- I can only read one mystery series at a time. I’m always working my way through some mystery series or other, and I cannot start a new one until I’ve finished the one I’m on. If I get distracted, I will throw over one series in favor of another, but while I may be “on hiatus” from one series, I am never actively reading two mystery series at the same time.
- It is very important to me that my bookmarks “match” my books. I’ll use one of my British bookmarks for English literature… my “Reading Ninja” bookmark for a particularly challenging contemporary classic… a cardboard bookmark in the shape of a cat curled up on an armchair (purloined from my grandmother’s collection) for gentle fiction and cozy mysteries… If I lazily select a bookmark that doesn’t reflect the spirit or style of the book I’m reading, I feel all weird and itchy until I replace it with a more appropriate bookmark.
- When planning for a vacation, I spend more time plotting out my reading list than I do researching restaurants or sights at my destination. This is especially true if the vacation is to Europe; in that case, I must pick books by authors from the region I’m visiting, or that are set in or otherwise pertain to the region I’m visiting. (Extra points for both: Persuasion in Bath, for instance, or Wuthering Heights in Yorkshire.)
- I can read anywhere – cars, cafés, the couch while hubby plays video games – but for serious reading or for marathon reading sessions, I prefer to be in the alcove in my bedroom that I decorated as a reading nook.
What are your quirks as a reader?
covered in flour 
I like to read books tied to the places I’m visiting, too! I need to take a vacation (it’s been too long!), but I just don’t have the time right now.
Oh my, do I ever know the feeling. My last vacation (not counting maternity leave and the odd long weekend) was in 2011. I’m desperately in need! Nothing planned on my horizon, though… I don’t have the time either. Ah, well.
It’s also much harder to plan a vacation after having kids. I’m just not ready to take my girls on a transatlantic flight (my mother did it with three kids a couple of times a year, but flights, customs, and airports were different back then).
Oh my goodness – your mother is a hero! Three kids, a couple of times a year – wow. That puts things into perspective. I might be crazy (might be?!?) but hubby and I are actually thinking of taking Peanut on a trans-Atlantic trip next summer. My best friend is moving to Germany for a year and we’re hoping to get over there to visit her, especially since she’ll be in Bavaria, which is the one part of Germany I haven’t seen. We’d also like to fold at least a few days, if not a week, in Austria into the trip if we can – but that might be too ambitious with a two-year-old. It’s only in the “talking about this” stage now, and like I said I might be nuts, but I really hope this trip happens. Yep, I’m nuts.