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  • Reading habits

    Since we're all readers, would you mind taking a minute and sharing some information such as:

    - Where/when do you read?
    - Do you prefer silence or some controlled chaos around you? TV/music in the background?
    - How much do you read at a time?
    - Do you ever read a series or chapters out of order?
    - Do you skip to the end? (As Harry says in the movie When Harry Met Sally, "When I buy a new book, I always read the last page first, that way in case I die before I finish, I know how it ends.")
    - Do you prefer paperback or hard cover? What's your feeling on e-books?

    Etc.

    -----

    I read in bed for about 20 minutes before I go to sleep. Although, I've been known to lay down on the couch for a couple hours and do a lot of reading if I'm in the middle of something extremely interesting, such as YW or The Last Apprentice series. I used to do the same 12+ years ago on Saturdays when I would go with my dad to the music shop and read The Magic Treehouse books. In either case, the quieter the better. My high school library has a couple nice armchairs in a quiet side room containing the fiction and children's books and I used to read in there if I had no work to do during my free block.

    Books, along with Nintendos, are my favorite way to get through long car journeys. I don't get carsick.

    Whenver I take a hiatus from reading for whatever reason (usually school), I find that I fall asleep faster and have a better sleep in general when I read before I sleep.

    I'm a slow reader; I read silently at the same rate that I would imagine the text being spoken out loud. I consider myself lucky that I have this tendency, so reading out loud goes well for me.

    I read YW and other books at my dad's and the Bible at my mom's. I pretty much split my time evenly between houses. This problem with this is that I go nowhere fast with either book I'm reading; it takes me weeks to finish a YW book, and I've barely made a dent in the Bible and it's been a little over a year (I guess because the Old Testament isn't particularly exciting; I only read a few pages at a time).

    As far as paperback or hardcover, I don't have a particular preference, but because I got SYWTBAW in paperback, I've kept the rest of my collection the same. I prefer the artwork on the paperback, anyway.

    I prefer good ol' ink and paper, but If I were to read anything on a screen, it would have to be the basic Kindle/Nook/whatever, with the electronic ink screen. I couldn't stand reading for long periods of time on a (backlit) LCD.

    I'm dead set against reading anything out of order. I hate spoilers and many works contain references to things in previous works that I'd miss out on.
    Last edited by EricG1793; July 2, 2013, 08:02:59 AM. Reason: [hr] does not work
    "...Some of growing up is the knitting together of our cognitive webs, and some things take time and experience to make sense...." - Taran

  • #2
    night...

    So I read at night, or on trains, or on planes, or in cars (when I'm the passenger, not the driver!), and in libraries and in bed and on couches and whenever and wherever I have time.

    Growing up, I read on playgrounds.

    Once I'm "in" a book, noise doesn't often bother me - thought before getting 'in' to it, I can be annoyed at interruptions... I prefer whatever leaves me alone to read, whether that means noise of others talking to each other (thus, not involving me) or no noise of being left alone...

    I sometimes will read a series out of order, and especially if I've read it before, I have sometimes also chosen chapters or sections to read, my favorite bits, from books which are old friends. In this respect he bible I don't count as one book - I mean; I haven't read all of it but still I will skip around, though I try to read each book within the bible in order when I do read them for the first time. But if I'm sitting in church and the preacher says "look at such and such a place in your bible..." of course I'll do that and then read around it for context...

    I generally do NOT skip to the end.

    I like paper, and hardbacks for longevity, but I like ebooks for portability and taking notes...

    If I had my wish, I'd be able to stop time while reading so I could read straight through a book that interests me without stopping. I can be self controlled enough to dole out books in bits when needed but I prefer all-nighters esp. when I have the next day off...

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    • #3
      - Where/when do you read?

      Here and there. On the train. In bed. On holiday. Wherever.

      - Do you prefer silence or some controlled chaos around you? TV/music in the background?

      Oh, silence. Maybe a little music, but nothing with words.

      - How much do you read at a time?

      A chapter or two, usually.

      - Do you ever read a series or chapters out of order?

      A series, sometimes. A book, hardly ever, and never on a first read.

      - Do you skip to the end?

      No, not if I can help it. Sometimes I can't help it, though...

      - Do you prefer paperback or hard cover? What's your feeling on e-books?

      Well, paperbacks fit in pockets so they're easier to take places and read on trains. Hardbacks do, however, have a special feel to them. I don't do e-books; I've yet to find a reader I could get on with, and there's something about paper that e-books lack.
      -- Rick.

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      • #4
        - Where/when do you read?
        I'll read anywhere, really, and it drives most of my friends mad. friends- "Bro, you're really just gonna sit there reading and not talk to us? you've got company". me- "Yes. yes i am. But not for long because i don't want you guys to feel neglected. Just one chapter, long enough for yall to miss me "

        - Do you prefer silence or some controlled chaos around you? TV/music in the background?
        honestly, depending on the book, it doesn't matter if my brother is screaming at the xbox while my sister plays french horn right beside me, or if i'm in my bedroom using my laptop as a reading light at 3 am, I just zone out and read. the noise or lack of doesn't bother me.

        - How much do you read at a time?
        Full books. i have to cut myself off with reading or i will literally spend all my spare time just reading that book. typical paperback novel will get finished in one day if i'm off. If i know i have work early in the morning, ill try to limit myself to half of the novel i started. still makes the next day a little hard though from being sleep deprived XD.

        - Do you ever read a series or chapters out of order?
        yes, and it's almost always accidently. go to BooksAMillion and find an amazing book, and it just so happens to be the third or fifth in that series -_____-. If it's a favorite of mine, ill just read my favorite chapter, or my favorite part, and fall in love with those characters again.

        - Do you skip to the end? (As Harry says in the movie When Harry Met Sally, "When I buy a new book, I always read the last page first, that way in case I die before I finish, I know how it ends.")
        Never, i might open the book when I'm first deciding if i want to get it or not and read a passage from the middle, but never the end. it just ends up confusing me more.

        - Do you prefer paperback or hard cover? What's your feeling on e-books?
        I love books, paperback and hardcover. e-books are ok, but also make me feel very uncomfortable. its a fear of mine that someday technology will take over, and though it may be inevitable, i feel like my clinging onto books keeps that fear at bay. plus, the turning of the pages and the way a book smells are something e-books just cant replace

        Now i feel like i need payday to hurry even faster so that i can maybe go get a new book :3 I have so many unfinished series lying around in my room, maybe this time i'll try to complete one instead of finding a new one (Confession: I still have not read the last YW book just because my library quit carrying them and that used to be my only source for reading material :O)

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        • #5
          - Where/when do you read?

          Everywhere, except in cars or other places that move that much. I get motion sickness. But otherwise, pretty much literally anywhere I could.

          - Do you prefer silence or some controlled chaos around you? TV/music in the background?

          I prefer silence, but I use reading as a method to not go (as) crazy from the noise. It helps me regulate myself despite the noise.

          - How much do you read at a time?

          Anywhere from a few pages to multiple books of a series. (I'm a um...fast...reader, but like I said, I read anywhere, so I'd be willing to read only a tiny bit at a time. I tend to have a book specifically for the small bits of time, but sometimes I don't actually follow through and swap to it.)

          - Do you ever read a series or chapters out of order?

          Rereading I'll reread a series out of order. I used to read series out of order rarely. Not anymore.

          - Do you skip to the end? (As Harry says in the movie When Harry Met Sally, "When I buy a new book, I always read the last page first, that way in case I die before I finish, I know how it ends.")

          Never.

          - Do you prefer paperback or hard cover? What's your feeling on e-books?

          Between paperback and hard cover I prefer hard cover. But that's not a real question to me, because I prefer e-books.

          I will actively choose an e-book over a paperbook even when given the option of having a paperbook free.

          I have severe sensory issues (and have taken the rare but known to occur sometimes path of getting "more severe" in adolescence including my sensory issues). At this point it literally is a question of whether I can handle paper without feeling like it my skin is being attacked. I use e-books to not have to deal with this. I can read as much as I want without a struggle from paper.
          We will remember you PM. And your little GingerBear.

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          • #6
            - Where/when do you read?

            I read anywhere and everywhere so long as I can peacefully. Bedroom, living room, home and at the library, while waiting at the DMV, in the bathroom. In the car/on a bus so long as the ride isn't giving me a headache.

            - Do you prefer silence or some controlled chaos around you? TV/music in the background?

            I prefer white noise in the background. Music, tv, something.

            - How much do you read at a time?

            Oh, if it's right before bed I will read half of a novel in one sitting, and then sleepily wonder why I'm up at 2am. Otherwise I usually do a few chapters before I'm interrupted by life.

            - Do you ever read a series or chapters out of order?

            I am always tempted. Sometimes if I have a bad feeling that a likeable character is going to die, I'll sneak ahead and skim to see if I can find their name in later chapters. I don't do that as much nowadays, but used to more when I was a teenager.

            - Do you skip to the end? (As Harry says in the movie When Harry Met Sally, "When I buy a new book, I always read the last page first, that way in case I die before I finish, I know how it ends.")

            Nononononoooooo, I actively avoid the last page.


            - Do you prefer paperback or hard cover? What's your feeling on e-books?

            I prefer hardcover, paperback I feel like whichever way I open it, however carefully, I'm hurting the book and making white lines on the spine. I don't like e-books as much; regular books I can read until I fall asleep, but with e-books the glow of the computer leaves me drained from tech overload and far too awake due to the stimulation from the bright light. Plus I like the feel and smell of an actual book in my hands!

            - Etc.

            I've had a difficult time in the transition from "teen" to "adult" books. I feel like adult books don't have nearly as much of the passion and creativity as some of the teen books I have read, even some of the children's books (think "A Wrinkle in Time"!). I do LOVE Dean Koontz books, and 1984 is a favorite of mine.
            ^(^.^)^

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            • #7
              ^ Aaaah, yes, thank you for the phrase "white noise." When I read/sleep, I have either the air conditioner or a fan on (even in the dead of winter). It helps drown out thunderstorms, rain, other beings in the house, the TV... and my own breathing and the sound of my heart in my ears. Those freak me out.

              Although, my grandfather's living room is enjoyable to read in. It's basically in its own part of the house. The front door opens to the foyer/stairway, and the living room takes up an entire side of the house with its single door to the left of the stairs. To the right of the stairs is the dining room, and down the hallway are the bathroom and the door to the kitchen, with the den (and TV) beyond the kitchen. Therefore, very little if any noise makes its way to the living room, and it's a quiet neighborhood, so the living room is often dead silent. Its antique decor and shag carpeting make it even cozier, and the cushy armchair is the icing on the cake.
              "...Some of growing up is the knitting together of our cognitive webs, and some things take time and experience to make sense...." - Taran

              Comment


              • #8
                Where/when do you read?: Most anywhere. I don't get carsick except on really, really, really twisty and rolling drives like up in the mountains, so a lot of my time reading was spent in a car as a passenger while my mom did errands. I realized when I started driving. (I have my license now). But I would read on the couch, on my bed, while walking, at friends' houses (if I was stuck in a book), anywhere I could carry the book and have time to concentrate while waiting for something to happen. I used to read before going to sleep. (It did not help me sleep, but.)

                I prefer people chatter. For this reason, when I do my homework, I am usually in the living room. When I read, I usually begin in a public space and move to a private one. If I Absolute silence can make it harder to work or read (it seems so beautiful an idea when I think about it, but the moment I sit down in absolute silence I get uncomfortable). Once I'm engrossed, which can take anywhere between half a minute to five minutes depending on the time of day, I am naturally concentrating so hard that I ignore distractions really easily. Which means: I hear people say things, and I know they are speaking English, and sometimes I can approximate the last couple of syllables somebody said. Meaning, however? All gone. Sometimes I have to get somebody to repeat themselves three times before I am in this world enough to hear and understand.

                How much do I read at a time? Great chunks, if I can. I prefer reading books straight through, or in two parts: beginning-->middle and middle-->end, no matter their size. I read very fast. I timed myself a couple of times. It's roughly 1 hour = 100 pages. So the last Harry Potter books took five to six hours apiece on a first reading, kids' early chapter books take fifteen minutes to half an hour, and most YA takes two to three hours. One volume of manga takes half an hour to forty-five minutes. Most people find this hard to believe, but I'm not in their heads, and I do not understand what it would feel like to be forced to read any more slowly. In Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next books, there's this concept of a "super-reader" whose speed and attention for detail and nuance is so great, bringing the book so richly to life, that too many super-readers can literally mine the meaning out of a book, leaving flat, boring, unimaginative story and prose. I recognized myself in that idea, a little... Certainly re-readings are not like the first reading: with some stories, new details and depths are discovered, and with other stories, the bones begin showing, unfortunately.

                I try really hard not to read series out of order. Chapters, however... When I read Harry Potter, the endings and certain scenes were too scary to read until I reached the end, and then I reread them. These days nothing scares me quite like that anymore, so I usually read in order unless things are getting boring, but I know a good part's ahead.

                Do you skip to the end?: Yeah, sometimes, usually out of curiosity (is it going to be a vague or a dramatic ending?). But even if I do, it's never quite like I expect. Context makes a big difference.

                I prefer hardcover, particularly for my collections. There are some series, though, for which this is simply not practical. If I get one book in a series in a certain medium, I try to collect the whole thing in that medium. E-books are great, but I prefer getting the very best of the best for my collections as a solid thing in my hands...
                Last edited by dorotheia; August 12, 2013, 10:20:09 PM. Reason: Adding detail, wording

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                • #9
                  Eep. I've been scolding forum users for years when they resurrect am old topic, and here I am posting to a thread that hasn't seen attention in almost a year. Sorry about that. But I must start somewhere and this seemed as good a place as any to start.

                  I will read just about anywhere. On the couch, at the kitchen table, in the lunchroom at work, in the restroom, on a plane, but not when driving. That's more dangerous than I'm willing to risk. I've been this way for a long time, too. Perhaps it comes from having a teacher for a mother, bit I like to think I developed the love of reading on my own. That said, I'm often busy enough writing my own novels and short stories that I don't always finish a book as quickly as I once did. I do set soft goals of one book every one to two weeks, so I may target 50 to 100 pages per day. Usually that's an hour of reading, but that depends also on such variables as page and font size. (And if my dog is chewing on my hand...)

                  The room must be silent. Background noise will be a terrible distraction. This is true for the rest of my life as well--I rarely listen to music in the car and never play music at home! And I am forever grateful that my dog does not bark. (Like, ever. Only if he thinks he's being abandoned, or if very frustrated with another dog, will he make a sound.)

                  Will I read a series or chapter out of order? Not unless it's the Bible or if the books work as standalones, such as Narnia. But for individual books, I will occasionally skip to the end, especially if I'm growing frustrated with how the book is going and I must decide whether or not it's worth the time to finish. Usually though, if I start a book, I finish out eventually.

                  As far as format, I'm okay with both hardcover and paperback and have no real preference for either. It must be a physical book though. I need to turn the page, feel the paper, smell the pages. I'm still an eBook skeptic, although I do finally have an ereader. It simply isn't the same and it feels like cheating. (We talked about ebooks and the good and bad as well as the market in a podcast recording last night, so it's still fresh on my mind.)
                  Last edited by LeviWolstrom; July 25, 2014, 04:12:12 PM.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by LeviWolstrom View Post
                    It must be a physical book though. I need to turn the page, feel the paper, smell the pages.
                    Oh, I know that feeling. However, I can also see more and more books I might like to read turning up only in eBook format, so one of these days I'll have to do something about that. I've yet to see a usable eBook reader I can shove in my coat pocket for reading on the train, though.

                    ...and welcome to this (rather less buzzing than it used to be) forum.
                    -- Rick.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by LeviWolstrom View Post
                      As far as format, I'm okay with both hardcover and paperback and have no real preference for either. It must be a physical book though. I need to turn the page, feel the paper, smell the pages. I'm still an eBook skeptic, although I do finally have an ereader. It simply isn't the same and it feels like cheating. (We talked about ebooks and the good and bad as well as the market in a podcast recording last night, so it's still fresh on my mind.)
                      You know, I am quite sure I never personally replied to this thread, thus never brought my own two-cents into the conversation back when it was first posted. But with you (as you say) 'resurrecting' the thread, I figured I would touch on this a little bit.

                      Personally, it does not matter to me which format I read the book in; hardback, paperback, eBook, computer screen, trade paperback, it does not matter. At the end of the day, as long as I got a good story out of it, I don't care how I devoured the story.

                      However, with that in mind, I do follow a strange, yet somewhat predictable pattern, in how I choose to purchase and read said stories.

                      For example, I know you are not suppose to, but I am a huge judge of covers. Being a graphic designer like I am, the cover is the first thing people see when looking at books, and thus they should be quite noticeable, eye catching, remember-able. This is the main reason why I have so many books as it is right now. I''m constantly browsing through the book stores, looking at the books and picking up things I may not have read or tried based only on the cover alone. Most of my purchases tend to be paperback because those are easier to find, cheaper, and just easier to handle and manage.

                      But, if I come across a book series that I enjoy, one that I love, or one that I personally would like to hold onto for some time (as I say to myself, a book or series that I would like to be able to hand to my future children and say "read this"), then I pick up the book(s) in hardback. There are also some new books I pick up that are also in hardback that I have not read yet, just because those are the only format they are available in at this current time. It really depends back on the top point I made about the cover. Such as a book series that I have been reading recently called The School for Good and Evil by Soman Chainan. I first noticed the first book in the series based on the cover. While it was kind of childish / girly at first, I figured it would be a good read to just past the time. After finishing the book, I actually enjoyed it, and noticed that the second book as well as the paperback for the first book were going to be released soon, so I went ahead and per-ordered the second book, keeping the first one on my shelves for future possible rereads later on.

                      As for eBooks, those are a special case for me. I originally picked up my iPad to be a new format for reading. I thought that with something like this, I would purchase less actual books which take up a large amount of space, as well as possible save some money in the long run with things being slightly cheaper. However, that has not been the case. I still purchase just as many hardback / paperback books as before, but now I also pick up eBooks of series that I cannot find in either of those formats, as well as pick up eBook copies of my most favorite series as well. The Young Wizard series by Diane Duane, as well as The Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordan are such examples of this. Truthfully, The Young Wizard Series I own in every format possible out there (beyond the New Millennium Edition series (I have not gotten a chance to pick those up yet)). But I digress.

                      Anyway, to try and rap up this post, while I do love the feel and textile nature of regular books, I also see the appeal and usefulness of owning an eReader for eBooks. If I am going on a long trip (which does happen quite a bit with my job), I need a way to carry my reading material that is easy and convenient, and eBooks do just that. But as long as I am able to come home to my books, then all is well. As long as I am getting a story out of it, and I end up enjoying it, it does not matter to me where it came from.

                      Anyway, thanks for reading. It's been a long time since I thought about what I do read and how I read them.

                      GibbyGibson
                      Last edited by Gibby Gibson; July 27, 2014, 09:06:58 AM. Reason: spelling
                      "Fairy tales do not tell children that dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children that dragons can be killed." ~G. K. Chesterton

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                      • #12

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                        • #13
                          Just wanted to add something to the discussion. What's your preferred form of eBook? Online, viewed through the computer (or whatever Web-enabled device)? Kindle (Paperwhite, Fire...?)? Nook? Cranny ? If there were an apocalypse and all the hard copies went away, I would choose something like the Paperwhite. I don't like reading large blocks of text on a backlit LCD... too much eye strain. In fact, for work, I would love to hack a Kindle to use as a computer monitor (it has been done)... perhaps something along those lines will be sold eventually.
                          "...Some of growing up is the knitting together of our cognitive webs, and some things take time and experience to make sense...." - Taran

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