Wednesday 30 September 2015

My reading habits:

I was inspired by this blog post in feedly today and decided to play along while adding a few of my own additions... From High In the Sky.

Do you have a certain place at home to read?
Probably in bed, although if I am waiting for someone or just chilling, I have been known to seek out the lazyboy in Caleb's room to perch in the afternoon sun. My bed, winter sun soaking the blanket and a cat or two and it doesn't get much better than that.

A bookmark or a random piece of paper?
Both, I have a variety of bookmarks, from magnetic ones to cardboard ones with meaningful poems, but I have been known to just jam any random piece of paper in there, till slips to toilet paper. One thing I won't do is split the book open and damage it's spine. I have also turned down the corner of a book or two, if I am really stuck and if it is a disposable romance cheapie I picked up somewhere.

Can you stop reading or do you have to stop after a chapter or number of pages?
I can stop anywhere, anytime. However if the book is really riveting I will pick it up at any and all opportunities and things like making supper will just have to wait. 

Do you eat or drink while reading?
I may settle with a cup of tea or have a glass of water nearby to drink after I have read and slept a little. Of course if I drink the water before I read and sleep the sleep time would be cut short. If I am home alone I might eat lunch while perusing a magazine.

Do you watch TV or listen to music while reading?
No, the sounds actually intrude and I won't be able to make sense of what I am reading or retain what I have read. I might browse online, blogs etc but again not if it was anything I needed to remember.

Reading at home or everywhere?
Mostly at home, although if I know that I am heading to a doctor that has mingy mags in their waiting room (like the gynae) I would take along something to read. The GP's mags are old and likely infected, the dermatologist has the best mags but also has a receptionist that likes to talk. I would take my ipad or magazine if I had a long wait in the car as well, but the battle between the sun and the sunglasses having a script for distance makes reading a challenge. Even though Andrew's family happily reads magazines and newspapers while visiting I would perceive it as being rude and uninterested in the ongoing conversation and unlikely to do it.

Reading aloud or silently in your head?
Silently 99% of the time. When I was in school and Varsity I would read out loud as that helped me study.

Do you ever read ahead or skip pages?
All the time! Is that guilty secret number one? I can't seem to stop myself. I can read the end, and then go back and read the rest if there was something I didn't understand, and not have my enjoyment of the whole spoiled in any way. If there is a lot of prose, flowing descriptions of places etc, I will jump to the dialogue and then carry on again. 

Do you ever write in books?
Yes, my bibles and books that I am learning something from or have something that I want to share with Andrew later.

Do you belong to a bookclub or library?
Bookclub, that meets every second month at my house. We only have 5 members and all love the same type of English Christian fiction. I hardly ever read any of the books though, I have so many books that I have downloaded onto my ipad and still don;t get around to.

Favourite authors
Dee Henderson, her O'Malley Series especially.
Angela Hunt, The Unspoken - my fav of all time
Tim Downs - the bug man series
Tracie Blackstock - the Predator also really great
I really love romantic suspense the best, with great characters.
I will not read fiction written in the first person if I don't identify with the person. I really hate when books are written in the first person and the person keeps changing from him to her and back again.

One book at a time or several at once?
Several, I will usually have a few non-fiction on the go and can easily be reading two fiction ones concurrently as well. Depending on where I am and where the book is. 


2 comments:

alexa said...

Just saw your comment over at High in The Sky and popped in to say 'hello' and enjoy your reading habits post :). (Mine is still in the writing). I sympathise about books on the iPad - it;s amazing how many one can have and so easy - all TOO easy - to obtain!

Sian said...

Loved reading this! I totally get the thing about the sunglasses and the prescription. I tied myself in knots this year getting ready for my holiday because I now read better with my glasses than my contact lenses, so I went looking for reader sunglasses to put on over my contacts. All in the cause of a bit of holiday reading! Thanks for doing this Stefanie..it's nice to read the many similarities in the way we love our books (someone else who reads the end and then goes back!)