Book Lair discussion

What are your reading habits?

For instance, how many books do you read at the same time?
Which formats?
When do you read?

Anything else you can think of :)

I for one usually only read one book at a time, unless they are very different genres, which is the case now.

I try to read on paperback but more often than not these days I have to resort to reading on my phone.

I was wondering about the same questions too, so your topic comes in handy.

I have noticed that a lot of people seem to read several books at a time, which is something I am quite incapable of doing. I far prefer to finish one book first before reading another one.
Only exception I'll make is if I'm reading a collection of short stories of poetry. In this case, if I want some variation, I can read one short story/poem, than another book, than read the following short story, etc. But I'll first finish a story before starting another book.

Regarding format, this question has already been broached on another topic, but to sum it up, I prefer paperback, or I'd even say mass market paperback (very common in France- livre de poche). I like to have the physical book in my hand, but I don't have anymore place for bigger formats at home. Also, it's very handy because it fits in my handbag easily, so I can carry it everywhere with me.
I almost never buy bigger paperbacks or hardbacks unless I don't have any other choice. I have some special edition hardbacks, such as illustrated editions, etc. for collection, but that's all.
And I read ebooks when I'm travelling for long periods of time.

This kind of answer the following question: when do I read. I mostly read during transport, since that's when I have time. I travel a lot, and long distance, for work, so I take the plane a lot. There's a lot of waiting time when you take a flight, be it in the waiting room or during your flight. So I always have books with me for this. I usually have one paperback/flight because I have to switch of electronics during take off and landing. Then my ebook for all the free time during my travels. Ebook also for train and car (I don't have my license, so I'm never the one to drive).
When I'm at home, well, I don't read that much, but I read on the subway/taxi when I'm in the city and moving around. So transports again.

Oh right, I totally forgot about that, I have read short stories online too for a break. It's weird, sort of like sniffing coffee between perfumes, to make your brain forget the previous book before getting into a new one xD

I also enjoy the small paperbacks and carry them in my handbag.

Reading while traveling sure makes the trip easier. I read whenever I get a break. These days I read mostly on my phone and I always have it with me so there's always a chance I will read a page or two. But I read mostly at night before sleeping. I've grown out of tv a long time ago, when I am at home I am either at the computer (on GR and other sites) or reading.

I almost never watch TV either. But when I'm at home, I tend to spend far too much time on my computer (although I do read on my computer).

I understand, it really sucks you in. It helps that I don't get on fb all that much anymore. That thing is addicting. So many funny pictures and all eheh. GR is the closest thing to a social network I use so that clears up a lot of time for reading ^_^

I think I've said it somewhere else, but I am usually always reading three. One physical book, one ebook and I audio a book in my car. Because they are such different formats I don't have any problem keeping the narrative threads separate.

In addition to driving 2 teenagers all over the place, I attend a LOT of soccer games, practices, orchestra rehearsals, drama rehearsals, etc. so reading an ebook at this times is perfect. Fits in my purse, has a backlight so I can read in the dark if I need to, have 100s of other books at the ready if I finish at an event, the list goes on and on.

While I'm driving I like to audio because I find listening to a story such a different experience than "reading" it. Usually my audio's are rereads. If I don't have a book on I feel all that time in the car is wasted. O_o

The large print "real" book I read is at home before bed or in the wee hours when I can't sleep. I get my large print books from the library so the selection is a bit limited.

I completely understand the POV that reading more than one book doesn't allow you to immerse yourself in the story, but I don't find it a problem at all!

I think almost every single thing about reading and reading habits is incredibly, deeply personal so that what works for one may not work for another. Thank God, because otherwise I never would have gotten through my children's childhoods when I was reading chapters each night from three different books to three different little people as well as whatever I was reading for me. :D

I read one book, almost only paper, at a time; at least 80 pages everyday. When? Whenever I have time. What else? Oh, I always have to finish the chapter I'm on, I consider dog-earing, writing on and bending the spine too much, of a book to be blasphemy.

I always want to finish the current chapter but then I go 'oh just a bit longer' and end up finishing mid-chapter when I just can't keep my eyes open any longer xD

I always want to finish my current chapter, yet always want to read one more. That's why I don't read before sleeping anymore. I always finish with a finished book in hand and not enough sleep.

Hey Ana since you mentioned Fb in your post that reminded me of something and it does go along with this topic of "reading habits." You bring up Facebook and it's interesting because Fb is so "tied in" to Goodreads, at times asking you to log on to Goodreads using your Fb account info. But I dislike Fb (though I like being in contact with my friends there) it IS addictive and can suck you in for hours accidentally. When I catch myself on for an hour on Facebook, I always curse myself and say "Darn it that's an hour I could have been reading my book!" So here's the thing, last year I decided to deactivate my Fb for a while, just kind of shut it down but keep it on hold to come back to at a later time. During the time my account was on hold, I went on an intense reading marathon and as a result I almost reached my goal of 50 books last year but ended up around 46. That's still more than I've ever done in a year and I know it was because I was not on Fb. But this year I went back to Fb. I have only read 13 books so far this year, (even though I did somewhat plan it that way because I wanted to have a goal of LONGER books this year and knew that would mean maybe one a month). The conclusion is still clear to me that I read WAY more when I'm NOT on Facebook! (I'm trying to get off there again for a few months.) I also MUCH prefer Goodreads because when I post what I'm reading on Facebook, no one gives a crap over there!

Now for my reading habits, I try to do one audiobook at a time but I've recently tried to do one audiobook and one graphic novel by my bedside.

Please everyone check out this video on YouTube, a funny short video made by an editor at Book Riot on the topic of this thread and her instructions on how to be a "Book Polygamist!" After watching her video she inspired me to read more than one book at a time where before I was a monogamous book reader haha!

Ana wrote: "I understand, it really sucks you in. It helps that I don't get on fb all that much anymore. That thing is addicting. So many funny pictures and all eheh. GR is the closest thing to a social networ..."

Kandice I too enjoy listening to audio books while driving. However I should say that consider what type of book you are listening to, if it is one that sort of requires extra attention to grasp, it can be dangerous depending on what type of driving you are doing. I think any audiobook is fine if the drive is simple, but I have a very rough commute in the morning on an extremely busy and challenging to navigate freeway in Northern California. It is one of the most dangerous freeway sections in the Bay Area. Recently while listening to one of the Dark Tower Stephen King books, I was so immersed in my book I was not able to swerve out of the way in time of a huge rock in the fast lane that fell there due to freeway construction. It could have been a huge, even fatal accident. But luckily I was fine, just had a $300 tire repair bill. It's hard to admit to myself I may have been able to react sooner if I wasn't paying attention to my audiobook!
This hasn't necessarily "stopped" me from audiobooking while driving because I still do it, but I'm MUCH more careful and choose my audiobooks for driving with a little more consideration. For instance The Gunslinger was NOT a good driving while listening book. I think autobiographies are wonderful for driving, especially if the narrator is the author. Like having the person sitting next to you talking to you while you drive :)

Kandice wrote: "While I'm driving I like to audio because I find listening to a story such a different experience than "reading" it.

Great video and that's almost exactly what I do, except that i listen to audio books exclusively in the car.

Kandice, next month I am driving from Bay Area down south to Anaheim, CA. About a 6-8 hour drive along a straight shot (boring) stretch of Highway 5. I already have downloaded and plan to listen to On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft which is perfect for a drive, like Uncle Stephen riding next to me talking about his life, :) What are you currently driving and listening to?

Kandice wrote: "Great video and that's almost exactly what I do, except that i listen to audio books exclusively in the car."

I own that audio, and even though one could never say King has a pleasant voice I love, love, love when he reads his own stuff because his voice is so dear to me. Goofy, but true. He sounds as if he is really reading to me, not just reading in general.

I am listening to 20th Century Ghosts and reading The Knife of Never Letting Go with Nolan, another member of this group. I think I may also start Etiquette & Espionage in a day or two.

Abigail wrote: "Hey Ana since you mentioned Fb in your post that reminded me of something and it does go along with this topic of "reading habits." You bring up Facebook and it's interesting because Fb is so "tied..."

I completely agree!
I used to always have a tab open for facebook. Since I decided not to use it unless I needed to contact a friend or felt like browsing a bit, especially through pages like Book Riot, I found myself not even thinking about it, let alone missing it. I actually didn't log in for 3 straight days which caused me to get an email from Facebook telling me what was new and asking why I hadn't been on. That had never happened to me before!

Anyway, since I cut back on fb and tv I read a whole lot more and it's a pleasure to see my yearly list of books increase. Do you use the goodreads reading challenge option? I keep bumping my goal up eheh.

And hey there's still a month and a half till the year ends, plenty of time to read! :D

Unfortunately I am at work and cannot check out the video, I will try to remember when I am home.

As for audio books, I have a dilemma. Although I don't have a problem understanding written english (save for a word or two I dont know the meaning of), I have a lot more trouble understanding the spoken. Often I miss words. So I am left with either listening but not getting it or listening to a translated version which I really hate because a lot gets lost in translation - assuming it's even available.

So I'm not sure if I will be trying audio books anytime soon.. maybe if I get a free one but would have to be a cd to listen to in my car during longer trips.

I "gave up" FB a long time ago. I check for news from friends every once in a while, but I get those emails from FB all the time. I delete them as soon as I see them because it's just too easy to get sucked in on there, like you say.

I wonder if there is a way to turn them off. Those options sure are well hidden, if they exist!

Facebook used to be fun and somewhat trustworthy. Not anymore, not for a while. I hate the new privacy settings. And how we can't seperate Restricted from Public. I mean what's the sense in that? They may be in restricted list but they're still in your friends list, so why do you have to make public stuff you only want them to see? -.-

I keep away from it enough that I'm only peripherally aware of the changes you are talking about. I hear my children complain bitterly about it, but that's about it.

If there is a way to change it I'm sure they've made it as hard to find as possible. FB has some advantages, that's for sure, but it's also a time suck, which is the point, I'm sure!

Does anyone have an Instagram account? I don't, but my daughter does and all her notifications come to my phone. That may be even more a time vamp than FB, which is hard to believe but true. Oh for the days of lying on your bag, twisting the phone cord as you actually TALKED to your friends. *sigh*

Nah fb is the only social network I use. I made an account on Twitter a year or two ago but never got into it, stopped using it after a week or so.

Yeah people don't really talk face to face these days... I mean, these things are fine when people are far away but if we can actually get together why only socialize through the internet? I just don't get it. There's nothing like real contact.

I don't mean to slam social networking so hard because some people LOVE their Facebook and Instagram and in way mean to judge or take that away from anyone, to each his/her own right! Instagram is just as bad as Facebook though. You see Instagram is where people can get "creative" instead of just saying "I love my cats, I am eating cereal for breakfast" they can SHOW you PICTURES of the cats with artsy filters and SHOW you pictures of that cereal hahaha. But Instagram is also like Fb a time sink hole where you are "fishing for likes." Meaning you could take the time to post an awesome picture with latest filters and to you it looks incredible. It ends up being a popularity contest because if you don't have a lot of "friends" on there no one will click the "like" on your photo. Just like the "Like" button on your Facebook status. I just don't give a care for that anymore and don't want that stuff in my life. Just give me my books I say, haha. But if people love their Facebook and Instagram I say it is a personal decision whether to use it/enjoy it or not. I'm just glad a few people here DO agree with me on it being a time waster :)

I agree, Abigail. The only social network for me now is GoodReads. You guys are all the online socializing I need ahah

Wow Deidre don't you ever get confused? The only way I manage to read more than one book at a time is if they are completely different genres.

Eheh that's very impressive :) I still prefer to stick to one at a time, maybe one day that will change!

My reading habits are atrocious right now. I might squeeze ten minutes in while I'm cooking dinner. Yesterday I got through a few pages in the dentist's waiting room.

I'd planned to listen to audiobooks while I was doing mundane stuff, like making coffee and packing lunch in the morning, but I keep leaving my headphones...somewhere...

I could have listened to it in the car yesterday when I was out running errands, but I forgot I had it, so I listened to music instead.

I seem to be going through a "get 50% into the book and hit a wall" thing too—with everything, no matter how much I'm enjoying the story.

Meanwhile, I'm adding books to my to-read pile left and right. I need another "me" who has no responsibilities outside of enjoying good books.

This will pass, I'm sure, and I'll get back to my normal reading habits. I think I just have too much going on, but that should get better after November.

When I do read, I prefer ebooks because I can adjust the font size (and pretend that I don't need glasses, because I keep leaving my reading glasses...somewhere...), but mass market paperbacks make me nostalgic, so I'm not too distressed when a book I want is only available that way. (I just need to find my reading glasses!) I got an Audible subscription this month, and I've been enjoying (when I remember to listen!) my first book: The Girl with All the Gifts, but I can tell that there will be books I want to read and books I want to hear. Which is not a bad thing.

I enjoyed TGWATG quite a lot, Zoe, looking forward to reading your review of it.

I'm going through some freaky moments while reading too.. For some reason, I tend to really get into a book, read it for hours straight and then have to stop due to real life and when I get back to it I just can't get that into it. I wonder if I would have had a different experience if I had read it all at once or if it's just the book, but it's happened twice now that I can remember. It's like I'm on a high and everything is amazing and then... it's not. It almost becomes a chore. Has anyone had something like that happen?

Maybe it's the pressure to put up a review but I don't think it is, at least not just that. Also, I'm almost afraid to request books these days because I have not read a really good one in quite a long time. I feel guilty for sometimes not giving 4 or 5 stars but if I did I wouldn't be true to myself and it would be unfair to the books that do deserve it, in my opinion. But sometimes the authors are so nice... I can only hope that they realize it's only a matter of opinion and if I don't like it someone else will but I can't help but feel they hold a bit of a grudge for lowering the ratings. At least I try to be as thorough in my reviews and explain exactly why it was not a positive experience to me, not much else I can do.

Ramble over :P

Yes, I think that's what's going on with the "my reading grinds to a halt around 50%" problem I've been having lately. I'm into the book, and then suddenly I have the hardest time getting back into it. I don't know if it's all the sparkly books calling to me from my to-read list or if it's the fact that I have limited stretches of time to read and once you get to the middle it's harder for the story to carry you in ten-minute-here, twenty-minute-there chunks. Probably a mix of both. I need to carve out some quality, distraction-free time to get past that barrier.

Yeah... I really need to find that place where I am reading for pleasure again, not as a chore for reviews or anything else.

And yes, I agree, the constant interruptions make it very hard to get into the story again. Real life responsabilities keep nagging at the back of my mind, not letting me focus. On one hand, I read to let out some steam, but I can't help but feel guilty because I am reading instead of doing the stuff I should be doing and then I can't focus on the book! Gah, so frustrating.

I am very hesitant to accept or request a R4R book for the reasons you two mentioned. I'm not a great review writer to begin with, but even if I worked at it I know I would feel guilty give 1 or 2 stars to a book I was given in return for the review. At the same time I wouldn't be able to fib about it! I think if I wasn't enjoying it I would drag my feet so as not to finish.

I always try to read a good old classic or a book from one of my favorite author (i.e. a book I know will be good) between two books I was asked to review (which are usually by new authors and therefore more random in their quality).

Like this, if that happens, I do not feel too frustrated by the succession on bad writing.

That makes sense. I go for short stories because I don't want to take too long with reviews. I really shouldn't have accepted so many requests *sigh*

I like Netgalley, it's more anonymous.
By the way, what does it mean when a book gets archive? The author no longer wants the review?

I try not to ask for more than 1 or 2 R4R at a time, and only when I know I'll have time for reading. Otherwise, it becomes un-mnageable.

I've never tried Netgalley, but I find GR pretty anonymous too. A lot of us are using nickames.

I don't know what you mean about archiving. Is that on GR or Netgalley? If GR, I've never seen that, do you have an example? If Netgalley, I don't use it so don't know.

Yes but you still have to contact the author for the book. And sometimes they're so nice (most times really) and I feel so bad for giving it a low rating. Through netgalley you just have to click a 'request' button. And unless you provide your email they can't contact you.

Well, I end up linking my review on GR so they can contact me here if need be...

When I ask for books to review I always ask the author if there's a deadline they have in mind and try to mention how many books I have queued to read before theirs.

A couple of books on Netgalley switched status to archive and I'm wondering if that's the meaning or something else.

It may mean that the period they paid to have the book available on Netgalley has ended.

Also, it's really nice of you to ask for the deadline authors have in mind and let them know how many you have in the queue before theirs.

Ah makes sense, th anks for clearing it up :)
And yeah that way I give them a fair choice :) And if some authors are in more of a hurry than others I can move books up and down the list. I should be reading one other right now but haven't had much time lately..

Do you guys read more than one book at a time, or do you stick with a single story?

Derek wrote: "Do you guys read more than one book at a time, or do you stick with a single story?"

We've talked about this a lot. Personally, I read three books at once. I audio one book in my car that I listen to when I drive exclusively. I read one actual paper book and one ebook. I try to mix genres, subject, etc. just so it's easy to keep them straight.

That's pretty cool, I tend to use paper almost exclusively. Maybe an audio book will help me exercise more...

Or not.

Derek wrote: "That's pretty cool, I tend to use paper almost exclusively. Maybe an audio book will help me exercise more...

Or not."

I was a paper purist and hated the idea of e-books until about 4 years ago when I had an issue with my eyes. I just couldn't read anything other than large print for a while which is hard to get from the library and expensive to buy. I broke down and got an e-reader so I could make the font as large as I wanted and haven't looked back since!

Kandice wrote: "Derek wrote: "That's pretty cool, I tend to use paper almost exclusively. Maybe an audio book will help me exercise more...

Or not."

I was a paper purist and hated the idea of e-books until abou..."

That's great that it worked for you! This isn't really an e-reader, but I use a website that has all of Poe's stories. I can zoom into the text (which tends to be really small)and I can also click on more difficult words to find its meaning. Kindles and Nooks can be helpful for older classics, such as Shakespeare, since it's so easy to learn words you don't understand.

Yeah, I was another paper purist till what.. a month ago? I finally bought a Kindle and realized how practical it can be. I still think reading a paper book is a completely different experience but I particularly love the dictionary feature in Kindles, since I am not a native english speaker, not to mention highlight and notes :)

Ana wrote: "Yeah, I was another paper purist till what.. a month ago? I finally bought a Kindle and realized how practical it can be. I still think reading a paper book is a completely different experience but..."

I've never thought about how useful e-books could be for nonnative speakers. I'm starting to like them more and more! I think it would be cool to be completely bilingual. Twice as many stories to read!

I've only read one book in another language, and it was probably 2nd grade level.

It really is, though I end up reading only english books, there aren't any portuguese authors that I know of writing the genres I enjoy reading.

I wonder if it hurts my eyes reading my Kindle in the dark. I think my eye doctor said it did...

The Kindle is actually better for your eyes than most other screens. The reasons your eyes strain is because of the changing light, particularly in television shows or video games. Kindles use a type of text called e-ink, and they don't light up as much.

So your eyes may strain a little, but it's no different from reading a physical book in the dark, and that shouldn't cause any permanent discomfort.

I knew it hurts my eyes a lot less, but I still wonder if I should have my nightstand light on, for instance.

I'd say you may want it on, but I'm no expert. I did a bit of research a few years ago because I'm pretty paranoid about protecting my eyes, and I think it's best to have a steady source of light, that way your eyes don't have a constant need to refocus.

Exactly, I already wear glasses, I've worn them since a kid, and don't really want to make the issues worse than they already are (it's gotten worse in the past years). Thank you for the tips! :)

I'm with Derek on this point. I think it's better to have a light on (but I'm not a doctor)!

I've always heard that it was better to have good lighting to read, but even to watch TV or your computer. The light of the screen doesn't hurt your eyes as much if your environment is already well lighted. Or something like that.