Book Confessions #2 | Reading Ahead
Back in September we posted the first in a new series here at Blogger's Bookshelf called 'Book Confessions' and in the first instalment we shared varied opinions on bookmarks and how we take care of our beloved books. This time we're talking about whether we read ahead, here's what our anonymous contributors had to say...
"I absolutely hate the idea of reading ahead. In stark contrast to my sister, who absolutely has to read the last sentence of any book. What’s the fun in that? That being said, if I've come to an important part of the story – a character I like has died or something – I skim the next few pages to find out the fall out. I don’t like the waiting!"
"I have not been tempted to read ahead after the incident of Harry Potter and the Order of Pheonix; I knew that an important character died and I was terrified of finding out from friends (as some were far ahead of me) so one evening the temptation was too much and I skipped forward to learn that Sirius (my love) was the one to go. I was so distraught that I accidentally let slip to a friend the next day and ruined it for her as well. I am now an advocate for never reading ahead."
"Sometimes I read the last sentence of a book before I start it! I think most people would consider that ‘cheating’ but occasionally I like to read a book thinking about how it’s going to get to that last sentence."
"The only reason I would ever read ahead is if one of my favourite characters suddenly dies. Then I flip to the back to see if I can see any dialogue from them, just to reassure myself that they are just pretending. Or not, as it is in most cases. I won't, however, read anything substantial. Just skim through to see if they are actually dead or not. I don't think I could ever even read the last sentence before reading the entire thing first."
"I used to be the worst for reading ahead. When I was young I read copious amounts of Point Horror – prime skipping ahead material – and I always ruined it for myself! I would always land on a major spoiler, not just the answer to whatever I was looking for. Now, I don’t allow myself to do it at all. Sometimes I’ll flick ahead through the pages, but I quickly realise what I’m doing and don’t let myself focus on anything. It’s tough though! This is another reason why I love my Kindle – it removes the temptation."
"I pretty much 90% of the time read ahead. I can't stop myself! If the storyline isn't going how I'd like I quickly skip to the end to see if it finishes nicely (thankfully most of the time I am left happy!). If the story is from different viewpoints, I normally skip through the characters I'm not fond of so I can get to the cool characters quicker - then I'll go back and read about those other characters. Sometimes in books shops I'll read the blurb and the last line before deciding if I want the book or not! I've never regretted it though, it doesn't ruin a book for me, I enjoy it just as much."
"I've never skipped so far ahead enough to spoil the entire book for myself...but my eye does do that involuntary thing of accidently reading the next few lines of a chapter before I've finished the page before. I've spoiled quite a few cliffhangers for myself this way but I can't help it! It's a biological reflex right??"
"If a character in a story that I really like suddenly dies, I freak out and flip to near the back of the book to see if I can find a section that says 'said Bob', or you know, so I know that they aren't actually dead. Of course, this didn't really work for Dumbledore..."
"I never read ahead! Do people really do that?? It would really feel like cheating to me!...Okay I'll admit it, I did read ahead once. I read the last page of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows before I finished the book. But come on, I had waited for that book for years!!"
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If you have a book confession of your own let us know via email & we may feature it in a future post! - bloggersbookshelf@gmail.com
Thank you to all of our anonymous contributors.
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If you have a book confession of your own let us know via email & we may feature it in a future post! - bloggersbookshelf@gmail.com
Thank you to all of our anonymous contributors.
I only ever read ahead if a book is taking particularly long to develop a storyline. It rarely happens, but I have a terrible knack of finding the catalyst of the story and subsequently ruining the whole thing!
ReplyDeleteI can't stand the idea of reading ahead!! Although, I'm not saying that I sometimes read the odd sentence or two, but usually kick myself for doing so.
ReplyDelete