When do you read?

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Looking at the thread where people have read hundreds of books, I find myself less interested in the content of the books than in their mundane quotidian context. When do you read your books? Do you do it after work or before? How do you avoid being exhausted from work? What percentage of your reading time is on the weekends? Do you do other things when you read, like exercise or eat dinner? Do you read in bed, on the couch, or at your desk? And so on x infinity.

― kenchen, Thursday, 12 January 2006 23:39 (nineteen years ago)

It used to be when I would commute to work. Reading goes well with travelling.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Thursday, 12 January 2006 23:50 (nineteen years ago)

After work and on the weekends, with most of it on the weekends. I can't do anything else when I'm reading really, except maybe nibble on a snack. I think I generally read about an hour each evening though, and for maybe 4 hours each day on the weekends. I've never had a job with a commute where I could read - I think that would be a wonderful perq - but I used to travel by air extensively (2 - 4 longish flights each week) and I got a great deal of reading done in airports and on planes.

― Jaq (Jaq), Friday, 13 January 2006 00:33 (nineteen years ago)

I read in the evening, laying on my bed. I rarely, however, read directly before going to sleep. I also read on the weekends some, also mostly in the evenings. I really have been reading very little lately, what with being busy with grad school apps and dating and whatnot. I miss it, but grad school and my gf are worth it (I suppose).

Actually, I've recently been listening to a lot of lectures and books and bbc programs I download off slsk. I drive over an hour a day to/from work, so this works out pretty well. Currently I have some lectures on 19th C European intellectual history. They are not half as interesting as I thought they'd be.

― stewart downes (sdownes), Friday, 13 January 2006 01:06 (nineteen years ago)

That's what I did for all of 2005. Thank you, the Teaching Company. But some are indeed more interesting than others.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Friday, 13 January 2006 01:45 (nineteen years ago)

Before I head off to work in the morning I like to read for half an hour to an hour (depending on how early I woke up). When I get home from work I usually read for an hour or so, and then sometime later in the night I might put in a little more time, especially if I'm really into the book. Usually I end up reading 80 or 100 pages a day, I guess. Sometimes more on the weekends. My day job is pretty easy, so it really doesn't wear me out. I'll read sitting in my chair or sometimes in bed. When the weather is good I like to walk to a nearby cafe and sit outside with a coffee and my book. Even if you only find an hour or so a day to spend reading, the pages do tend to pile up. All the books I want to be reading keeps me motivated to find that time. It's usually what I want to most be doing.

― Jeff LeVine (Jeff LeVine), Friday, 13 January 2006 02:19 (nineteen years ago)

What's slsk? I love the Teaching Company! My favorite is Jeffrey Perl's Literary Modernism. The book (Skepticism and Modern Enmity) is good too.

― kenchen, Friday, 13 January 2006 02:29 (nineteen years ago)

Slsk (aka s0ulsique) is an evil file-sharing network. Though considering the fact that my love for the Teaching Company is growing in leaps and bounds, maybe I should consider actually paying for their lectures!?!?!?!

― stewart downes (sdownes), Friday, 13 January 2006 03:01 (nineteen years ago)

I read about 15 pages in bed and then fall asleep. :(

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 13 January 2006 03:25 (nineteen years ago)

where i read = green eggs and ham loci

― Josh (Josh), Friday, 13 January 2006 04:38 (nineteen years ago)

On the commute into work, mainly, and often during lunch. I used to read a lot in the evenings, and I still mean to, but that tends to get squeezed by the internet/films/computer games/board games.

― Ray (Ray), Friday, 13 January 2006 09:38 (nineteen years ago)

On the train in and out to work. In the evenings if there's nothing on telly I want to watch. If I'm reading a really good book, I will go to bed early (like, 9pm) just to read for a couple of hours. I get a lot of my reading done at the weekend, because I don't really go out at night or have people over.

I find myself reading a lot more lately because my cousin and her husband are living with us for a while. They watch a lot of telly that I don't watch, so I tend to do my relaxing in my bedroom with a book.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Friday, 13 January 2006 13:04 (nineteen years ago)

I hardly ever read in bed, it's just not comfortable. When I read in the evening, it's on the couch.

― Ray (Ray), Friday, 13 January 2006 13:59 (nineteen years ago)

It's hard to read on our couch. You have to fight for space with the dogs and cats, and then the cats want to stand on what you're reading, and the dogs want to eat what you're reading, and anyway the telly's always on in our sitting room, because once you've turned it on you can't turn it off, because if you do the dogs think it's time to go for a walk and they start beating each other up.

Bedroom. Ah, tranquil bedroom.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Friday, 13 January 2006 14:06 (nineteen years ago)

Heh. Unless I have social plans and/or a movie to watch (why, HEL-LO, Mr and Mrs Smith), I pretty much sit and read whenver I'm home and not sleeping. And sometimes I kind of resent the social plans. (Can't read in bed, it's a recipe for drowsiness.) Also, getting on the train guarantees at least a half hour slot, maybe even 1 hr+ of book time.

― Laurel (Laurel), Friday, 13 January 2006 14:28 (nineteen years ago)

I read mostly on my commute, and take the bus (I love you, M5, though today you were a bit rough on the turns) specifically so I have at least an extra ten minutes' reading time.

I also read on my lunch break in my office or in the park, on weekend mornings if my husband sleeps in, after work if I'm home on my own, and right before bed. If it's a particularly engrossing book, I might even read through commercials while we watch TV.

― zan, Friday, 13 January 2006 15:11 (nineteen years ago)

In the bedroom and on the toilet. Yes, I'm one of those freaks who likes to spend half an hour on the loo reading a book (and poo as well).

― Nathalie (stevie nixed), Friday, 13 January 2006 15:19 (nineteen years ago)

I read [weird, I just put 'write' there, wishful thinking unfortunately] while I'm eating breakfast, on the train to work (though now my commute is only 6 minutes, not so much!), in my lunch break (if I finish with the crossword), on the train home, in the laundrette, while preparing meals, all evening sometimes if I'm not going out, and usually for a bit when I go to bed. Oh and yes on the loo :)

― Archel (Archel), Friday, 13 January 2006 15:22 (nineteen years ago)

Before sleep. Which is rather stupid.

Nathalie, me too; except I get pins and needles in my legs and end up falling off the loo.

― Navek Rednam (Navek Rednam), Friday, 13 January 2006 15:40 (nineteen years ago)

I love the Teaching Company! My favorite is Jeffrey Perl's Literary Modernism.

I don't have that one! But seriously, Daniel Robinson's "50 Great Ideas In Philosophy" is the hottttttest. Anything with Elizabeth Vandiver (she does classics) is pretty great, although even she has trouble making the Aeneid all that exciting.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Saturday, 14 January 2006 08:46 (nineteen years ago)

I'd quite like to read a 'defend the indefensible' on the Aeniad.

(My 2006 reading revolution is powered by the bus to and from work and my bed when I get home from it)

― Gravel Puzzleworth (Gregory Henry), Saturday, 14 January 2006 12:03 (nineteen years ago)

9-11 PM weeknights
5-7 AM weekdays (also my ILX time)
6-9 AM weekends (during "cartoon time")
Sunday eves are usually good for a long reading session on the couch

― m coleman (lovebug starski), Saturday, 14 January 2006 13:26 (nineteen years ago)

(Well, you know, Purcell did good with it. Outside of that section, though...)

― Casuistry (Chris P), Saturday, 14 January 2006 14:12 (nineteen years ago)

I hate reading on the couch because I fall asleep and then when my husband wakes me up I have to go upstairs, brush my teeth, take off my clothes and go to bed, and it's SO HORRIBLE to have to do all that work when I'm so tired.
I read in bed. Takes me ages to get anywhere because I have to reread all the stuff that I read in my sleep the night before. My husband and I are in such separately encapsulated computerworlds all day long, watching movies together in the evening is nice, so a lot of time is taken up that way that could have been spent reading or writing. If we were better people.

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Saturday, 14 January 2006 16:50 (nineteen years ago)

When do you read?
Almost all the time, except while sleeping

When do you read your books?
When I'm not reading any other material.

Do you do it after work or before?
I don't work. But I used to work full time, and I read books both before and after work, and during work whenever possible.

How do you avoid being exhausted from work?
By not working

What percentage of your reading time is on the weekends?
Weekends = weekdays when you don't work.

Do you do other things when you read, like exercise or eat dinner?
I cannot eat without reading something, or it would be a waste of time.

Do you read in bed, on the couch, or at your desk?
Books in bed. Other material -- everywhere.

― Fred (Fred), Saturday, 14 January 2006 19:30 (nineteen years ago)

When you are not reading, remember, someone somewhere is reading, and when you meet him he will win.

― Fred (Fred), Saturday, 14 January 2006 19:35 (nineteen years ago)

How do you avoid being exhausted from work?
By not working

Fred, you are my hero.

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Saturday, 14 January 2006 22:18 (nineteen years ago)

Will you marry me?

― Fred (Fred), Saturday, 14 January 2006 22:20 (nineteen years ago)

I can't! I am your mother!

― Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Saturday, 14 January 2006 23:29 (nineteen years ago)

I tend to read at night, before bed, though sometimes I waste so much time on the internet (hello there) that before I know it's time to go to sleep. Mornings are for the newspaper(s). I could read somewhat at the circ desk, but more magazines or books with pictures, because every time I get really into that People article, someone will invariably come to the desk.

Next week, though, I'm moving to the children's department, where a main part of my job will be to read. Can't sneak in any strictly adult material, I'm afraid, but I should be able to camoflauge classics in the YA section as pertinent to my work.

I really miss reading on the subways; reading on the Metro is just not the same.

― Mary (Mary), Sunday, 15 January 2006 05:15 (nineteen years ago)

I don't think I would have made it through a single page of Finnegans Wake if I hadn't had a two hour bus and subway commute to my then-boyfriend's place. That was just long enough to get through two, maybe three pages.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Sunday, 15 January 2006 07:59 (nineteen years ago)

I read books in bed and in the bath, mainly. I seldom read a proper book sitting on a chair nowadays - if I'm sitting down I read newspapers, or occasionally magazines. During the week I read books at bedtime, or for a while on waking up; newspapers at lunchtime. At weekends I read newspapers in the morning, books at bedtime.

― frankiemachine, Sunday, 15 January 2006 17:54 (nineteen years ago)

How do you avoid being exhausted from work?
By not working
Fred, you are my hero.
-- Beth Parker (marthasminion...), January 14th, 2006 10:18 PM. (Beth Parker) (later)
Will you marry me?
-- Fred (fred.99854...), January 14th, 2006 10:20 PM. (Fred) (later)
I can't! I am your mother!

-- Beth Parker (marthasminion...), January 14th, 2006 11:29 PM. (Beth Parker) (later)

Already this conversation is ten times better than the book I am reading.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Monday, 16 January 2006 14:50 (nineteen years ago)

two weeks pass...

hurray, someone else who reads in the bath! That's where I do most of my reading.. no wonder my skin's so crinkly...

― michelle hajdini, Monday, 30 January 2006 14:51 (nineteen years ago)

I'm afraid I have to admit that having a small child has really cut down my reading time to almost nothing. but because life is sometimes surprising, it's 3 weeks now that little sara around 6 pm stops playing and decides to spend an hour reading her own books sitting on the couch next to me, while I work my long way into Dombey & Son.
And it is divine: having a book to read, a quiet baby next to me and time off work so early. Let's see what happens with a new baby...

― misshajim (strand), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 11:53 (nineteen years ago)

Ha Ha : I dropped my book in the bath and it went fat

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 1 February 2006 22:09 (nineteen years ago)

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