I picked up three or four new Kindle books this weekend, and I think one at Smashwords during the week. (←Link goes to my book) When you have a lot of author friends and acquaintances, you know when their books first come out. You also know when they’re free or at a reduced price. I adore books! Being a writer, this should come as no surprise. Reading is a need I love, and I would like to do more of it. I try to make bedtime my reading time. During the day I’m busy writing and working on marketing, so in order to fit it in, I have to have my laptop off. I admit to having the TV on in the background though.
There are more books in my Kindle then I’ll ever get to at the rate I’m going now, but I am planning on more reading time in the near future. What do you do 
when you get a new book? I noticed I have a ritual when I buy a new book. Right away I have to open it, scroll back to the beginning, read all the pertinent information—title page, copyright, all that good front matter stuff. I love it if there’s a cover inside on the very first page. Then, if there’s a prologue I have to read it. Sometimes I even have to read chapter one. I look at the table of contents and will check out other books by the author, if included. I may not go back to that book for awhile, so if the blurb is in there, it sure helps when I get back to it. I do this ritual with print books, too.
If you look at my Goodreads page you’ll see I’m always reading more than one book at a time. (Don’t be afraid to add my book while you’re there.) It’s because I follow the ritual above. Sometimes I don’t stop at the prologue or chapter one. It depends on my mood. If the book is a short story or novella, I might finish it right then, depending on how long my eyes will stay open. In that case, it never gets to Goodreads, unless I rate it like I did this one.
After reading back through this post, and thinking about it, I realize I am a book addict. As a child I didn’t start out liking to read, although I was always a good 
reader from an early age. My dad made me read. I remember he joined a book club and books were delivered periodically. *Children’s Classics like Hansel and Gretel, Silver Skates, and Heidi. When I didn’t want to read, these books just kept coming, and my dad insisted I read them. As if that wasn’t enough, I had to tell him what I read. Today, I thank him for teaching me to love and appreciate books and stories. He also made me do school work in the summer, but that’s a different story. And write? Yes, he made me write! Thanks, Dad.
If you love books and reading, do you have a ritual when you first purchase a book in hard copy or eBook? Am I the only one with this quirky ritual?
Since I am a writer, as well as a reader, I’d like to invite you to sign up via email (Sidebar) or click Follow at the top of the page to receive updates about my books. It would make me very happy if my books found their way to your library. While I’m asking, I see I’m pushing toward 999 Likes on my Facebook Author Page. One thousand is my next goal, so if you care to… (I’ve turned into such a promoter. I hope you don’t mind.)
*I used Amazon as an example. You can find children’s classics at many book stores, either online or brick and mortar.
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel 
2 thoughts on “Ritualistic Book Reader”
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
David, I worked in school for twenty nine years, and there are many kids who are avid readers, and those you have to force to read a couple sentences. I have turned a lot of non-readers to graphic novels because they are full of pictures, and they don’t realize they’re reading to find out what the picture is about. When I first did this with a 7th grade girl who refused to read, even though she was a great reader, I literally jumped for joy when I saw her come to class with a new graphic novel on a regular basis. Now, kids are reading eReaders in school. So, there are still many kids who love to read. I know another girl who only read when she had to for school, but when she picked up the first Twilight Series book, she read all four from beginning to end, and discovered what reading for pleasure was all about. She moved on to Harry Potter after that.
I had Kindle for PC before getting my Kindle Fire. In my opinion, having an eReader is the best, but easy to click and buy. Everything will automatically transfer to a Kindle eReader or tablet if you were to get one.
It is a surprise that you haven’t written what you grew up reading. I started reading romance as a teenager, but when I started writing, I didn’t intend to write romance. It just happened. And I love it. Thanks for commenting.
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lorddavidprosser
I loved reading as a child. There was always a book or a comic in my hand. I remember the early comics were Dandy, Beano, Topper,Beezer and then the Eagle with Dan Dare. Later came the Hotspur with stories like ‘Alf Tupper, Tough of the Track and a story I’m not sure of the comic about The Wolf of Kabul whose servant/friend was Chung who fought with a clicky-ba ( Cricket Bat).I loved the classic books of Dickens and Alexander,Dumas,R.L.Stevenson, Sir Walter Scott and of course I lived on the desert island with Robinson Crusoe..My mind was constantly stimulated and my appetite for books has never changed.
The odd thing is after reading the classics and comics that I didn’t write anything in those styles.
These days like you Mary I pick up a lot of books by fellow writers. Because I only have Kindle for PC I have to read them in spurts at the end of the day since I like to take a solid, real book to read in bed. I suppose there are few genre I don’t read these days though I try to avoid too much on the YA Vampire side and anything with too much sex in case I have a heart attack from shock. So far I haven’t felt the need to write anything but humour though my second book was adventure/humour. Having tried a couple of giveaways I’m disappointed at the take up and the fact that many people don’t review freebie books, if they read them at all. I always try to review but it can take a while since the books on my Kindle for PC are backing up now.
I passed my love of reading to my daughter but no signs yet of her wanting to write. I wonder these days if children get the same pleasure from reading as we did or if computer games have replaced that now.
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