Play Book Tag discussion

What is your reading schedule? Do you read in the morning with a cup of coffee? Do you read in bed at night? Do you sit alone on your lunch break to get in a few chapters? Do you put on an audiobook while doing the dishes or while driving?

Where do you like to read? Do you have a favorite chair with lamp light? Sitting on your porch watching the sun set or maybe in a cafe surrounded by the clink and clatter of coffee cups?

Every morning I walk my dog about 45 minutes, and I can listen to a non-fiction audiobook during that time. I really can't do fiction on audio for reasons I don't understand. But I am always reading one fiction and one non-fiction book at a time, so it works out.

Then, the next time I usually read is before bed on my Kindle. Unfortunately, reading in the dark does kinda make me drowsy, but I try for a half hour.

Other than that, I bring my Kindle everywhere pretty much so if I have a few minutes waiting for an appointment, I'll read. If I can get my work done (part time so mostly that happens), I'll also read a half hour or so before cooking dinner - - like 4-4:30.

I wish I had more time to read and also that my attention span was a little better. I used to be able to read for hours straight, and I feel like that's harder to do now.

I always have an audio and a print/digital book going. I listen to the audio any chance I get, walking, driving (roads I travel often), quilting, or gardening. I read on my tablet each night before bed, until I get sleepy. Whatever I'm reading on my tablet is also available on my phone so, if I'm waiting somewhere, I always have a book available. Reading a book takes much longer for me than listening even though the act of reading is generally faster than listening to someone else read.

I almost always do fiction so my two books have to be quite different than each other. I can read two mysteries but they have to be different, i.e. time periods or geographical settings. Or I can have two different genres. Otherwise I can start to mix them up!

In the morning after breakfast I do my "devotional" reading and/or studying (not what I call it at all) and in the evenings I do my recreational reading. Most days; some days don't work out that way :)

There are times when I'll read in a waiting room or listen to an audiobook while walking if it's inside, etc, but I do less of that since resigning from being the family chauffeur. (so happy my middle child who no longer lives at home gave her old car to my son! Auto insurance is insanely expensive now if someone's never had it before, even for an old car, so he couldn't have afforded to both buy and insure one right away.)

I don't have a set schedule. I just read, whenever and wherever. I usually have three or four books going at once.
* A book I carry around with me in my purse ... also the book I read before bed each night, but also whenever I have a spare moment (waiting on line at the deli counter, for example).
* An audio book I listen to in the car
* A book that "lives" on my kitchen table. This is what I read when I'm enjoying my breakfast or when cooking dinner if I have to wait for the pasta water to boil, or whatever is in the over for 30 minutes.
* A digital audio that I can put on my MP3 player and listen to when doing household chores or working jigsaw puzzles.

With the impending move, I've slowed down considerably, and probably won't get back to the above noted "routine" until all the unpacking is done and we're fully settled in.

When I was working, I used to read on breaks and lunches a lot of the time. Being retired is wonderful! I can read almost anytime. I always have at least one audiobook and one print/ebook at a time. Sometimes I also have a longer book being discussed by one of my GR groups over time. Or I am going slowly through a nonfiction book for one of my talks on women's history. Last year, when we had a game with time-sensitive requests, I read more in the mornings to finish books.

I listen to audiobooks while driving, grocery shopping, cleaning, shoveling snow, cooking, exercising, walking, doing jigsaw puzzles, knitting or coloring. I am the opposite of Anita in that I rarely do nonfiction on audiobooks, since the performance isn't a big deal and they just seem so slow. (Anita, I don't remember if you are one of those who don't visualize while reading, that would make fiction audiobooks more challenging.)

I also try to pick different subjects or genres, but sometimes they still overlap - like one is historical mystery and another is a contemporary literary fiction, but both involve someone with a hidden identity.

I read on my couch, in bed, at the dining room table while eating if I am alone. I recently bought a comfy chair as another option. I have never understood the appeal of reading (or eating, for that matter) outside - it is always too cold, too hot, too windy, too buggy, and I have forgotten something I need. But I do walk outside in decent weather and listen to audiobooks. Some books were so effective that when I go to that place in the walk years later, I remember the scene from the book.

I often drink tea while reading. And of course snacks sometimes appear.

It varies slightly depending on M-F vs weekend or holiday, if I'm working in person or at home, but on days I work in person:

- read (alternate between audio - if I'm walking to/from the bus or train - ane print/ebook) on the way to and from work (in total, both ways = about 2.5 hours).

- after I get home, I eat, feed the cats, watch the news, then get online to check email, f/b, GR, LT, etc., then I'll read again before bed - ideally at least an hour, but that depends how long I was online or if I had other things to do in the evening (book club, volunteering).

Oh, and at home - best place to read is on the couch, legs also stretching out on the couch. (But I live alone, so there is no one else to watch tv or something else to distract me there, either.)

Being retired, I read at any time. I love to read on my couch. I am generally a one book reader, but sometimes read two if reading a dtb and ebook or fiction and nonfiction, however I find that one book usually overtakes the other and I do a little more dnf this way.

The evenings are generally the time I watch tv, but if hubby chooses a sports which I am uninterested in I read instead.

I'm often have insomnia and will read then as well.

I don't watch much TV, I'm not opposed to it, I just got out of the habit. My husband likes to watch a lot of news and I used to, but lately I mostly avoid it. I cancelled Netflix because we weren't watching it, and I should cancel a couple other services too. Mostly, I would just rather read.

The only real set time I have to read is in the evening. I normally shut down the computer by 7 pm and snuggle up and read for hours. I have 6 to 8 books on my nightstand and alternate between them all night. Like Robin, I stopped watching TV a while ago and treat these books like my "scheduled" TV used to be.

I always take a book with me when I go to doctor appointments. Unfortunately, (or fortunately) I have a lot of them and I get a lot of reading done.

In the summer, I spend the hours after gardening on the back porch with a cold drink and a good book

I read whenever I get a chance. I have 3 or 4 books going normally. Always an ebook and audiobook. Usually, a print book as well. Print is only for the house, and I normally try to read at least 100 pages in it a day. At home I sit on the couch and read. I have sports on most nights, and I read while watching the game. When the family watches a movie, I am normally reading. Depends on the movie. They don't like the kind of movies I like, and I don't really watch many movies anymore.

For audiobook, I put in any chance I get. Driving (I drive a lot for work). Anytime I'm waiting for anything, even in line to order. When I do the dishes or laundry or...anything, I am listening to a book.

I only like to read outdoors when the weather is perfect. Today I took my son and his friend to the park, and I read while they played. It was a little cool but overall, very nice.

I do like to read in a cafe or a library. Some play that is warm and inviting. Little bit of background chatter but nothing too noisy.

When I was younger, we used to do a lot of camping and I loved to read under the tall trees in the mountains of California. I would call a weekend a 3-book, 4-book or 5 book weekend.

It has been quite a while since I have done that and that is the kind of reading I did outside.

At that time the books< I was reading were mostly inexpensive used paperbacks which i purchased at the used bookstore. Many were medieval romances, but there were also mystery suspense, and Maeve Binchy and such.

For travel, I sometimes used to take "throwaway" or "giveaway" books - paperbacks I could leave behind or give to someone along the way. But it was tricky to have enough to read without weighing down a suitcase. Although I generally prefer paper, ebooks are perfect for trips - finished the book or don't like it? no problem, there are plenty more available! You don't even need lights on around you to read on a tablet. I can't sleep on planes (or anywhere sitting up), so I don't even try anymore. I read on a table or listen to an audiobook.

Years ago I heard a quote about "A reader is someone who packs their books for a trip before they pack their socks".

I regularly see articles about how good it is for us to focus on a task, like washing dishes, and appreciate the moment. Are you kidding?! Life is too short, and there are too many books out there! Doing chores is a great time for audiobooks, and it always seems the dishes or whatever were quick and easy that way.

Robin P wrote: "I regularly see articles about how good it is for us to focus on a task, like washing dishes, and appreciate the moment.."

I've heard that, but washing dishes is mundane, boring housework. I do housework, but have never enjoyed it, so why would I want to put all my focus on appreciating it? I focus enough to do a good job and use it for thinking time (or listening time if I'm alone.)

I can and do read anywhere and everywhere, at any time. About the only time of day that I don't read is early morning. I'm a night owl and also slow to wake up plus my mind is on the day, what has to be done, what problems have already come up, what deadlines I have to meet - you never quite fully shut off the lawyer when you are one. In the AM I'm struggling to pull it together and get settled into work. That's of course easier now that my office is in my living room - commute is really short - but that means I have also lost the block of morning reading time I used to have.

Since I live in NYC, commuting is by public transportation and I read while waiting for it and riding and that includes in cabs. I read most of Proust commuting to/from the office with occasional visits to the Park on weekends during pandemic when we were in the final 1000 pages.

I read on line in bank, post office, or checkout lines in stores,in between loads of laundry in the laundry room, while waiting for a friend to join me for lunch/dinner in a restaurant, while waiting for the pasta to cook, even when eating - especially if I have decided to have breakfast for dinner at a local diner. I even read - discretely on my phone - while sitting in a closing waiting for the copies to be delivered. I get a lot read in those small blocks of time.

I do have a demanding job so there is little time during the weekday for me to read, unless I am heading off to an in-person meeting which gives me time to read in transit. Since work spreads into the evening for me often, it can be 10 PM before I have a chance to 'do something else'. which for me is usually reading. Since I am a night owl, I routinely read until about 2 AM - and sometimes longer as I often have insomnia. But as mentioned, I don't do mornings - although I have been known to deal with some legal matters before office officially opens at 9:30/10 AM (standard NYC office hours). Given I can answer emails and texts in my pjs....

I can read anywhere. I recently went to the NY Botanical Gardens with friends, which had me reading while waiting for and travelling on the train, and sitting in sun on a park bench in between wandering the grounds. This past weekend I got a good 25 pages read in a slow reading classic on my way to meet friends for a Brooklyn outing.

I'm pretty much a one book at a time but I can also have more than one going at a time - NF reads generally need me to have shorter easier fiction reading. Long busty classics like Dickens or books that demand a lot of concentration for one reason or another or ones that are very dark and serious and heavy reads I break up with lighter fiction reads - sort of a day off from them.

I don't do audio - doesn't work for me unless it's a book I've already read. I basically only listen to audio books If I have a long drive, or on a long plane or train trip where I'm too tired mentally or physically to read and then it's something I've read and loved before as read by a narrow list of readers. Like Robin, I cannot sleep sitting up so I don't even try.

I read a lot of ebooks these days - aging eyes appreciate the lit screen and the ability to change font size at will, plus I can read in any lighting or lack thereof. For travel it's the BEST - and since I have both Nook and Kindle apps on my tablet and my phone, I don't even have to worry about whether I have my tablet with me. But I still read print books - I have a lot of TBR Towers around this apartment....

I just don't generally carry them around and about with me, reserving those for reading on my living room couch. I do still watch tv - not a lot but some and there are evenings where I just lie on the couch watching old movie after old movie, to mentally tired from my work day to do anything else. At some point though I always leave the couch to settle into bed to read for at least 2 hours before turning off the light and with luck falling asleep.

Many comment on how much I am able to read while still have a full time demanding job - I read at least 160 books a year, averaging about 350 pages per book. One very big reason is that I'm single, no pets, no kids, no partner requiring attention. I have a cleaning lady who comes once a month to do the major cleaning. I cook but also eat out a lot. Having a dishwasher makes kitchen cleanup after cooking easy. I live in an apartment building so repairs require just picking up the phone or sending a text. NYC means delivery - of groceries, even items from drugstore - you can order and get delivered just about anything. It does give me time many of you don't have. Plus all those small moments of reading add up, move you along in the book.

I do of course do other things besides reading for relaxation and pleasure - like attend theater, go to museums but even there I find opportunities to read - during intermission, on a bench in a favorite gallery while taking a break from wandering. I also have a bunch of hobbies - jigsaw puzzles are when watching tv, ditto needlework.

@Robin - lordy I remember the days of travelling with print books rather than having a simple tablet (or phone) with an unlimited number at your fingertips. I too used to pick books - cheap mass market paperbacks - that I would leave behind as I finished them. Goal was always to read as many as possible to leave space for souvenirs on the trip home. Boy did they weigh down luggage!

And I absolutely picked out my reading to pack before anything else - and stitching projects. Of course if I run out, I just buy something during my travels. But since the cost of the same type of books outside the USA was far more expensive than if I bought it here, tried not to do that (no joke - before the Euro and Brexit, the UK for example priced the same paperback 6.99 pounds that was 6.99 dollars here but due to the exchange rate, it was over $8 for me).

Like you I can't sleep sitting up. I read, do crossword puzzles, listen to music, stitch on a needlework project, generally whatever helps me get through the time readily. On long flights I have even been known to watch a movie or two. Most that are offered on flights are of no interest to me though. Oh, and it was on a return flight from Paris that introduced me to online Mahjong -- took me a while to figure out the game - and boy did that kill time in a flash.

I actually still bring at least 1 paperback book in my carry on, not just rely on my tablet. You never know when you won't be able to read on a device -- unable to recharge for example. God forbid I don't have sufficient reading material with me! Most of the time these days I don't end up reading that paperback but I still have it 'just in case.'