How Much Are You Reading?
by Jamelah Earle on Wednesday, February 21, 2007 08:35 pm
Living in the Information Age, as we apparently do, one thing that's easy is finding things to read. We often think of reading in a traditional way -- sitting down with a book and turning pages -- but there's so much more than that. Even before the time when we pretty much always had a web browser open, there were plenty of things available for reading, from the backs of cereal boxes to the graffiti on bathroom walls.
Do you read one book at a time, or do you typically keep 5 going at once? Do you sometimes not have time for books because you have to keep up with 50 different blogs? Are you reading lots of e-mail? (And are you like me? Do you actually read spam?) Do you curl up in a chair to read the newspaper or do you get your newsreading done online? Do you idly flip through at least one magazine a day? How many times have you read the back of your tube of toothpaste while you're getting ready for work in the morning?
On an average day, how much time do you think you spend reading? What are some of your favorite publications and daily reads? Do you think it's better to concentrate on one thing at a time or do you like to keep it mixed up? Why? Whether it's in print or digital, literary or not so literary, how much are you reading?
Do you read one book at a time, or do you typically keep 5 going at once? Do you sometimes not have time for books because you have to keep up with 50 different blogs? Are you reading lots of e-mail? (And are you like me? Do you actually read spam?) Do you curl up in a chair to read the newspaper or do you get your newsreading done online? Do you idly flip through at least one magazine a day? How many times have you read the back of your tube of toothpaste while you're getting ready for work in the morning?
On an average day, how much time do you think you spend reading? What are some of your favorite publications and daily reads? Do you think it's better to concentrate on one thing at a time or do you like to keep it mixed up? Why? Whether it's in print or digital, literary or not so literary, how much are you reading?
11 reponses to "How Much Are You Reading?"
readtimeI find myself spending a great deal of time on the internet... all for various reasons, but all require reading. There's so much to digest while perusing this machine that I find I have very little time to spend with a book anymore, and I do have some books lying about that I hope I can read someday. Add to that I enjoy reading magazines. I'm particular enough not read just any magazine, of course, but the one's that attract my interest do so because I find them fun to read on several levels - the immediacy of the stories/articles (not waiting months like one would do with a book), the photography (some very artistic shots, imho), and even some ads I find entertaining, much more so than, say, many t.v. ads.So between the cyber-media and the periodical, my readtime is stretched about as far as I can go, unless I move to the proverbial deserted island with a library of unread books. (Wasn't there a Twilight Zone episode that dealt with a fellow like that..?).Thanx for the read, Jamelah! ;-)
1 Novel at a TimeI read one novel at a time. I am doing research for a project and am in several books but I can only keep things straight in one lengthy novel at a time. I can't read more than three short stories in a morning or an evening.I skim headlines on Yahoo! and salon.com.I estimate that I read about 300 pages a week. That would be about 6 hours, depending on the material. I am not into anything heavy.
ReadingI find myself reading most of my news online. I juggle between school reading and pleasure reading; usually 3-5 books at a time. Also, we have a ton of tear-off calenders, poems, articles, and little things to read lying around. I read a ton of email as well. Pretty much anything there is to read, I read.
Not a damn thingunless reading your IMs count and then I totally have a PhD.
I think I'll just read this...I have to have something to read and I'm betting that everyone in the world but me knew that Jimmy Buffet was also a #1 bestselling author. Well, I found out a week ago while hunting a new book to read and brought home his latest, "A Salty Piece of Land" so that's the novel I'm reading now, yep only the one at a time. I don't want to hurt my head.I've subscribed to Time Magazine for so long I can tell what day of the week it is by when the mag came and how much of it I've read. Now it's time to renew and I'm thinking maybe I don't need it anymore. Read the news online, watch the news on TV. How much news does one person really need, anyway? I think I have enough.And there are all those interesting bits and pieces one can find out in webland to stay busy. That's OK for short bits. For long bits, I want something I can hold in my hand.And that's about it. I read. I have to read. Something. My brain gets tired when not in use.
locked and unlockedI have two reading modes -- "locked" and "unlocked". "Locked" happens when I find a great book that captivates me, in which case I read it morning, day and night, during lunch hour, during slow red lights in my car, etc. etc. until I'm done. This happens maybe once a month or so -- the latest example was this one. During "unlocked" mode, on the other hand, I usually sample five to ten books at a time. I've always got one in my car for lunch hour at work, there'll be another two near the bed, another two near the computer ... maybe I'll finish some of these books, maybe I won't. Maybe I'll even review some of these books on LitKicks, or maybe I won't. Unlocked mode is definitely not as invigorating as locked mode.And what about you, Jamelah?
the net's the thingI look for reading material on the internet. I think of it as an online writing community, a network of friends where we can read, share, and promote each other's works. And I am convinced that the greatest of all writing can be found here. For example, recently I came across this http://horrorworld.org/distancetravelled.htm and this http://www.thegreensilkjournal.citymax.com/page/page/4250123.htm. Also, many Litkicks members have sites where one can access their writing.
Well, I used to be a lot more voracious book-wise than I am these days; I tend to read things printed on paper and bound into book form rather slowly and only one at a time. Unless something really grabs me, then I read quickly and obsessively.But other than that, I read pretty much all day every day, during the week at least. I keep track of a lot of different news sources and blogs in Bloglines and check in there a few times a day to see who's updated what. I read a lot of blogs. A couple of food blogs, some pop culture blogs, a music blog or two. Mostly personal blogs by people I know and/or people whose writing I admire.
A Time to Read, a time to...It's amazing how much free time you can squeeze out of your day when you put your mind to it. I don't have a car, so I take the metro and the train (sometimes a bus is involved) to work. I read on the metro. The metro is my reading room, which I share with hundreds of other folks. Most days I have a 30 to 45 minute ride to my client, with the same amount of time on the flip trip. This gives me a lot of reading time per day. Plus, I sometimes have gaps between the ending of one class and the beginning of the next. In these cases I seek out a cafe, or a park in nice weather, and read. On the metro, I concentrate on one book (novel, history, book of poetry, whatever) at a time. It is difficult for me to have more than one book going at a time. However, I read the newspaper each morning, as well as a magazine or two per month. Then there is of course the required reading of litkicks and any links that it may provide, plus spontaneous web research. And about every week or so I get out my volume of the Collected Works of Edgar Allen Poe, and I try to read one story or at least one poem. I am almost finished with this, by the way. Once in a while I will do a "clean up read". I think that this is fairly neurotic -- I take whatever stack of deferred reading that has been piling up and just read it all until it's finished. I think it may be a guilt thing, but I feel better once I have done it. My two greatest pleasures in reading are this: 1) I get so involved in a book that I get off the metro and just sit on the bench on the side and continue reading, up until the last minute before I have to get to my class, or actually read while I'm walking along. 2) I start reading something on the train but sort of nod off and dream about it while the train rolls along. This is sort of the opposite of number 1. A good example of number one for me is Firmin, a book that was highly touted on litkicks, and rightly so. I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen with that little rat. A good example of number 2 is any of the Greeks -- Plato for example. I read. I drift off. I dream. It's timeless.
readingOne of the few things I can do well is read. Now, understanding, thats another....I`ve read books, and book. I`m convinced that reading one book at a time is the best way for me.On an average I spend 8 hours a day reading and writing. Sometimes it takes 8 just to get started.I like reading, laying down.On the net I`ll mix it up btwn reading and writing...50 blogs?!
Reading in GeneralI am generally reading about 7 books at a time in a month,(meaning one pleasure book and about 6 books I need for studying or general information) but in a day, I can only read one from one book at a time. And I read my books on a bed. I get my news from online newspapers these days such as Gaurdian UK, so I read that. And still like to read a few literature-related blogs. I do read emails, although those are usually forwards of pictures of cute animals or something, from family members. And I read other's journals, the ones that are associated with mine. So I'm guessing I'm reading time-wise about 2 hours a day.