Do you read?

Conti vert pros

Yes I read - but I only read novels in bed at night.

I can't sit on the sofa in the daytime and open a book - too much other stuff to do.

A text book would have me asleep in one paragraph! 🙂

Same as muffin. Horror novels before sleep

I also only read novels in bed, it really helps me sleep well

I used to read a lot until my 20's when other things came along, now I never read books as I just fall asleep within a couple of pages.

My sister sounds the same as you, OP. She can read & did English lit at A-level, but never reads for pleasure.

I, on the other hand, read loads. Before my daughter came along, I used to take at least 3 novels on beach holidays with me & would easily get through all of them by the time I got home.
I mainly read now last thing before trying to get to sleep. I've be recently re-reading all of the Discworld novels & have nearly completed that.
I recently bought a book called Concorde by Mike Bannister that slowed me up a bit, as there was a lot of factual stuff in it but the Jack Reacher I followed it up with didn't last long.

I read a lot, but these days I find it very hard to read fiction. I devoured it as a kid, teenager and into my 20s. Thereafter, I found it increasingly difficult to buy in to someone else's imagined world or set of events. The moment I see something I know to be wrong, based on my own experience or exaggerated or unrealistic, I switch off. I just can't engage with it. When I try to re-read stuff I enjoyed when I was younger, most of it is laughable garbage (Clive Cussler - I'm looking at you).

Some fiction still works for me. Cormac McCarthy, Hemmingway etc. and occasionally rereading Tolkien is still a guilty pleasure. But mostly I read factual stuff. History, current affairs, travel etc.

I'm probably just reading the wrong fiction and could do with expanding my horizons a bit, but almost every time I pick a novel up, I read the synopsis and think 'no, can't be arsed with that'.

I'm 47. I think I've probably read about 4 or 5 books completely. Well, apart from things like Room on the Broom at kids bedtime!!

The only ones I remember are Mr Nice and autobiographies by Anthony Keidis and Geordan Murphy. I read a couple of novel in my early 20's when I was travelling, but I just struggle to get into them.

Edit: Actually I've read a couple Bill Bryson books as well, so maybe 6 or 7 in total....

I'd rather read in the evening that watch telly, it's generally the way I wind down. I  listen to podcasts in bed to send me to sleep, I can't read in bed.

Yep - I read for about an hour a day during the week (30 minute train commute). I read, almost exclusively, factual accounts of the two world wars but I sometimes have a break and read novels – everything from John Steinbeck (my favourite author) through to trashy 'whodunnit' novels, biographies, some of the classics (such as Clockwork Orange and Catch 22) and comedy/leftfield books like The Dog in the Nightime.

Currently reading an account of the Bombing of Germany in WW2, then going to read Of Mice and Men, then I have the abridged version of Churchill's memoirs to read (which is still 1,000 pages long).

Scientific papers have a strong element of story-telling, or at least the best ones have, because publication is competitive. The text is not super important but the structure is critical. So if you enjoy reading papers it's possible you (OP) just haven't found the right books for you to read.

The way you describe reading sounds miserable for something casual, but might work better for something more challenging. You often need a methodical approach there.

I've always read loads since I was a kid.

I worked on North Sea support vessels, back in the 90's. Read loads then. We used to get a box of VHS tapes, I think it was about 20, to last us 4 weeks.

Used to read mainly fiction but now it's loads of military history.

I read quite quickly but my spelling has always been poor.

I’ve be recently re-reading all of the Discworld novels & have nearly completed that.

Discworld has become my background reading now, I've read them all so often now that I don't have to concentrate while reading them, useful if I just need something to distract my brain or am too frazzled to face any new thoughts! 😂

Similar to endlessly re-watching Simpsons episodes, familiar, easy, relaxing.

Otherwise yes I read, tend to keep the improving new stuff to morning commutes or holidays, but I sometimes wonder if 'recreational' reading is a minority pastime now, certainly seems so in my line of work...

Yes I read – but I only read novels in bed at night.

as I need to concetrate quite hard, I find reading keeps me awake, rather than sends me to sleep.

Watching TV at night however, that helps me drift off easily. I'd often use the TV, or when I was a kid, i'd program the ZX spectrum to randomly flash all 16 colours to help me sleep (or play aphex twin selected ambient works at low volume). But then, I now know about my ASD, so that's another story.

My wife bought me Gary Numans autobiography a while back too. I really want to start reading it as I'm pretty interested in his music, the journey, the neurodifference etc. I've read the first paragraph when I first got it and it's been sat at the side of the bed ever since.

The text is not super important but the structure is critical.

I think that may be the crux of it. maybe I just need to find a style I can predict, and there woud be less back and forth.

I used to read a lot; commuting by bus for an hour then living alone for a number of years; I'd often listen to music and read of an evening. I never used to own a TV. Now I'm married with a busy house, I seem to read less and at home it's only really in bed but only manage a couple of pages, if that, before falling asleep.

On [sailing especially] holidays though, I can quite happily devour a good number of books in a few weeks. The kindle is great for that.

I still have a wall sized bookcase though and a seemingly ever growing pile of "Waiting be read" books

I love reading, although these days with a young family the only time I really get to do it is on lunch breaks or just before bed when as with others it tends to send me to sleep.

I tend to alternate between fiction and non-fiction (which tends to be 20th century history or similar). Just got to the end of Lord of the Rings (which I haven't read for probably about 15 years by now) which I've been alternating with the Expanse novels which are absolutely great page turners where the chapters are just the right length to get through one or two before I fall asleep.

Sometimes.
I need to be in the right state of mind to concentrate on a book.
I read loads of books when on holiday but rarely at home.
But I take a magazine to the pub from time to time. It’s a little of bit of me time that I really enjoy.

Dont worry about it, you probably do plenty of other interesting srtuff, just reading doesnt really need to be part of it.

Book that did for me and I never want to read any more of the printed word was the life of William Morris(Exponent of the Arts and Crafts movement)

Mind numbing. 1000 pages of it. Took me near 2 years to read it and I only did because I felt I had to.

If I was marooned on a desert island, and that was the only book I had, I'd have burnt it by week 2.

Another yep here and another serial Discworld reader. Loved them as a kid and read them on loop as an alternative to the TV Mrs F watches in the evening. I do enjoy other fantasy/fiction but just find the Disc a comfortable place to be for an hour.

I don't tend to pick up non fiction, although I do like some history books.

Autobiographies can get in the sea though, I just don't care.

i hated books at at school, still remember english lessons, teacher choosing people to read. very few were eloquent, i hated speaking allowed.  fine with text books for education, but never read leisurely until i travelled alot in my 20s, books passed the time on beaches, on the road, evenings when not out and bedtime..

I've read ever since. 95% fiction, same authors

ps. if reviews are less than 4.1 on amazon i dont bother.

the missus can read 2 books in a day, she's of the opinion, dont waste your time on a book you cant bond with

Another yep here and another serial Discworld reader.

I liked reading before, but Terry Pratchett and Discworld is why I've loved it since I was about 10.

When i was commuting i read lots but now with them pesky motorway cameras and police its harder to hide.

According to my kindle I have read for 267 weeks in a row and 67 days consecutively....

Helps being retired but I'd much rather read than watch television.  I have read 41 titles this year apparently but some of them are cooking books.

Constantly. I like learning things from reading, so no fiction, or at least very rarely. I’ve just finished The Swimmer by Patrick Barkham, he came and gave a talk at our local literary festival. It’s a biography of Roger Deakin who lived fairly locally to me, but had never heard of him before the talk. It’s so beautifully written, I get wrapped up in books I enjoy, in fact I rode over to Mellis yesterday to ride up Cowpasture Lane, a medieval drover’s route, which Roger Deakin and friends saved from the farmer’s bulldozer.

I love reading, although these days with a young family the only time I really get to do it is on lunch breaks or just before bed when as with others it tends to send me to sleep.

I spent immense amounts of time with a sleeping child pinning me down, when they were small. What better time to read a book? 😀

[quote

Book that did for me and I never want to read any more of the printed word was the life of William Morris(Exponent of the Arts and Crafts movement)

Mind numbing. 1000 pages of it. Took me near 2 years to read it and I only did because I felt I had to.

Seriously, wtf would you do that? There are literally millions of books worth reading, whether for entertainment or education, or combined. Why put yourself through some sort of ordeal?

According to my kindle I have read for 267 weeks in a row and 67 days consecutively….

I'd imagine there'll be quite a few on here who can say the same as me - I have read for every week in a row since I was about 5 - for about 50 years - and 100s, if not 1000s of days consecutively. I always have a book to hand.

TLDR.

I'm reading far less since getting back into games during Covid, thanks to a PSA on here. But I also bore people by constantly whinging that I can't find anything new that is anything like as interesting as stuff I've collected and read over the last twenty years. Need to get into re-reading. Some people re-read a classic or favourite novel every couple of years and get more and more out of it. I'm not sure I get much out of re-reading. Ride all day then kill zombies for the win.

No.

I dont think ive read a single book since i had to at school. (now late 30s)
Ive read books to my kids, obviously, but snail and the whale doesnt count really.

Ive just found that i can borrow audiobooks from the library via an app, so we listned to the Hobbit while driving over the summer, and im nnow working my way through Dune, but tbh you get to borrow it for 14 days, and Dune is 21 hrs long, so even this is a big ask, im on my second "loan"

your description sounds exactly like me. I dont have the attention for it.

I do like whiskey though.

I love reading books. And rightly or wrongly, I think I subconsciously feel sorry for and look down on people who don’t.

But honestly, I feel quite certain (but with no scientific proof)  that people who read books are in a very small minority in the general population.

I abandon about 9 out of 10 books. Similar to the OP, reading can be a massive effort for me. The other 1 I really enjoy.

Same with audiobooks.

I used to read 3 books a week at work while I worked on a big red bridge outside Edinburgh. I used to read a fair bit at home then kids came. I can now tell you Gerald the giraffe off by heart and nearly there with Whinnie the Witch.

I've only given up on 2 books, catch 22, tried twice but just couldn't get into it and 50 shades of grey. I found it terribly written but perceived for about 2/3s feeling I had to give it a go.

Currently on Endless Forms by Seirian Sumner. The reality of wasps really is more fantastic than fiction.

I’ve never really got on well with picking a book up again after I’ve put it down.

seeing / doing / thinking about something else then coming back to a story just doesn’t work for me.

I take the same approach to tv drama. Don’t like waiting a week between episodes, don’t like waiting months or years between seasons. If I think something might be good I’m happy to wait 6-10 years until the final episode is out then start watching it. Even then I’ll buy it…. But might wait years again to actually watch it as need to feel I’ve got the time and appetite for it to get started.

I’m aged 49 and a 1/2 and never read a single reading book from start to finish. I’ve never picked up a story book past the age of 15

Ive read plenty of text books, manuals, read articles etc, but the thought of picking a book up to read for pleasure has never been there

I’m a voracious reader, I must have at least a couple of hundred books around the house, and over 600 ebooks in the Kindle and Books apps on my iPhone and iPad. Given any opportunity I’ll sit reading a book, whereas others around would be scrolling through endless pages of Fb, WhatsApp or other mind-numbing dross. I’m easy to buy presents for, just buy me a book.

I had the advantage of having parents who, despite not having much money, would buy me books, often children’s encyclopaedias, books on nature, prehistory and other things, and that developed my fascination with pretty much everything to do with science, engineering, history, palaeontology, archaeology, architecture…

I have a bit of a magpie mind in that sense. And now I’m retired, I can do a bit of catching up with my reading.

I find anything other than fiction dreadfully boring. Tend to go for literary fiction/hard sci-fi. I like the first halves of biographies too - before the hero disappears up their own ringpiece.

I read at night mostly although I used to read lots when i commuted on train.

My wife normally has 10 non-fiction books on the go, choosing by mood, but never reads fiction.

Hardly ever read a book. I don't mind doing it but find most fiction books boring. Just don't have time often or inclination at other points. Took a book on holiday, didn't open it.

I don’t read anywhere as much as I would like. I really enjoy it once I get into a book but often find it hard to get started on one.

Find it strange where some people just dismiss it as boring. Surely that just means you’re reading the wrong books? Do you also find all music or all films boring?

I rarely read books (especially fiction) for pleasure, as I have to read so much (non-fiction) for work, doing research, and then it is a very targetted kind of reading, more searching for stuff that is relevant to what I am writing (for academic publications) so the last thing I want to do in an evening is read to relax!

Except reading maps (or guide books with maps), which is more a 'visual'/non-linear kind of reading, plotting future routes etc, I find that more relaxing to do, in the evening, say. A stack of OS maps by my side and whisky in hand and I am happy.

Also 49 - don't really read for pleasure. I'm dyslexic and reading can sometimes be a struggle. I have read some books but really struggle with books with lots of characters or books where the timeline jumps around.

I actually have read some of the Jack Reacher books. I think they are relatively 'simple', 1 main character, tend to be very linier, so if I'm forcing myself to pick up a book it would be one of those.

I used to read dozens of books. I also used be young, have spare time and walk past a library every day.

These days I'd like to but don't have the time. I've had a Mark Thomas book on the bedside table for about 6 months. By the time we've got young'un to bed I'm knackered. It took nearly a year to get through Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance and I wish I'd never bothered with that one.

There's lots of things I'd love to do for fun but don't have the time for. Typing this from my office when I'd rather be almost anywhere else. I've got books, bikes, guitars, keyboards all collecting dust while I'm stuck in this mind numbing place.

I'll read in bed & while travelling but since my 20s I struggle to justify time spent reading during the day.

One thing I've noticed is that I don't get any extra meaning out of books like some people. I take the stories at face value rather than seeing then as a commentary on some other issue, and even though authors sometimes go into great detail about things I generally wouldn't know what a character looked like or be able to really describe the location they are in.

I love reading. Can’t think of many things better than sitting down with a pot of tea and a book. I like historical fiction, Bernard Cornwell etc, currently reading Hilary Mantel about Thomas Cromwell. When I’ve finished I’ll back it up by reading actual accounts of the time. Can’t watch reality Tv so my guilty pleasure is Lee Child etc. can’t beat a bit of Jack Reacher!!.

These days I’d like to but don’t have the time.

Not having a go at you, specifically, just the cliche of 'no time'.

I wake up in the morning and have a poo, reading a book.

Next, I make a cup of tea for my wife and I and read a book while drinking it, before getting ready for work.

I often read a book at lunchtime in work, if I have time for a decent length break.

I might read a book while eating my tea, or pretty much at any point where I might be watching TV or staring at a phone. (See also, playing guitar, fiddling with bikes.)

I read a book after going to bed.

I read a book in waiting rooms, trains, hotel rooms when away with work.

People who claim to be so busy that they haven't got time make me feel uneasy - what am I not doing? Were my parenting skills so inadequate because I found time to read books when my kids were small. Should I have been helicoptering around them in play areas instead of staring at a book? They seem to grown into decent people. Would I be invited to more parties if I spent more time speaking to more people in work? Are there people who spring out of bed every day and don't stop doing constructive STUFF until they collapse into bed? What am I missing here?

I keep thinking I don't have time then, every Monday, my phone tells me how much screen time I have had in the previous week, of course I have time to read!

I read on holiday but I struggle the rest of the time, I start to read a bed time and eyes are dropping within half a page.

These days I’d like to but don’t have the time.
Not having a go at you, specifically, just the cliche of ‘no time’.

I wake up in the morning and have a poo, reading STW

Next, I make a cup of tea for my wife and I and read STW while drinking it, before getting ready for work.

I often read STW at lunchtime in work, if I have time for a decent length break.

I might read STW while eating my tea, or pretty much at any point where I might be watching TV or staring at Pinkbike. (See also, playing guitar, fiddling with bikes.)

I read STW after going to bed.

I read STW in waiting rooms, trains, hotel rooms when away with work.

FTFY. 😉

Usually got 2 or 3 books on the go at the same time (one for wake-in-the-middle-of-the-night reading, one for on the bog reading and my current readnig (see that thread)) ...and 2 or 3 magazines - depends where I'm spending my lunchtime. I've noticed the only time I'm completely and utterly relaxed is when I'm reading my lunchtime mag (no, not pron - usually a film or music mag), cos I have little micronaps as the hour comes to an end. Bliss.

I've slowed down, phone being partly to blame as above. I doubt I've read much more than 10/mid teens maybe books (novels almost exclusively) this year. I used to be a quick reader as in average length paperback in a sitting or two, seven library books a week when I was a kid. Not so much these days with varifocals taking a bit of blame. Whenever there's a list of 100 classic books you have to read or whatever, I've generally read about half of them.

I see reading these days as entertainment pure and simple. I used to think of books as being somehow "improving", difficult books particularly so, and a somehow elevating way to spend time, superior to watching telly. (Which given most of the telly of the time and how many fantastic books there are may well have been the case.) But these days it's definitely waaaay too late to improve me, and I suspect books are unlikely to be up to the job.

That said I do like to have a book on the go, for when I've done wordle, quordle, octordle, globl and worldl, checked the guardian, emails, whatsapps, surf and whether forecasts, youtube updates etc etc etc.