After watching Bout of Books pass me by so many times over the past two years, I have finally decided to join! I figured it’d help me build up my momentum as the new year starts. There are so many books on my shelves that I have yet to read. I want to gobble them up and fly through but sometimes I lack motivation or get distracted. Since read-a-thons help me focus, Bout of Books it is.

This was the first time that I joined the Broke & Bookish Secret Santa gift exchange. During the previous two years I just observed this annual event from afar (read, Twitter). Then when Jamie tweeted this year just before sign ups closed that there were 30 minutes left, I hastily plunged into it. I’m very glad I did because I discovered two amazing people as a result.

Given a choice between a hardcover and paperback book with the same cover design, I will almost always pick the paperback. Paperbacks take up less space in my bags and bookshelves, are much lighter and are much handier when reading. The one drawback they have measured against hardcovers is that their spines crack very easily. Still, I am very determined at preventing cracked spines. At the same time, I don’t like squinting into the shadows of a book that is hardly open.