What if anything do you listen to while reading?

[Jeffrey]

Rob wrote: "Jer wrote: "I first read the first 5 Anne McCafferey Pern novels while listening primarily to Journey albums. To this day, I can't hear a Journey song without thinking about Pernese dragons and Th..."

Nice. I have Michael Moorcock flashbacks when I hear Kansas' Leftoverture album because I had the vinyl album on an old turntable that played over and over as I went through that series.

[[deleted user]]

I normally like silence but would love some suggestions!?

[Jer]

Rob wrote: "I'm the same way with the Dark Tower and Pink Floyd. "

Ah yes, The Silmarillion and Momentary Lapse of Reason will be forever linked in my brain.

[Jer]

Jeffrey wrote: Nice. I have Michael Moorcock flashbacks when I hear Kansas' Leftoverture album because I had the vinyl album on an old turntable that played over and over as I went through that series. "

Ya' know, I'm going to read my first Moorcock novel to that album, just to try that.

[Rob, Roberator]

Right now I'm listening to Christmas music while reading. And lately I've been listening to a lot of electronic music (techno/trance/etc)

[Sarah]

The "Atmospheres" music channel. Also, my chihuahua whenever he hears the crinkling of anything plastic and decides that making little mouse noises is his best bet for getting a treat.

[Aaron]

I love to listen to music as I read, it works something like white noise, blocking out most outside distractions, while it can also help set the mood for the book I am reading. Typically though, I tend to listen to jazz, blues and bluegrass, artists like Jaco Pastorious, Dave Brubeck, Buddy Guy, Jeff Beck ,and the Yonder Mountain String Band.Of course, there is also always the chance that I just hit shuffle and listen to god knows what in random order, leading to a most interesting track list to accompany the book.

[Melissa]

I need silence when I read for pleasure. Actually, when I read for pleasure, it doesn't matter what is going on around me, I tend to tune everything out. When I read for work, I need classical music to keep me focused.

[Shan]

I find music absolutely useless while I'm reading. I'm a very involved reader so while I'm reading, I don't pay attention to ANYTHING. My brain creates every background my imagination thinks is necessary. On the other hand, if I have something mellow and quiet in the background, I definitely don't turn it right off. I just tune it out :P

[Jeff]

I can't listen to anything when I'm reading or writing. I almost find it shocking that any can.

I had a friend who used to tell me he couldn't write his papers in college unless he had music blasting in the background. I thought he was nuts!

[Ray]

I am a music junkie and listen while reading all the time. What I listen to depends on my mood honestly. I haven't found that any particular genre goes better with any particular books or literally genres.

Some of my favorite bands (small sample), broken down by genre:

Metal/Prog-Metal/Hard Rock
Tool, Intronaut, Meshuggah, Gojira, Animals as Leaders, Opeth, Mastodon, Isis, Deftones, Red Fang, Tombs, Pelican, Neurosis

Prog-Rock/Classic Rock
Porcupine Tree, Steven Wilson, Storm Corrosion, Gordian Knot, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin

Rock/Ambient/Electronica
The Melvins, Sigur Ros, Massive Attack, Shpongle, DJ Shadow, Chevelle, A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Nails, Lustmord, Peeping Tom, Tomahawk

Rap/Hip Hop
Wu Tang Clan, Cypress Hill, Jurassic 5, Mos Def, Rakim, KRS One, Tyler the Creator, Talib Kweli

Jazz, Blues, Classical
Miles Davis, Wynton Marsalis, B.B. King, John Lee Hooker, Beethoven, Rachmaninov, Chopin, Bach