When do you read? How do you read? How much do you read?

[darkemeralds]

I'm at a crossroads. No, not the demon-summoning kind. I have almost completely lost the ability to sit and read, but I want to read.

For a few years it was just books, while I was still readily able to enjoy masses of fic, and ebooks, on a portable device. Regardless of format/medium, I still loved losing myself in a story.

Now it's everything. I can't seem to sit and read anymore.

The internet is largely to blame: I recognize its adverse impact on my attention span, and that impact seems to be extreme in my case. I also acknowledge that in swapping an hour's daily commute by bus for the same commute by bike, I've exchanged one of my best reading moments for an exercise moment.

But it's not just about time. I have more time, because I've cut television hours down to two or three a week; my day to day life is pretty orderly, and frankly I pay people to do the time-consuming stuff I don't like; I need the same amount of sleep I've always needed; and my social life has taken no extraordinary leaps.

So

• Do you read books? In what formats?
• How would you describe your relationship to reading?
• How much do you read--hours per week, books per month, however you measure it?
• When? Under what circumstances?
• Is there something you specifically don't do to make time for reading?
• Have you noticed a decline in attention--in the ability to sit and read? And if so, how do you deal with it?

I'd really like to know.

Comments

[executrix]

I still read mad bookz! I don't have any dedicated electronic reading devices, although if I have to I'll read on the computer screen. (I won't, f'rex, print out fics just to avoid reading on screen).

I have to read and write all the time for work, but I buy a lot of books, take a lot home from Book Sale, *go* to other people's book sales, and check a lot of books out of the library.

Since I work at home, it would be impractical to read while commuting (I'd trip over the living room ottoman...). I shudder to quantify how much though.

Also, one of the main reasons I do the exercise bike at the gym for cardio is that it's much easier to read on an exercise bike than on a treadmill, elliptical, or rowing machine. (It would be a trip trying to read while swimming...)

In my earlier years of fandom, I didn't read very much because I pretty much spent every available waking moment writing fics. Now that I'm writing less, and reading less fic, reading expands to fill the time involved.

I suspect that building back up after a decline in attention span is a lot like building back up to exercise after an injury. You'll be in a huge mess if you force yourself back to the previous level rather than saying, OK! I used to be able to run three miles, and now I can only run half a mile. That's half a mile TODAY, .6 miles with lots of warm-up for my next run, then .7 miles...

[darkemeralds]

Thanks for the detailed reply. It's very helpful, and I was thinking of you as being among the readingest of my friends.

I like the analogy with exercise, and I think some sort of plan of reading development would make a lot of sense: a quarter of an hour today, 20 minutes tomorrow...

Also, I love the choice of gym machine based on whether you can read on it. Sadly, since I already work those muscles to the exclusion of all others, it would be overkill to ride an exercise bike at the gym. Hm.

Clearly, audiobooks are gonna be my best friend when I (inevitably) take up going to the gym again--as they are on my bike. I do consume a bit of written material by that means, and it's the only thing that has kept me even marginally in touch with what's out there.

I have a good novel, in hardcover, right now. I'll use it as my testing ground, and give myself a timeline for finishing it. Hee! It's like being a recalcitrant second-grader with a book report (except that when I was in second grade, you couldn't pry me away from my books).

Thanks!

[darkemeralds]

And speaking of books, I've been meaning to tell you that the Butler's Guide book arrived a couple of weeks ago and I've been implementing many of his methods, especially with regard to leather care and silver polishing. And now that I'm planning another trip at last, I'm eager to try his folding and packing tips.

It's a wonderful book!

[executrix]

It's like...a Baedecker to The Past Is Another Country!

[darkemeralds]

It is! And there are a lot of good things you can still get at that duty-free shop.