently. This tag was probably started by Stuart @ Always Trust in Books (thanks Sam for finding the credit!).

What is the longest amount of time you can comfortably go without picking up a book?

Deliberately? Not very long at all. Of course, it’s easier in the case that I’m just too busy to read — which likely means I’m so busy that I don’t really realize how long I’ve gone without picking up a book. So possibly a few days or up to about a week, if I have to cram for an exam or if I’m on a trip. (Although I’ve also been known to read instead of studying, especially during midterms / finals, so there is that too.)

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How many books do you carry on your person (or kindle) at any one time?

There are about 1150 books currently on my Kindle, which I’ll carry with me even if I’m in the middle of a print book. Just to have options in case I finish or need a break from my current read. My Kindle has all this memory space, so I might as well use it, right?

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Do you keep every book you buy/receive or are you happy to pass them on to make space for more?

In theory, I would love to pass books on to people who will love — or at least appreciate — them more than I do. (And with ARCs, I already donate them to Flapping Pages!) A lot of the books I get as gifts aren’t actually ones I asked for, so those tend to get donated or swapped when I remember to clean them out; and some of the books I’ve outgrown have migrated to my brother’s bookshelves. I do keep books with sentimental value, such as certain childhood favorites, though if I’m not likely to reread them and/or I know I can easily get another copy, I may end up giving them away someday. 

But I mostly read ebooks, which as far as I know can’t really be [legally, permanently] transferred to someone else and which I’m too lazy to go through and clear out. So it’s a moot point.

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How long would you spend in a bookshop on a standard visit?

Honestly I don’t spend much time in bookshops and I have no idea what a “standard visit” would even look like for me. I’ll go with as long as possible: until whoever I’m with drags me away, or the store closes, whichever comes first.

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How much time per day do you actually spend reading?

It really depends, ranging from “none” during the few days leading up to a big exam to “most of my waking hours” while I’m on school breaks or some weekends. As much as I love numbers, this is one statistic I’ve never seen much point in tracking, since it’s something I don’t really think about.

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Where does the task “picking up a book” appear on your daily to-do list?

Literally speaking it actually doesn’t, because it’s not something that I need to jot down in my bullet journal to remember. Metaphorically speaking it probably still doesn’t, because I just do it throughout the day as I have time, rather than scheduling or prioritizing it. So it happens when it happens: between classes, during meals, before bed, et cetera.

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How many books do you reckon you own in total, including ebooks?

Well over a thousand, though the majority are ebooks. I used to spend a lot of time scrolling through subreddits that advertise free [and legal] Kindle books, and one summer I got bored and used Project Gutenberg to look up as many classics as I (with some help from Google) could think of. Additionally, I have a good collection of books that were gifts from friends and family, souvenirs from elementary and middle school Scholastic book fairs, favorites found during sales at my local library, et cetera.

I plan on doing a lot of decluttering and donating after I graduate and officially move into my own place; I’ll probably also clean out my ebook library while I’m at it. Of course my personal collection will multiply back rapidly, but well, such is life.

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Approximately how often do you bring up books in conversation?

ALL THE TIME, since I think in references and allusions. Even knowing that whoever I’m talking to probably won’t know what I’m talking about hasn’t stopped me. There are worse reputations to have than “the one who reads all the time,” so it’s fine, really.

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What is the biggest book (page count) you have finished reading?

According to Goodreads, it’s A Storm of Swords (A Song of Ice and Fire #3) by George R.R. Martin, which clocks in at 1178 pages. Whew.

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Is there a book you had to get your hands on against all odds, i.e. searching bookshops, online digging, etc.?

Not really? Leaving the Bellweathers comes to mind because I really, really wanted to read it after Kristin Clark Venuti visited my elementary school, but at that age all I could do was send in a bunch of request forms to the library until they finally got it.

In general, my local library tends to have the books I want to read, or the closest Barnes & Noble does, or eventually I just forget about the book because there are so many others I could read instead. Though I’ll probably have more of a struggle finding specific books after I’ve graduated and moved into my own place and am trying to build up a personal library, especially since I can be picky about matching book sets, finding the right cover edition, and stuff like that.

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A book you struggled to finish but refused to DNF?

This tends to be classics that I feel like I should be able to say I’ve read and maybe occasionally reference — in a college essay, because I’m not (yet) pretentious enough to go that far in everyday conversation. Or that I had to read for school, like The Grapes of Wrath and Something Wicked This Way Comes.

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What are three of your main book goals for 2019?

1. Read a greater diversity of books, both in terms of genre and representation — particularly #ownvoices authors.
2. Complete all the reading challenges I signed up for, most notably the Goodreads challenge, Beat the Backlist, PopSugar challenge, and Year of the Asian.
3. Knock as many books as possible (like, several hundred) off my TBR, whether by finally reading them or removing them due to having lost interest. 

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Have you ever had the privilege of converting someone into a reader (maybe via inspiration or incessant nagging)?

I don’t know how much credit I can take for my younger brother finally coming around to the bookdragon way of life, since a love of books and geek culture runs in our family. Though I did recommend him a bunch of books — including Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and Artemis Fowl — and we used to read out loud together, so that probably had some impact?

Most of my friends are (or used to be, before school got super demanding) avid readers, but of the few of them who have recently gotten back into it, one or two have cited me as inspiration.

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Describe what books mean to you in five words.

Portable adventures with found families.

Tagging: Meeghan • Michelle • DB • Anisa • Lindsay • Nicoline Simone • and, as always, anyone else who wants to join in!