There was recently a trend on TikTok that discussed the beige flags one’s partner or friends had. You may be wondering what a beige flag is, well let me tell you! A beige flag is a trait that isn’t necessarily good or bad, but perhaps a little quirky and makes you think. The videos on TikTok ranged from being overly nonchalant to setting 10 five-minute interval alarms in a row, to replacing random objects as rocks as a joke. It was a hilarious trend!
We have now decided to take these beige flags and apply them to books. It has been a blast to read all my peer’s responses and realize just how many bookish beige flags there are!
Read on to take a look at some bookish beige flags from our Bookstr team!
Buying Books To Match a Set (Even When I Already Own It)
I love thrift book shopping; it’s so fun and a great way to get a matching set of books for my bookshelf. If I started a series with the paperbacks, but it was only available in hardback when the next ones came out, I’ll look for the hardbacks at thrift stores or places like Half Priced Books. It annoys me when the books aren’t the same size, so when publishers change the sizes of their books, I’ll completely get rid of it one book at a time by replacing it with the matching paperback versions. The only exception to this is first editions, I’ll thrift for those too.
- Kristi Eskew, Editorial
Reading Outside With Animals
Many people say they love animals, but I go above and beyond for them. My family and I actually have a herd of deer that have been coming around almost every night for almost a year now, and I’ve seen them grow from babies to adolescents and adolescents to moms. It’s amazing to have the privilege to see the circle of life like that. Being with them is so therapeutic that I like going outside and reading as they eat or walk around the yard. They can pop in at random times of the day, so I try to spend time with them when I see them coming to my house. I have even snagged some pictures of them watching me read! It’s just a great opportunity to embrace nature and reading as one. I’m going to miss doing it since the cold months are coming, but I’m looking forward to starting again in Spring.
- Sydney Wright, Editorial
Arranging My Books in Size Order
Everyone has a different preference for organizing their bookshelves, from classifying by color to arranging by rating to dividing by genre — the list goes on. Personally, I like to organize by height. For some reason, it drives me a little crazy to see non-uniformly tall books next to each other, so I try to position my books from smallest to tallest. With the vastly varied sizes of paperbacks, hardcovers, and special editions, this can be a daunting task, but having beautiful bookshelves is definitely worth the effort.
- Lauren Nee, Editorial
Reading Book Series Out of Order
I can’t read a book in a series out of order, even if the book is a standalone. If I’ve heard of a book, but it’s part of a series, I will go on a hunt to buy book one first. I can’t read out of order because it throws me off that I might be missing part of the story. Being a standalone is not a reason for me to read books out of the proper order. It will drive me insane to even think to do so. I just feel that books come in a certain order, and I must abide by that!
- Quiarah B, Editorial
Occasionally Skipping Ahead
I will admit, on a few occasions (maybe more), I have spoiled the book for myself by skipping ahead. I have also, on a few occasions, skipped to the very last page. What can I say? I like torturing myself, and I’m a sucker for knowing how stories end. I even do this with TV shows sometimes. If I’m rooting for a couple in a show, I’ll sometimes skip to the last episode to see if they end up together (shhh!). It has caused me both happiness and sheer pain. Of course, I still finish watching the show or reading the book, but sometimes I can’t resist knowing how it ends!
- Alexandra Mellott, Editorial
Spending All My Money on Books
I mean, I could be spending my money on worse things. That is what I always tell myself when I am all of a sudden at a bookstore for the 3rd time this week. I will always see a new book I want, and I have to buy it. I limit myself, though, but there is something about buying a new book that is so exciting. I just really love reading, and at the end of the day, it makes me happy, and that is all that matters.
- Elizabeth Hoyer, Graphics
They All Must Match
One thing that drives me nuts is when I own the series, but the books don’t match each other. This starts when I buy the first book of the series, and it continues until I find the matching books. If I buy a hardcover first, I have to go out and buy all the other books in hardcover. I don’t want paperbacks and hardcovers mingling within a series. The problem becomes more complicated when multiple covers are produced for a series because I have to make sure those match too. For example, I own the A Court of Thorns and Roses series with the original covers, so when the newest book came out, I was mortified that it was a different cover.
- Koren Frideres, Social
Buying Different Covers of the Same Book
Let’s face it, fellow bookworms, when it comes to our treasured literary companions, our passion knows no bounds. We’ve all stumbled upon a beautiful special edition or a masterpiece adorned with a collector’s cover, and suddenly our hearts skip a beat. In that moment, our reasoning may falter. We need to possess that beautiful, different version of a book we already have on our bookshelf. After all, covers aren’t just pretty; they become portals into new realms of aesthetic ecstasy.
We’re ready to throw caution to the wind, embracing the thrill of indulgence, even if our pockets grow slightly lighter. No matter if someone says, “You already have that book.” We do not care. We aren’t just bookworms; we are Bookdragons that collect books even though we don’t read them.
- Trish G, Editorial
Watching the Movie/TV Show First
While it’s true that the books are usually better than an adaptation, I have sometimes watched the movie/TV show first. For example, I watched the Harry Potter movies before reading the books, and I think it made me appreciate them both more. If I see a screen adaptation first, then get inspired to read the book(s), isn’t that just the best of both worlds? I usually enjoy the books more, but the screen adaptations sometimes add something special as well.
- Danielle Tomlinson, Editorial
Waiting a Long Time to Finish Books
I have to say, if there’s one way to describe my reading habits, it’s that I’m a huge mood reader. I have a philosophy that books find you at just the right moment that they’re meant to. Therefore, if I’m reading a book and I’m not really feeling attached to the story, characters, etc., I have no problem setting it down and not returning to it until months (or even years) later. This does mean that I have a plethora of books on my shelf with bookmarks at the 75% mark, waiting in TBR purgatory, but I’m always confident that the next time I do pick them up, I’m going to appreciate them even more than I would’ve if I had just powered through it.
- Rylee Gonzales, Editorial
I Read Ahead of the Book to See What Is Going to Happen
I feel like I have to be emotionally prepared for certain things. If I feel like something bad is going to happen or the protagonists are in a bad situation that they take too long to get out of, I skip ahead to when they are safe and read what happened after in case something bad happens. This habit stems from my need to be prepared, just like Batman. I need prep time to be invincible, so I have to know what lies ahead to prepare myself.
- Alexia Rocha, Social
Buying A Book Based On the Author
If I’m browsing through books and I see a book that I’ve never heard or seen before, I usually look through the summary to see if it’s something I’m interested in. However, if the author is known to me, I have a bad habit of buying a book off the bat without checking the synopsis. It can even be an author I actually haven’t read a book from yet. As long as that author’s name is currently on my shelf, my first instinct is to grab any book from them, thinking that everything will be perfectly fine (even though it’s really not).
- Jaiden Cruz, Graphics
Writing in My Paperbacks
I used to never get a pencil, pen, or highlighter near any of my books before college. But then I majored in English and was exposed to so many books that I never would have picked out on my own, and most of them ended up having incredibly moving passages and wise words. I underlined one sentence in a used edition of a book I bought at school, and then I slid down the slippery slope. Now I underline entire paragraphs and dogear pages so that I can revisit them in times of reflection. However, I absolutely refuse to carry this practice over into my hardbacks. Those are very expensive and most of them are special editions, so I just use my Notes app on my phone if I come across a line or passage that I absolutely must remember.
- Ellie Davis, Editorial
Emotionally Buying Books/Visiting Bookstores
I indulge in retail therapy but with books. Sometimes when I have had an especially hard day, I’ll spend an unreasonable amount of money on books. Most of the time, the books are second-hand, which helps me rationalize, but still, I tend to buy certain genres or really nice special editions emotionally. This also adds to my never-ending physical TBR pile, and in all honesty, sometimes I like to have that. It reminds me of how many different books are out there.
- Chloe Fonge, Editorial
For more thoughts from our Bookstr team, click here!