21st Century Literature discussion

Given how much many of us read and how ingrained it is as a part of our lives, whether by choice or by circumstance, do you ever take a break from reading? Was it a one-time thing or something you regularly do? What is the impact? For how long? Answer this anyway you like (can be a period of life where for years you read very little or almost nothing, or just the busy season at work where you can't fit in reading the way you can the rest of the year)... Or, maybe, you like to recharge before diving into the next reading session/weekend/year...

Interesting question!

I moved house recently, and things really heated up at work, and I found my reading dropped right off.

I don't think I've ever taken a full break from reading though.
Always have some sort of book in the works!

I have never voluntarily taken a break from reading. Involuntary gaps due to work, travel, kids have occurred. I survived them but unhappily.

NO! :-)

I freak out if I don’t have my phone or tablet or eink or notes when I’m on the toilet, I compulsively lean over to grab a shampoo bottle so I will have something to read. I don’t think I can stop reading.

But, when I’m reading something really, really difficult, I drop all my fun readings. Maybe I take my readings too seriously, every time I approach a “book” I feel like I’m reopening a project (I take notes when I read, even novels. Maybe not shampoo bottles...)

A few months ago I started reading Heidegger, I think that killed 1/4 of my braincells. I was so overwhelmed I delisted all my “fun” reads in order to focus. Picking up another book feels like too much commitments. I know that’s still reading something, it’s not a true break. But I typically read multiple books at the same time, usually with different book clubs/ social circles etc. So when I dropped everything else for Heidegger, I felt like I “took a break from reading.”

While I'm not yet capable of tackling Heidegger or the like, I completely relate to taking notes and grabbing anything in reach to read. I have done that since I was a kid, when my brother and I would have to read cereal boxes at the breakfast table if we found ourselves without a book.

I had a long reading drought after college, but since then I cannot imagine choosing not to read.

It has been a long time (probably early '90s) since my to-read shelf has been empty, and it is very unusual for me to go more than two days without reading a book.

I like this topic!

I read everyday but the problem lies on the amount I read - When I'm going through a life change such as a new job etc my reading pace is affected.

24 hours max

I take breaks often! About 16 hours a day to work and sleep.

Haha I don't read THAT much but I made myself laugh thinking about the question. :)

When my kids were little and I had a demanding job at the same time, I stopped reading for a while. I discovered cinema, particularly foreign (to UK) cinema i.e. stuff that comes with English subtitles. I got rather hooked on it and even when the kids got older and I had a bit more time, I carried on watching films. But the “kids” are now 32 and 29 and I have retired from work, so the only breaks now are for sleep! Well, not quite as I am working on setting up a photography business, but I do read a lot more now than ever before.

Thirty two years ago I was on bed rest for a month during pregnancy. I was so looking forward to days of reading. Alas, my brain rebelled and insisted on a diet of Marcus Welby reruns and old movies😨 The good news is the resulting daughter is an avid reader.

If I read too many 5 star fiction titles in a row, I kind of freeze up about choosing the next one, so I'll turn to a nonfiction title. That's as close as I get to a break.

carissa wrote: "If I can't see or hear, hopefully my brain will have other issues to contend with and I won't miss the thing/habit I like the most."

If you can't see or hear, there's always braille. Remember: Helen Keller could not see or hear and she wrote books. You should be fine reading them.

You know, you might want to start taking better care of your fingertips ... just in case....

The only period in my life since childhood when I didn't read any books was when I was writing one of my own. Over a very intense period of about four months I was completely lost in a world that existed only in my own head and, gradually, on pieces of paper.
Every spare moment; every coffee break, lunch-hour, evening and weekend was spent scribbling or typing. I was in a full time job as well, and it became rather like dealing with an addiction.
So, although I wasn't reading, I was still lost in a (good) book.

carissa wrote: "In 1st grade my teacher made me, a shy kid, read the first Dick & Jane book out loud to the class, because she didn't believe me (or my mother) when I turned it in the next morning to get the next ..."

So ... I can so relate to all of this, starting with the 1st grade teacher who made me read the first Dick & Jane book out loud to the class because she didn't believe I could read, and then used me as a reader to the class for the rest of the year because she thought it would inspire the rest of my classmates. You can imagine how many friends I made that year. Also, I was a reading group of one working my way through IBM's SRA box because i was reading at a 4th grade level. :)

no problem

David wrote: "carissa wrote: "If I can't see or hear, hopefully my brain will have other issues to contend with and I won't miss the thing/habit I like the most."

If you can't see or hear, there's always braill..."

And with the speed technology is moving at I really think it won't be long until books can be transmitted directly to our brains bypassing optical and audiological paths. I'm only 27 so I'm sure I will see it in my life time.

I read a lot and always have but I'm always discovering I still have a lot to learn about how to read. Just now it means slowing down my reading to a level that would have seemed very strange last year to me when it was all about getting to as many books as I could.

It's weird to me that we think children need progressive math lessons for 12 years of mandatory schooling, but that there's no corresponding attention to improving reading skills!

For instance, I would have loved to have had classes on how to pay attention, how to slow down and enjoy a sentence, how to be thoughtful about what you read, how to have a dialogue with an author, how to imagine scenes in your head from the clues on the page, how to explore your own strategies for how to enjoy a book, for instance whether you take time to visualize a character fully or not, and to talk about these things with others and see what their strategies are for enjoying what they read...

And by "reading lessons" I do NOT mean "how to identify the topic sentence," "how to skim for information," "how to read a textbook," etc...which is what you get back, if you look for books on how to be a better reader. I don't mean "more efficient reader."

Lark wrote: "I read a lot and always have but I'm always discovering I still have a lot to learn about how to read. Just now it means slowing down my reading to a level that would have seemed very strange last ..."

I know exactly what you mean, as a school librarian I am always stressing that better dos not mean efficient. I tend to stress on all the aspect you mentioned above, I like my students to read between the lines and understand what is going on.

carissa wrote: "Carol wrote: "So ... I can so relate to all of this, starting with the 1st grade teacher who made me read the first Dick & Jane book out loud to the class because she didn't believe I could read, ...."

Thank goodness. Duck duck goose used to be one of my core competencies. Probably one of the few upsides of being height impaired.

A couple of times I've forced myself to wait 2 to 3 days before starting a new book, but that's pretty rare and it's not like I'm not reading magazines, online articles, etc. in the meantime. I've been thinking about taking a longer break just for the heck of it (see what I'd do with the time I usually spend reading, etc.), but I probably won't. Given that I tend to read more than one book at a time, I do like to get to a point (even if it's only half a day) where I don't have any books in progress.

You made me laugh, Carol--duck-duck-goose is much easier when you're short (I was usually the shortest in my class)!

Marc wrote: "A couple of times I've forced myself to wait 2 to 3 days before starting a new book, but that's pretty rare and it's not like I'm not reading magazines, online articles, etc. in the meantime. I've ..."

Low center of gravity and all. It was the athletic high point of a lifetime :)

Stop that talk of a longer break from reading, though. The horror. The horror.

like taking a break from breathing?

the gift wrote: "like taking a break from breathing?"

Yes, exactly!!

I consider sleeping to be a kind of daily break from reading. That really seems like enough of a break to me.

LOL!

Jerry wrote: "I consider sleeping to be a kind of daily break from reading. That really seems like enough of a break to me."

Ha!

Marc wrote: "A couple of times I've forced myself to wait 2 to 3 days before starting a new book, but that's pretty rare and it's not like I'm not reading magazines, online articles, etc. in the meantime. I've ..."

re duck duck goose - Same here!!! :)

Lark wrote: "I read a lot and always have but I'm always discovering I still have a lot to learn about how to read. Just now it means slowing down my reading to a level that would have seemed very strange last ..."

Hear hear, Lark.

I wonder how many of us will even slow down enough to read and think about your insightful post (vs. internet-skim it).