Reading in Bars/do you drink while you read?

[RandomAnthony]

There's a list on Huffington Post today of the top ten pubs in literature...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/...

I know this is slightly different set of questions, but the whole "bars and literature" thing got me thinking...

1) Do you ever read in bars?
2) Do you drink while you read?

What do you think?

[Rebecca]

I wouldn't normally do that. I only go to bars to meet friends, so I wouldn't be reading then. I do often drink and read at the same time, but I do it at home, where it's cheaper. Now, if you ask me if I read and go to coffee shops, I'd say yes, because my coffee skills aren't very good. Definitely not as good as my mixing skills!

The only exception to this would be travel, because I often travel alone and it probably has happened that I've read in a bar at some point while travelling.

[[deleted user]]

I do not read in bars, I only go with friends, and it would seem extremely rude to pull a book out in front of them.

I will drink while I read at home, but not very often. I do drink coffee/tea while I read quite a bit though.

[[deleted user]]

I used to do that, when I wanted to be both solitary and shitfaced. There was a bar in NYC I would go to where I'd sit at the bar, on a Sunday night, and read. There would be a pile of bills, and the bartender would keep refreshing my gin and tonic until I just got too bleary-eyed to read. I think this was around 1995 or '96.

Surprisingly, I got a lot of reading done that way. I also drank waaaaaaaaaaaay too much then.

[Mary]

Post-divorce I used to read in bars all the time--I'd just moved back to Va and didn't know anyone, but I still wanted to go out and get my drink on. Having a book seemed much better than sitting there by myself staring off into space. It was quite the conversation starter:

Random guy: Whatcha reading?
Me: A book.

[Sally, la reina]

I love to drink while reading and read while drinking! I also love to read in public. It helps me to forget that the public exists.

[Jackie "the Librarian"]

I haven't tried drinking and reading! Although, I have been to bookgroups in bars, which was very loud and fun.

[Lobstergirl, el principe]

I don't do it myself, but I know some women who do, in an effort not to get hit on.

[Ali]

I'm too self-conscious to do this. Bars are where people go to be social. Reading a book is a solitary activity and so it is notable because you're breaking a social rule; it attracts attention.

I'm quite comfortable reading in restaurants and cafés, though.

[Félix]

I've never faked it in a bar, either. Although, I did use fake ID once or twice. Oh wait ... wrong thread?

[[deleted user]]

I only go to bars to drink and bark at the moon. I don't think I've ever seen anyone reading in a bar unless it's the graffiti above the urinals.

[[deleted user]]

I don't think I've ever seen any one read in a bar either. Maybe it is the quality of the bars I go to.

[Sally, la reina]

Ali wrote: "I'm too self-conscious to do this. Bars are where people go to be social. Reading a book is a solitary activity and so it is notable because you're breaking a social rule; it attracts attention.
..."

Hi Ali! Good to see you here in TC.

[Sarah]

I read at my bar sometimes.
There are a couple of regulars who bring books that they bust out sometimes as well. I'm always surprised to wind up talking books there, but it happens. Makes me happy.

[Sally, la reina]

I love that you have a bar. It is so perfect. I wish I could go to it for my first foray into a drinking establishment since July of 2009.

[RandomAnthony]

I used to read the Reader, Chicago's weekly alternative newspaper...thing...at a bar on Fridays back when I lived there, now that I think of it.

[smetchie]

I don't read so good when I'm drinking...

[Jackie "the Librarian"]

I drinking now and reading this thread. Does that count?

[Félix]

It does.

[Sally, la reina]

drinking and cookies?

[Jackie "the Librarian"]

Pear cider and orange Pims, Sally. And potato chips. Hmm, that's a lot of alliteration.

What else could I do with the letter "p"? I'm posting, I could pirouette...