Daily Diary discussion
Reading Habits
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Where is your favorite place to read a book?
I dont divide things up so meticulasly. I read whenever I have time. Usually when My husband is watching something stupid or whenever I have a few minutes to sit down. I have always had a habit that drove my kids nuts of reading while watching TV. Of course I always take a book to the powder room with me. I'm not sure why but I do not like to read in bed. I guess I try to keep in mind that that is for sleeping. Sort of a training your mind thing. Anyone else? Where do you read?
I usually read in my spot on my couch, with my reading lamp next to it. I'll often read with the TV on, but nothing I'm distracted by - that I'm interesting in hearing. I don't listen to music, I find that more distracting than the TV, I know that's odd. Even instrumental music, because it can influence thoughts and emotions that can distract from the story.How much I read at a time depends on how much time I have and how reluctant I am to put a book down. I've been known to read an entire Saturday, if I have a book I can't put down. I'll often put off housekeeping and other "unnecessary" tasks to read.
I like to curl up on my saggy old couch and read with concentration, just whenever I have time. I can read and keep an eye on the tele at the same time and I also can't read in bed for some reason (I could and did when I was a kid and into my 20's). And the 'powder room' (bog in local parlance) just wouldn't work without at least 3 browsing books on the shelf!!
Mod
I like to read in "the chair" or right before I go to bed. I read a book a week and usually start about a third of another one.
I read in bed, on the train, while I'm waiting for the doctor, at lunch, in my cube when no one is looking, in cafes when I want to be noticed, at the beach, on the knoll, in the library, and anywhere else I find myself with a book.
Mod
Ed
I also read in bed but my absolute favorite place is soaking in a hot tub. I once got the evil eye for reading at a funeral, but I just had a few more pages to go and I wanted to knock them out so that I could move on to the next adventure.
Mod
I can read just about anywhere. I always have a book with me. The only place I cannot read is in the car, I get carsick when I do this. I do have a book in my car however, just in case I get caught in a traffic jam or waiting for a long train.
You hold the book above the water and keep your hands very dry.
Mod
Ed
I love reading in my bed. There is nowhere I can read but in my own bedroom. Cause I am easily distracted by something or someone.
Music is ok but not too loud.
I never divide how much pages I should read to finish it. I love reading a lot and enjoy my reading-time so I don't need to estimate how long I need to finish it.
Before I start reading I often get stomach ache cause I am too excited with the book. Weird but it's real :))
I can not think of a place where I don't read at! =) I usually read a book a week, if not more. It's truly addicting.
I usually read in bed, on the futon or in the big cat scratched, stuffing leaking chair in the living room. On my lunch break at work I read on a park bench when its warm and in little hidey-hole in the basement using a chair that someone discarded. I like to read in silence-no distractions other than a purring cat.
Mod
I can (and do) read anywhere. But my absolute favorite place to read is in my bed. This dates back to when I was in high school. I lived in the snowbelt in upstate NY and it is cold in the winter. I'd rush home from school, put on some comfy sweats, crank the heat in my room, tent under the covers and read until dinner time.To this day, especially in the winter, I snuggle under the quilts and read myself into oblivion.
Isn't it weird about getting car sick reading? The very place where you have so much time to read?! I just can't do it. Now the bath tub, that's a whole other story! =)
Mod
I also read whenever I have the time. I absolutely love to read! When it is warmer out, I will read in my car on my lunch break. I like to read in bed, but my favorite thing to do it get up early on the weekends and start a pot of coffee and then read in the bathtub. Peace and Quiet!
I try to read everywhere. There are some people who can read only in quietness, but I can truly read anywhere. It's sometimes rude because I'll try to read the table (then my mother tells me not to.) I'll read in my bed, in my tree, on the couch, etc. I wish I had a special place though, where I could curl up with a nice book and some hot cocoa...or water.Reading in the bathtub sounds SO relaxing, Dava. I think I'll try that sometime! =D
Mod
Reading in the bathtub for me is like a favorite past time! lol Some times I take a bubble bath and I even find myself re-warming the water at times because I have been in there so long!
So, I tried reading in the tub...but the thing is, I didn't take a bath, I just sat in the empty tub with all my clothes on, reading my book. I brought a pillow, so it was rather comfy. loli enjoyed it and it is now my favorite place to read.
anywhereno matter whether it is a quite place or noisy
I don't get much time these days , so I read on my way home from school,that is if I get a seat in the bus !
Who needs a notebook when you have GoodReads! ;)
My sister-in-law, instead of driving to her job indowntown Cincinnati, she rides the bus and gets in 2 hours a day of reading. One hour there and one back and she doesnt have to fight traffic. Very peaceful for her soul. Pamela
I like to read several places, depends on the mood or the circumstance. I used to take a train to work and would sometimes read there but if it was a short night, I had all I could do not to fall asleep. :-) I have a favorite chair, oversized and very comfy that has been dubbed my "reading chair". When I lived in Phoenix, I'd float around on a lounger in the pool until I dropped a book in the water one day. Other places are in bed, of course, but I think my favorite place is in a coffee shop or a park. Since I live in Portland, sitting in a coffee shop with a gentle rain outside, drinking coffee and reading...to me that's heaven.
Mod
I do most of my reading sitting at the kitchen table, but I can read anywhere. I read in bed for about 30 min every night before I go to sleep--that hasn't changed since I was about 8 yrs. old. I carry a book with me everywhere I go and keep one in the car in case I forget. I work alone at night so my breaks are spent reading too. The one place I find uncomfortable to read is in a compfy chair. Go figure.
My favorite place is sitting on the swing on my back deck during nice weather. I've even been known to sit out there in not so nice weather. My other favorite is a local restaurant that will refill my tea and let me sit there all day reading.Noise, quiet, inside, outside, moving or still matters not at all to me. I even walk and read which really freaks people out. :D
Once when my family went on vacation, I read while standing in line at Disney World. I was the only person in line NOT bored out of my mind. Nothing like waiting 2 hours for a 10min ride.
for now its my bed, because everywhere else in my house is distracting. Never tried the bath thing, I'm always afraid of dropping it in the water. That'd be tragic.
My abs favorite place to read is in my car, while it's raining, and I have a nice scenic view of a park.
I find that I can really get a lot of reading done at the Doctor's office or especially the Dentist both in the waiting room and back in the little room they take you too and leave you for such a long time. I read half of a James Patterson book at the dentist the other day. Pamela
In an Adirondack. On a dock. Over a lake. Early in the morning. Steam still coming off the water. Sun over the eastern shore. From somewhere behind me, nuthatches' feet scritchy-scratching against the bark as they circle around the pine trees. Loon yodels from somewhere "out there" on the waters. An oriole tag team singing back and forth from the way-up heights of the silver maple, singing the way they do, all fluid and perfect. Black coffee next to me on the little plastic table. Black dog next to me, too -- preferably asleep or staring all mesmerized-like out at the water. Damselflies and dragonflies lighting on my legs or arms to keep me company for a bit.
Of course that's in the summer and, being in the Hemisphere Norté, I can assure you there's not an Adirondack (much less a lake) in sight at the present.
I've just joined this group - What a lovely discussion this is! Such insight into characters and personalities don't you think? Newengland you write such beautifully descriptive prose! I especially like the bit about the "black coffee on the plastic table"! Well i read in bed, with my mug of black coffee on my bedside table, under the warm yellow glow of my table lamp. No other place quite does it for me. Although Newengland's at sunrise over the lake scenario just might...! My unforgettable reading moment: I have once read at night while lying in the balcony of a small wooden chalet at the beach - it was high tide and i could hear every wave crashing on the shore. The winds were so strong...I was re-reading Wuthering Heights - it was just perfect!
I agree with Prabha, Newengland you made that sound so divine!! :-D I have a bay down the street, but too cold to use at the moment lol I like going to the state park at times when there's not too many people around and lean up against a log and read.
Shucks, thanks, Prabha and Jennifer. In my "Writing" folder, I have a longer ode to mornings at the lake (see, THAT will make you regret complimenting a guy!). No, seriously. You don't have to read it. Just saying, is all.
The other odd thing is how you read certain authors better in certain seasons. Like I like to read the Russians in winter and Hemingway in summer. Don't ask me why.
Seasons, scents, scenery, places, music, events... all affect our moods, and i guess our moods influence what we choose to read...
My favorite place to read is curled up in my bed under the blankets with the door closed and music playing so no one disturbs me. But lately, I seem to do most of my reading on my lunch, sitting at the work kitchen table.
Sub-conscious associations...winter=snow=Russia.....summer=beaches/oceans=Hemingway????
Yes, Prabha, I think mood has a role in our reading choices. Like you might just finish a depressing book and need something "light." OR, like me, you might finish a slew of YA novels in a row (for job purposes) and need something a little more challenging (well, for me, I mean....).By George (hopefully not Bush, though), you've got it, Debbie! I think my winter readings of all the Russians long ago had much to do with winter and snow. Plus most of the Russkies are BIG (their books, not them), so you need more time, and often there's less on the docket in winter. Depending.
Yeah, the Hemingway theory works too. I think of The Sun Also Rises and that great scene after everyone's fought and Jake swims in the ocean off of San Sebastian. Or of Islands in the Stream which opens with that lovely Caribbean idyll...
P.S. Tommygirl: Work kitchen table? Meaning...?
But some books are for ALL seasons, don't you think? For me, that's got to be Pride and Prejudice...
And let's not forget A Man for All Seasons! (I try not to forget it, even though I've never read it.) Yes, the majority of books fly no matter what's flying outside -- rain, snow, monkeys, you name it.
Prabha -- I read Pride and Prejudice as a senior in high school (this was during the William McKinley Administration). It was under duress as it was assigned, so I actually forget if I liked it or loathed it.
I read pride and prejudice in high school.Till now i love it. It’s my all time favorite romantic novel. I like this type of romantic novels as well as feature, non fiction, literature, philosophical.............. Actually I love to read all kinds of books. Reading is my only prayer. And I try to do it when I get time. No matter where it is. But usually I love to read in my tiny little bed.
Pride and Prejudice is lovely. Coincidentally, my Postie delivered a copy of it this morning ...
Ed