When I stopped to catch my breath after publishing Killer Career, it dawned on me I'd neglected the enjoyment of reading for too long. During my ten minute breakfast, I'd read the newspaper or a writing magazine, but couldn't get into fiction because I'd have to tear myself away too soon to leave for work.
I'd spent most of my commuting time on the train either writing or promoting my books, and at lunch the same.
On vacation, I'd had time to read and wanted to spend more time on the other side of the book, so to speak.
To remedy the situation, I tuck a paperback into my tote bag each morning. I read it sometimes on the commuter train, most of the time during lunch or my breaks.
At home in the evening, I very rarely read. There's too much noise and too many interruptions from the TV, the dog and the DH. Right now for example, Rascal is whining for no reason except to get my attention, while a commercial is playing in the living room.
Anyway, I'm glad to have found a way to fit reading back into my schedule and look forward to my time away from the real world each day, even though it's for a short while.
What about you? When do you read?
Sometimes, my reading goes in spurts -usually only some brief interludes between books but I've been on a long interlude now as it's been almost a year since I read a book -well, with the exception of a very small book a friend of mine wrote and had published about her Dad and his partner and their work in the early coal mines of this region. (Yeah, sounds not so interesting but really, it was. Go figure.)
ReplyDeleteBut I really like to read -hence, the almost 200 blogs on my reader. My fav books though -love war/romance novels, historical romance type stuff too and other things that have a historical bent to them. (What doesn't have history in it though?) My fav books -Gone With The Wind, To Kill a Mockingbird, Exodus -virtually anything by James A. Mitchener And Leon Uris, among many other authors.
i love to read. my prob is, when i starting to read, my mind starting to derive. may some advice from you expert. thanks -ab
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm reading a book that's interesting, I find the time to read it. Unfortunately the only time I can find is at night, when all the noise dies down and my hubby is snoring next to me. It used to take me a day or two to get through a good paperback mystery or romance. Now it takes a week or more, with lots of yawning.:-) Tough, huh?
ReplyDeleteAnne
Used to be many mornings at the Y on the recumbent bike, but I got fed up with the conditions there, so I've now lost a good 30 minutes a day of dedicated reading time.
ReplyDeleteI still read every night before going to sleep. Might be 20 minutes, might be until I finish the book, but I shut down by 10 PM, crawl into bed, pick up my book and read.
If I feel I've 'earned' it, I might take a mid-day break as well.
I read every day on the bus or train - usually a novel I set aside as my 'bus book' for that week.
ReplyDeleteAnd I read every night before going to sleep - most often a mystery.
Then if I can I read in the evening for an hour or so. Usually that's non-fiction (history mainly) for 'work'.
Blogs, on-line news, etc. I read in the morning as I have my coffee.
Twitter I read all day long if I can!
I should have mentioned I also read Twitter, Facebook, and Blogs constantly. Many times that keeps me from reading a book, but it's worth it. I've gotten lots of friends that way.
ReplyDeleteMorgan Mandel
http://www.morganmandel.com
I love to read! It's easier for me in the warm months than the winter months because I have a special "nook" out there on the deck and what I do is, I take wee little breaks from the computer and go down and read a few pages and come back up. It's started to get a little too chilly for that and I never have found a winter reading nook. Any suggestions? I have no fireplace. The sofa is a possibility but it's just not "it," you know? Where else?
ReplyDeleteI'm a bedtime reader too (sometimes with accompanying snores like Anne). It's strange but, when writing's your full time job, you spend a lot of the day reading blogs, twitters and all the necessary networking stuff and yet breaking off to read a book seems like a guilty pleasure. Silly really, because reading's great. For me, it's far more absorbing, more personally 'real' than cinema or TV. It's only relatively recently that I've managed to make myself stop reading something if I'm not enjoying it. There are so many good books out there that it makes no sense to waste time on bad ones.
ReplyDeleteBecause I work ten hour days for my pain-in-the-butt job, I don't have a lot of time to read. All the extra time I have I want to write. The only time I have available to read is on my breaks during work. So twice a day I read for fifteen minutes. It's not much, but it's all the time I have. lol
ReplyDelete~Phyllis~
As a book reviewer I read every day, mostly at night in the tub, but also when our hubby is drivng us to and from church on Sundays, and during the girls' swimming and dance lessons. I also read blogs and FB and Twitter regularly, and check in on the local and national news once a day.
ReplyDeleteThe thing I miss is reading just for fun. I honestly don't have time for that anymore because my TBR pile is always so large that my material is a book that someone sent me to review.
I keep thinking that one day I will stop reviewing, but then I will stop learning what is new out there, and that would be bad.
Cheryl
There is a website/blog - that someone writes who spots books that people are reading on the subway- and then reads them himself and reviews them.
ReplyDeleteRandom but fun no?
http://ambitiousandfunemployed.blogspot.com/
I usually always have a book with me so I read whenever I find a few spare minutes and before I go to bed at night. I need to find more time to read because my stack of books that I haven't read yet is getting way out of control. Wish I didn't need to sleep!
ReplyDeleteWhen my work is done for the day, and I head off to the bedroom, that is when I do my reading. That's usually about 10:00 or 11:00 and I'll read until about 1:00 a.m.! My local library tells me that if I stop reading, they'll have to close up for non-use!
ReplyDeleteI read at the table, in the bathroom, and in bed--and sometimes during commercials. I have a Kindle and read on that when I'm waiting somewhere. Usually have at least two books going.
ReplyDeleteMarilyn
I read as much as I can. I am handicapped and only work part-time, so I have more time. When I can pull myself away from facebook, I read - mostly romance: series, historical, romantic suspense. I also like some authors in other types, like Anne McCaffrey and Beverly Lewis.
ReplyDeleteI'm a bit of an insomniac, so I'm usually still up reading at 2 am!
I read every possible second when I'm not writing. I have what I've been told is an odd skill of being able to read and walk at the same time, so every morning on my 45 minute walk to the West Portal muni station, I read a paperback while I walk. I don't like writing on the train - too many people smushed together and looking over one's shoulder, so tend to read then as well. AND in the bathroom and in bed and walking to run errands at work...
ReplyDeleteI always read at night in bed. It's the only way I can get to sleep. Sometimes I take a day off from everything and read all day long.
ReplyDeleteI read when and where I can. Running 2 teen boys all over creation, house work, and writing it's kinda hard some days, but I try to read some each day.
ReplyDeleteIt's tough to find time to read, especially when I spend so much of my day at work, then at home taking care of family things, but I think its important for those of us who write, like myself, to step back and take a look at the book world from the other side of the coin. I have about two hours in the evening and most of the day Saturday and Sunday to write, but I give at least one of those evenings to just reading for the fun of it. No review books aloud, unless it is something I've been dying to read anyway. It gives my mind a much needed break from the plotting and weaving of whatever book I'm working on.
ReplyDeleteBe blessed,
Bethany Cagle aka Brynna Curry & Brianna Roarke
http://brynnacurrybriannaroarkebooks.webs.com
My serious reading is done late in the evening just before bed. The last hour of the day, usually between 11 pm and midnight. The house is quiet and all things are possible.
ReplyDeleteMichael
Michael Allan Mallory
(with Marilyn Victor)
DEATH ROLL, 2007
KILLER INSTINCT, Dec. 2010
www.snakejones.com
I HAVE TO, NEED TO, ABSOLUTELY MUST read for at least an hour before I turn out the light or else I can't drift off and I'm beyond the valley cranky the next day. Otherwise, I read while waiting for car repairs, haircuts, doctor's appointments, and friends who are late for lunch. I read on planes and trains and occasionally in cars (but never when I'm driving).
ReplyDeleteCarolyn J. Rose
www.deadlyduomysteries.com
I read during my lunch break while working. I try to sneak a few minutes at night after everyone is in bed too.
ReplyDeleteI loved getting lost in a good book. I read every night for at least half an hour before sleep. Usually it turns into an hour and I struggle to get up for work the next a.m. When I finish one of my manuscripts and before I start editing and rewriting, I give myself a day to lounge around in sweats and dive into a good book. It's my reward.
ReplyDeleteLinda
I get to read usually when my boys are asleep. So, usually about 6 in the morning, or about 9-11 at night. That is my time!
ReplyDeletei don't have a particular time to read. Sometimes I wake up very early in the morning, so i can finish a book that I can't put down. Sometimes I read at lunch, when work is not too hectic. I allocated 20h00-20h30 as reading time for my 11year old, and sometimes I read with her then and continue into the rest of the night.
ReplyDeleteMy friend just got me into the Jane Feather books.
ReplyDeleteI read whenever my hands and eyes aren't otherwise occupied (as long as it isn't in a situation where it would be rude to ignore people). At all meals eaten alone, on the stationary bike, in vehicles when other people are driving, in waiting rooms, in the evening whether or not watching TV (I read during commercials and any moments of no dialogue, since action scenes are usually opaque to me anyhow). I always have separate books going for meals and evenings, for the bike rides, and for lunch at work (lately that's usually something on the Kindle).
ReplyDeleteSadly, I only seem to really read when I'm on the way to and from work. I often have to renew books that I take out of the library because I still haven't finished them by the time they're due back. Also have to make more time for my own writing...but that's another story.
ReplyDeleteIt depends on the book. And the author. There are some I just make time for - Kresley Cole, Sherrilyn Kenyon and Lisa Kleypas for example. And, for my sins, I recently made the mistake of readinbg my first James Patterson book, so now I'm begging, borrowing and stealing time to go back and read the entire Alex Cross saga. Mostly I read in the evenings, when I'm so tired and broken down from writing I just need a break. As I noted in my own blog about writing as a weight-gaining lifestyle, what it really means is I don't put enough time into things like rising from a chair and getting to the gym. I've promised myself no new authors, at least for a while. Now if only the current ones would stop being so prolific.
ReplyDeleteLike many others, I'm a bedtime reader. I also keep a book in the car for those times I'm picking up one of the kids but have to wait!
ReplyDeleteHi Morgan,
ReplyDeleteThe short answer is - every chance I get. I always read in bed before falling asleep at night and usually a few pages before I get up in the morning. I always have a book with me, so anytime I'm waiting (including the check out line at the grocery), I'm reading.
Glad you fit reading back into your schedule. I can't imagine a life without it.
My very first e-reader is on it's way to me as I type, so in the future I'll have more than one book with me. Can't wait!
Charlotte