True Confessions

1. When I'm discussing a book in real life, I catch myself referring to the author as "they," (as in, "I don't know why they ended it that way," or "they should have developed that character more")  as if the book was created by a committee of faceless people. Even when I've met the author.
2. I almost never read a prologue. Sometimes I skim it. Sometimes I go back to read it later if I get confused. It usually doesn't help un-confuse me, in those cases.
3. I do read epilogues, but I often wish I hadn't, because it was cheesy. (Worst epilogue ever: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Almost ruined the whole series for me.)
4. I seem to be unable to follow an audio book from start to finish. We listen to them in the car as a family and I generally have no idea what's going on.
5. I've had my current audio book (Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven) in my car for like....two years? Three? I think I'm on disk 5. If I remember right, she's in China and her friend is acting weird.
6. That's a lie. My current audiobook is a Pimsleur Hungarian language CD. I do pretty well following it because it requires me to talk back.
7. I lay books flat on their faces in a manner which is unkind to the binding.
8. Yes, library books, too. Also I dog-ear the pages if I want to remember something.
9.  When I was younger, certain book characters became my imaginary friends and hung around with me for weeks after I finished reading. 
10. As I got older, the imaginary people started originating in my own head, but they hung out with each other instead of with me. Eventually some of them became characters in my own books.
11. I rarely remember books or authors. I keep books out of the library for months after I finish them, just so I won't forget about them. Before I started blogging, I could probably have named less than a dozen book-author combinations, out of the hundreds I'd read. Blogging has actually helped me remember more, even when I don't write about them.

By Alison Jakel