The Next Best Book Club discussion

When people ask me how I find time to read so many books, I say, "I have to". I mean, it isn't an option. I give up sleep or exercise or work to read, if even for a few minutes. I can't sit for 5 minutes without a book. People who are too busy to read just don't want to read. I think some people are readers, and some just aren't. I have a friend who hasn't read a book since college, when he was forced to. Doesn't miss it. For me it is relaxation, rejuvenation, enriching. My husband or sister and I discuss them long after reading them. Some are just fun, some are informative, some truly transformative.

Kids who read have better vocabularies and do better on standardized tests.

Watch out that giving up exercise for reading. The only thing in my life that has a higher priority than reading is exercise. If you exercise you'll live longer, which means you'll get to read more.

Lori wrote: "I'm usually a shower person and until they make a waterproof book, I can't. I don't get the time to take bubble baths very often. I wish I could just go through my day with my book in my hands......"

Have you ever read audio books? Some books are even better that way -- especially books with interesting accents! I'm just finishing "Three Junes" on audio. Love Scottish accents! Wonderful story. Libraries have good selections.

Lori wrote: "I'm usually a shower person and until they make a waterproof book, I can't. I don't get the time to take bubble baths very often. I wish I could just go through my day with my book in my hands......"

One day I want to invent a convenient way to read and shower at the same time. Kind of like one of those adjustable mirrors in some showers, maybe. Only with some sort of waterproof book protector at the end. The difficult part is trying to find a way to turn the pages.

Jessica, My mom and I are opposites like that too. She's very social and talks to everybody, but I prefer to hole up and read whenever I get the chance (especially because I'm around people all day at school).

I think they make waterproof books for toddlers. Why not for adults? I think they could have a market!

Maybe you could just hook up an audio book to a speaker system while you're in the shower.

I tell them to turn off the TV and read for an hour a day. And they would be surprised how many books they can read. I watch a lot of TV/movies and read an average of 57 books a year, people think I have no life, but my life is TV/Movies and books. People can play video games and other things, they can find the time. Unless they are like the people I work for (who work 22 hours a day) they can make the time. The people I work for (and maybe mothers of young kids) I will say are exempt.

Maybe I have a problem...I read shampoo bottles in the shower when nothing else is around to read. :)
My wife and I have four children who we love, but we both bathe every night so we can have at least 15 minutes to read and relax without interruption.

Kevin, you're not alone regarding the shampoo bottles. I read those, and cereal boxes and advertisement fine print, whatever is available. My eyes just gravitate towards words...

So, how many books have you had to buy for the library because you dropped them in the tub and then found that they don't dry very well on the air vent!?

Kevin, the answer to that would be many...
Elizabeth wrote: "Watch out that giving up exercise for reading. The only thing in my life that has a higher priority than reading is exercise. If you exercise you'll live longer, which means you'll get to read more."
Elizabeth, I understand that. I run cross-country and I'm a college student. I'm an English major and usually enjoying what I read in class, but leisure reads help me to not explode.
Marelis, I really like the idea of reading on the eliptical, but I would totally get motion sickness and way dizzy!

Marelis wrote: "I read as often as I can. I even read while I am exercising on the eliptical. Instead of having music or TV going, I prop a book up and read while I work out. I always have a book in my bag so I..."

How the heck do you read on that thing? I have a hard enough time keeping my towel and water from falling off.

They make plastic things that hang on the machines and hold a book. They're even formed so that they'll hold the book open and the pages down.

Elizabeth wrote: "They make plastic things that hang on the machines and hold a book. They're even formed so that they'll hold the book open and the pages down."

Sweet! They don't have those at my gym. Can you buy them at sporting goods stores and the like?

What do I say to people who have "no time to read"?

I would say, "Everyone has free time, and everyone chooses how they will use that time. If you 'don't have time to read', it's because you don't choose to use your free time reading. I read everywhere. Audiobook in the car, audiobook on my mp3 player, book in my purse to read whenever I get a second during the day, book at the gym, etc., etc., etc. Believe me--you can find SOMEWHERE or SOME TIME to read... if you WANTED to."

What really kills me is when people say, "I don't like to read." There are SO MANY BOOKS--SO MANY GENRES! I guarantee that everyone in the world could find A book they liked to read--or a GENRE, even!

Let me see what I can find online and get back here. My gym has 4 of them - on stationary bikes, the treadmills, or you can take them off (like I do) and hang them on the windowsill.

The equipment at our gym have puny little book holder that really don't work well for paperbacks. I've seen the book holders Elizabeth is talking about--they're fabulous!

I usually watch What Not To Wear while on the elliptical, because I can't read very well while bouncing up and down. (Although, if you have that same issue, it's WAAAAAAY easier with large print books.) I'll read while on the stationary bike, because I can mostly hold the book while I'm on there.

I googled "treadmill book holder" and got several hits. One of the hits was on e-bay, for less than $10.

When people say that, I can't relate. About the not having time to read, not the above post...I have two jobs and a 7-year-old....I do admit that I am a bath reader. I've only dropped a book in the bath one time.

Becky wrote: "Hayes wrote: "ziplock bag and clothes pins?"

But how would you turn the pages?"

details, details... ; )

Kevin wrote: "Maybe I have a problem...I read shampoo bottles in the shower when nothing else is around to read. :) ..."

I used to do that until I got too old and too far sighted... I can't tell the shampoo from the cream rinse anymore!! *sigh*

4 kids... wow... and you still find time to read! See, there really is no excuse!!

So, how many books have you had to buy for the library because you dropped them in the tub and then found that they don't dry very well on the air vent!?

Brilliant!! (sorry I laughed out loud, but the visual was too funny)

Marelis wrote: "I read as often as I can. I even read while I am exercising on the eliptical. Instead of having music or TV going, I prop a book up and read while I work out. I always have a book in my bag so I..."

I'm only able to do that while I'm on a stationary bike, which sucks because I love the elliptical. Now if only there was a way to pump iron and read.

April wrote: "I'm only able to do that while I'm on a stationary bike, which sucks because I love the elliptical. Now if only there was a way to pump iron and read."

I'm sure you could find a way to pump iron and read. You could have an audiobook, for example. My issue is swimming laps and reading. They're just NOT compatible!

An audiobook playing on underwater speakers? I think some pools have those speakers for synchronized swimmning, but I'm not sure how well you'd be able to hear it...

Read in the bathroom. Everybody goes to the bathroom, so read it there lol it´s the best place to have a quiet moment to read lol

Or the gym, the traffic, audiobooks, bank lines, waiting in the phone instead of listening to those annoying musics, instead of watching some stupid reality show, while waiting the bus or train or taxi, oohh come on! there are lots of opitions haha



PS: And I´m SO SO happy to know I´m not the only bath reader on earth lol

I love bath reading, and we have two bath tubs for a family of four so I can take as long as I like. Of course, right now I'm at school and there are only itty bitty shower stalls in my flat. Thankfullly my boyfriend's house has a bathtub!

haha bathtub is happiness

I am fairly sure that I've asked this question somewhere before, but I can't remember the answer. Can you put an audiobook on an Ipod shuffle? I get motion-sick when trying to read on the elliptical too but it is such an excellent time to multi-task!

I think you can Jen. I mean the iPod shuffle has the option to not-shuffle right? So you can listen each chapter as you´d listen a song. That´s what I do with my iPod Nano.

Liz wrote: "I love bath reading, and we have two bath tubs for a family of four so I can take as long as I like. Of course, right now I'm at school and there are only itty bitty shower stalls in my flat. ..."

I'm more of a shower person. But if I'm really desperate to keep reading (if I can't wait 10-15 minutes), I'll bring my CD player and put on an audiobook... and then CRANK the volume... :)

hahahaha true. It´s probably creepy to be outsied Sara. People may think you are in the shower with a guy talking to himself haha

Hahaha... I never thought of that. We live in a duplex, and the bathroom wall abuts our neighbor's side... Lovely. Well, she probably already thinks we're crazy, so whatever. And she's never said anything about our late-night Rock Band sessions....

Oh, Rock Band is fun!! So if she says nothing about THAT she would mind with the guy in the shower with you lol

I used to do that at my apartmant too, it was funny to think the whole corridor was listening to a guy talking haha

Or the WOMAN talking...

Oh. That would be funnier hahaha

I am a new mother on maternity leave and I read at least once a day when the baby is sleeping. When I go back to work, I intend to spend at least 30 minutes reading before going to bed and at least one hour each day on the weekends. That's what I used to do before I had the baby, and it's amazing how I could still get at least one book read per week by devoting that minimum amount of time to it.

I've started reading to my daughter who is almost 8 weeks old. We're doing poetry right now (Shel Silverstein), and I hope that she learns to love to read as much as I do. The bottom line is that people who read have larger vocabularies, better reading comprehension and face it, they just know more about things in general. I believe that there is a direct correlation between reading and individual achievement, because reading is the lynchpin to so many other things.

Sera wrote: "I am a new mother on maternity leave and I read at least once a day when the baby is sleeping. When I go back to work, I intend to spend at least 30 minutes reading before going to bed and at leas..."

That's great! I want to do the same thing when I have babies. :)

I would read whatever I was reading at the time out loud to my children as they nursed. They were too little to understand, so it didn't matter how appropriate the story was. My children are now 10, 12, and almost 16 and all of the still like to be read to an like to read to me. It certainly helps build a good foundation.

Kandice wrote: "I would read whatever I was reading at the time out loud to my children as they nursed. They were too little to understand, so it didn't matter how appropriate the story was. My children are now 1..."

Thanks to all of you who are reading aloud to your children. About 10 years ago I became aware of The Read-Aloud Handbook Sixth Edition by Jim Trelease. I have given it, together with Goodnight Moon, 60th Anniversary Edition, which comes as a boxed set with some baby socks to new parents (and sometimes to new grandparents). About the back 1/3 of the Read Aloud Handbook is a Treasury of Read Alouds. Mr. Trelease has categorized a huge number of children's books by listening age, not chronological age and they are sometimes cross-referenced by author or by books on a similar subject. I recommend this book to everyone with young children.

Jessica wrote: "Lori, my mom is the same way with saying, "You've done nothing all day," when I have been reading. My fiance and I enjoy reading books to each other ..."

I hope i can get a partner like yours.. hehe.. most people that i know of dont really read, or at least dont read as much as i do. So they just dont get it when i get excited about reading or looking for the next thing to read.

And i've sacrificed a lot of sleeping hours just to finish a book.. lol..

Kevin - i envy your wife for finishing her 100th book. I've never really counted my readings before, so i'm targeting for 50 this year.

I'm not so bothered when people say they haven't got time to read because I understand that they just have things they would rather do with their time. What bothers me is when they say it in a way that implies that their lives and what they do with their time is so much more important, more worthy. That really gets on my nerves.

What really kills me is when people say, "I don't like to read." There are SO MANY BOOKS--SO MANY GENRES! I guarantee that everyone in the world could find A book they liked to read--or a GENRE, even!

I have a brother who does this. I have basically forced him to read some books that I thought he would like in the past and he loves them, finishes them in a day or two and then goes on about it for days and days. When I suggest another book or ask what he is going to read next, he says he doesn't like reading. lol - it doesn't bother me anymore, I've kinda just got used to it.

I love Goodnight Moon! Elizabeth (Alaska), that is a lovely and original idea for a baby shower gift, and if it helps instill a love of reading within the child, it's worth a cool million.
Ulya, don't you just love it when a book has such a pull that you can't put it down and just have to kep reading it until you finish it!

I received two Goodnight Moon books as baby gifts. To be frank, I'd never heard of the book prior to then. I've also started reading to my baby. We've read a few children's books, but we are working our way through Shel Silverstein's poetry book Where the Sidewalk Ends. I've never read Shel before, except for The Giving Tree, and his poetry is a little off center. The baby likes the rhymes :)

Sera, for reading aloud, do look at The Read Aloud Handbook. Your library certainly has a copy. That Treasury of Read Alouds is worth every penny. To me, it's sort of like having a TNBBC for kids. Well, except for the people part, but for the recommendations?

Here is an excerpt from The Read Aloud Handbook, just to give you an idea:

The Boy Who Wouldn't Go to Bed
by Helen Cooper
Tod-PreS. 36 pages Dial, 1996

An exploration of the fantasy and bedtime resistance, this book follows with amusement and tenderness the nocturnal path of a little boy's adventures with his bedroom playmate-dolls and toys, until they are all too tired to continue their struggle. Related bedtime books: Barn Dance! by Bill Martin, Jr., and John Archambault; Bedtime for Frances by Russell Hoban; Edward and the Pirates (p); How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? by Jane Yolen; In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak; Ira Sleeps Over (p); May We Sleep Here Tonight? (p); No Jumping on the Bed (p); and The Very Noisy Night by Diana Hendry.

Kevin wrote: "Maybe I have a problem...I read shampoo bottles in the shower when nothing else is around to read. :)


lol! i read cereal boxes, so i know where you're coming from!

serioulsy, redaing is my way of relaxing. there are days when i truly run out of time, or am so dog tired i can't keep my eyes open, and i won't read. i try not to do that more than 3 days in a row, and i always feel odd if i go that many days without reading something.

people wo say they don't have time fall in to one of two categories, IMO: they don't want to change their routine to fit reading in, so they say they don't have the time, OR they are in positions that stress them out so much they dont know how to relax let alone relax and read.

Someone I know kept on giving me a hard time for reading as much as I did. She kept on saying I needed to "get a life" and stop reading so much. My response? How much time do you spend watching tv a night? She said 2 hours or so. Well there you go...I read instead of watching tv! Two hours a night is EASILY a book a week. I choose to read, she chooses to watch tv. To each his own, but don't give me crap and be a snot about it!
I also take a book with me wherever I go. So when I am waiting somewhere, even for just 10 minutes I pull it out and read. It's amazing how 10 mintues here, five minutes there, adds up.
I think most of the time it boils down to choices. We here in the group love reading and so that's at the top of our list. Therefore we read more! ;)

I wonder how these people would react if told about that study that found reading a most efficient form of stress relief? Snort.

I get so stressed at work... If I didn't exercise and read, I'd probably have blown my top by now!