What are your reading habits?

I am a notoriously picky reader.

I don’t finish about half of the books I start, and I’ve literally gone to the library or book store to get a book and returned home two hours later without one.

But I love to read, so I mostly re-read my favorites. I kid you not, I’ve re-read one of my favorite books more than eight times.  (I think the number of times is probably ten, but you wouldn’t believe that anyway.)

And I don’t just read them. I sort of chew on them. I move through them pretty slow when I’m re-reading, and I really try to study what the author is doing.

I like to dissect what they’ve done — if I can — and I’ve personally found that I get far more out of books (from a learning perspective) when I’m re-reading one, than from reading a new one. For me, anyway, I find it’s nearly impossible to learn something when you don’t know what twist or turn is coming up.

So, if you examined any books on my bookshelves, you’d find things underlined, notes written in the margins, etc.

For me, that’s all about trying to discern what the author was doing. And clearly, trying to become a better writer and author.