The Roanoke Times made the following statement:
“I divide all readers into two classes–those who read to remember and those who read to forget.” –E.M. Forster
I’m a little bit of both. I often read for knowledge, but the majority of the time I read to escape.
What kind of reader are you?
There are other reading questions. Some people never read a novel or even a non-fiction book. All their reading is newspapers and magazines. Others can’t put a good mystery down. So the second question should be, are you a reader of fiction or non-fiction? Additionally, many people have gone electronic. Do you prefer to hold that book in your hand or have you gone the way of the e-reader? If so, which one?
Some people multitask. Do you do other things while reading like listen to music or watch TV or are you one of those people who must have it quiet for concentration? Do you slip a book in your pocket and read on your lunch break or do you read at night to relax?
Please take a moment to share your reading habits as well as any wonderful books that you just couldn’t put down.
This thread has my name on it! I read anything I get my hands on…it is just a habit and I feel lost if I have nothing to read. I read newspapers and magazines for knowledge…books for escape, but I certainly have learned a lot about the human condition through fiction.
I love to hold a book and buy books, but I recently bought a Kindle and I’ve read more novels in the last 2 months than I did all of last year. Some recent reads I would recommend are: Drowning Ruth…just finished that Sunday and read it in one day…really good! I also recently read “Room” which was rather depressing at times, but I’m glad I read it. It’s told from the perspective of a small child raised by his kidnapped mother in a tiny room until the mother hatches a plan of escape for the child and the child is able to save his mother by telling police how many times the truck he escaped from turned. Lastly, I very much enjoyed the new bio on J.D. Salinger…even though I felt pretty low for reading it! I loved J.D. Salinger’s work and I am awaiting the day that some of his unpublished work might possibly be released. As a Salinger fan, I know perfectly well that he would have hated that book and it escaped him as to why anyone would care about his personal life. It was very interesting…I did not know that he had fought on the front lines in WWII…even at Normandy.
I’ve been catching up on my Civil War history in preporation for the Sesqui this summer. Mine is totally informational reading.
Book 5, Harry Potter (Snape is listening to Narcissa plead for her son, Draco, to be spared from his duty to the Dark Lord).
The Book of Samuel (Tues Bible study – 90+ year old Eli just fell back on his chair and broke his neck upon word that his sons were killed in battle and the Ark of the Covenant captured. Stay tuned).
And reveling in three local magazines – Prince William Living, PW Business and Piedmont Business Journal – hope they continue to flourish.
When I was young, a teenager, I was viracious reader, all historical romance, it was my escape, sometimes two books in a weekend.
Now I hardly ever read for joy, now its just informational. Kinda sad really.
@Elena, I found myself right where you are now. Yes, it is sad. I found myself just not starting to read because I read and wouldn’t come up for air. Everything went to hell around me because I was too deeply in my book.
I got so in to the book Jaws, when it was first out, that I took it to work, snuck it in my desk and ‘sneak read.’
Elena, it is very difficult to read when you have young children. I recall that’s the first thing I missed when I had my babies. Though I loved them dearly, I could never find time to read the way I used to. When they were sleeping, I had to sleep.
LOTS of questions, MH!
What kind of reader am I? Slow. But I still love to read.
I read my news online. I read poetry and ezines online. I read some philosophy and educational material online. I read blogs (duh). I read email all day. I read headlines that pop into my Yahoo mail. I read my newspapers online. I rarely listen to podcasts or watch videos. Not my thing.
When I want to read for entertainment, I read a real book. I can’t get into Kindle or ebooks, though now, those tend to sell as quickly as wildfire spreads. My eyes won’t stand for it, and neither will my concentration. I have to read on the computer so much that when I want to get into a novel, I want a physical book and as much silence as I can get.
I am SO into Margaret Atwood at the moment. Read The Handmaid’s Tale years ago. Just finished Oryx and Crake. Before that it was The Year of the Flood. Now it’s Alias Grace. Lady Oracle is up next.
I go on author binges. Last time, it was Agatha Christie. I must have read more than 20 books by good old Agatha.
I read both da Vinci Code books as well as a couple of copycat novels that I don’t recall. I figure if I can’t remember the books, they were probably okay at the time but not work reviewing.
For a long time, I was a complete Henry James fan. I read a gazillion of his works. Jane Austin and the Bronte sisters were also favorites. Then I discovered Ursula K. le Guin.
Henry David Thoreau is and has been my hero. I read him off and on. I can’t sit and read an entire book by him, though. He take a lot of time and meditation. I have an edited collection of his journal entries which I can read one entry at a time.
As a teen, of course, I loved romances. Before that, it was Judy Blume.
Peanuts, Garfield, Calvin and Hobbes and Far Side are still favorites with me and everyone else in the house.
MH Jaws? LOL! What a riot. You have this thing for beasts, don’t you?
Science Fiction! I found a pocket book called the 100 Must-Read Science Fiction Novels and am reading through them now. I have about 50 to go. At this moment I’m reading “Earth Abides” by George R. Stewart. It is horrible and beautiful. Among my favorite books, not all on the top 100 list, are “Speaker for the Dead” by Orson Scott Card, “Ring World” by Larry Niven, “Red Mars” by Kim Stanley Robinson, “Heroes and Villains” by Angela Carter, “A Canticle for Leibowitz” by Walter M. Miller, Jr., “Hyperion” by Dan Simmons, “Passage” by Connie Willis, “Non-Stop” by Brian Aldis, “The Awakeners” by Sherri S. Tepper, everything by Ursula K. Le Guin, all the Foundation books by Isaac Asimov. I like Margaret Atwood, too.
I like physical books. My small apartment is crammed with them. Mostly paperbacks. Science Fiction books tend to have gorgeous cover illustrations. But I got my girlfriend a Kindle for Valentines Day and she loves it. She’s reading “The Girl Who Played with Fire” on it.
@Posting as Pinko
If you haven’t read Sherri S. Tepper, you should try one. She’s up there with Ursula K. Le Guin.
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2057760.00.html
“A leaf, a rock, an unfound door” …and a Nook?
@BoyThreeOne
Adding to my reading list!!
@BoyThreeOne
“Speaker for the Dead” by Orson Scott Card
Very interesting story with metaphors, which is why I love well written sci-fi. Hubby and I listened to it on audio book.
I forgot to add my Dean Koonz period.
Bill Bryson. Have enjoyed A Sunburned Country three times
in the last decade and plan to travel to Australia if I can
find a spot between floods and large fires – and as for
a side trip to New Zealand – need to let those poor blokes rebuild.
Also Garrison Keillor – (he is often spot on about small town government).
And – Return to Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle of Second Manassas
by John Hennessey is a fine book. FYI – the author will be at the Manassas
Museum the afternoon of March 27th.
Pinko and any other local writers out there, I just found out that individual writers can now join the Prince William County Arts Council!
Contact Kathy Bentz, the Arts Liaison to the Park Authority at 703-856-3402 or email [email protected] for an application. $50/year.
Ask Kathy if you can sign and sell your books at Arts Alive 2011, April 30, 11 am – 4 pm at Connaughton Plaza.
http://www.pwcgov.org/docLibrary/PDF/13775.pdf
Been reading since I was four and haven’t paused – mostly fiction. Now that kids are grown I read 3-4 books a week. Anything by Ken Follett, Mo Hayder (almost better than Eliz George), Joy Fielding, Greg Iles, Ruth Downie, Steve Berry…….. Just discovered G.M. Maillet and Paul Gaus. Debra Crombie and Charles Todd have some great series out there. Edwin Rutherfurd is the Michner of Europe. Just read my first and definitely not last Lee Childs book. Geradline Brooks, Carol Goodman Elizabeth Brundage and Joyce Carol Oates. For local flavor, Ellen Crosbie’s books are well written.
ANY WWI novel. I’m fascinated with that period, Roman Empire to the fall and Russian History through the 1918. I thoroughly enjoyed Fall of Giants, Folletts tedious 1,000 pager about WWI. I had maps all over the couch and table while I read the book. Read every Taylor Caldwell novel when I was younger my Aunt lived near her in Buffalo and bought me all her books once she thought I’d read enough Nancy Drew, Rosmary duJardin and other ‘teen’ books.
I read during most sports on TV, baseball and hockey are favorites – maybe because of the length of the seasons??!!! Reading my first book on Kindle it’s okay – I think I’ll like it. Just discovered I can look at the cover of the book on the Kindle.
Am interested in any book recommendation – my idea of a book club is exchanging titles/authors. I absolutely read to escape and I don’t think reading to escape and reading for knowledge are mutually exclusive!!
And if ANYONE suggests eliminating funding for libraries I’ll……….don’t know what but I’ll do something.
Just finished Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse it was great and I forgot about Doris Mortimer….. haven’t gone back to Anne Perry since I found out she murdered her friends mother (!!!!), but I will….
Juturna,
My in-laws get all their books from the Library here in Haymarket, they would agree with you!
I was wrong – it’s only $25 to be a writer member of the county Arts Council!
What is Winter Ghosts about?
Kate Mosse writes primarily about the Cathar religion active in the 12/13th century. They were considered Heretics by the Catholic Church and therefore wiped out.
The book is about an Englishman who lost his brother in WWI – he is mourning not only his brother but the entire generation of Englishmen who died in WWI. He is traveling in the Langueadoc region/Pyrenees in southern France when his car breaks down. He finds a small village and there he finds solace with a woman (Fabrissa – great name!) who is also mourning a lost generation.
Great read, and if you’re interested in more on the Cathars who were really interesting they beleived in reincarnation, they were vegatarians, had not objections to suicide and thought men and women were equals…… here’s a link. http://www.cathar.info/
I could never get my kids to understand why Madeleine L’Engle’s “A Wrinkle In Time” was such a wonderful book. My youngest is 16, and I still can’t get enough of “The Giving Tree” and “A Child’s Garden of Verses” by Robert Louis Stevenson.
I listen to Garrison Keillor’s “Writer’s Almanac” at 6:34 am every morning on the way to work, and often read from a featured author whose birthday happens to be that day.
I don’t have a defined taste in reading–I love Jane Austen, Shakespeare, Steinbeck, Dickens, Dickenson. But I also like the Stieg Larsson “Millenium” novels, read a lot of the earlier James Patterson books (Alex Cross novels), and just finished “An American Wife.” For awhile I was reading Dean Koontz until they started seeming just gratuitously sadistic. If it looks good, I’ll read it. If I’m in a nail salon, it’s People and Us all the way.
And I love, love, love my Kindle, because I can have several books going at the same time and flip around, and most of the classics I love are freebies. And I’ve got a nice case for it that feels more like holding an actual book.
@emma, didn’t you say you also have an ipad? I seem to remember the angry bird addiction. Which do you prefer to read on?
I just started putting books from audible.com on my kindle. I am not quite used to being read to ….yet. It isn’t as easy for me to concentrate listening as it is reading. I guess it has to do with passive vs. non-passive. Does this mean I am ADHD?
I love, love to read and am a fan of the Kellerman’s, Joy Feilding, Phillipa Gregory, etc. I am so excited that the final installment of Clan of the Cave Bear will be out 3/29 as I’ve been reading that set of books over the past 20 years. Lately I’ve been into historical fiction and non-fiction about the Tudors. Finished The Six Wives of Henry the VIII. Now I’m reading The Tudors by GJ Meyer wich is so chock full of info that I have to read slowly. I also am a voracious reader of newspapers in paper form, and love a good anthology of poetry or short stories by Maupassant or Poe. I guess you could describe my reading as ecclectic in nature. And A Doll’s House or Antigone…love them!
Oh and I also have a set of volumes called Modern Eloquence published in 1900 which is full of lectures and after dinner speeches by many famous people which are a hoot to read with a twenty-first century perspective.
Reading Joy Fieldings new book _ Now You See Her. It’s good.
I bought the iPad for my husband, play Angry Birds when I can get my hands on it, otherwise I play it on my iPhone. I think the Kindle is easier on the eyes, and the battery lasts forever.@Moon-howler
The Kindle is easier on the eyes for sure if there is adequate light. I have Kindle 2 so there is no built in lamp. Therefore I often read on the computer or the ipad (kindle) if it is night.
I haven’t tried the ibooks because they are more expensive. Not sure how audibles works on the ipad. Kindle is more portable.
I got one that bored me and took it from the repository and put it on ipod for Mr. Howler who hasn’t listened yet.
I didn’t know about audible.com. Is the volume of the Kindle adequate that I can listen in my car?
@Emma yes if windows are rolled up. You can store also put the audiobooks on other appliances like ipods. I still can’t remember about ipad. I am fairly positive about iphone.
No one has weighed in on the color nook? Anyone have one?
@Cindy B
Already applied thanks you your info, Cindy! 🙂
@BoyThreeOne
Ordered two (used) books that looked appealing! I always like to have a small queue of books waiting for me to slowly complete the others.
Highly recommend Atwood’s “Alias Grace.” She does an extraordinary job historically interpreting Grace’s conviction, bringing Grace to life through fiction. Atwood’s addition of poetry is also a plus, at least for me.