The Evolution of My Reading (Part 2) – A Meme stolen from abookolive on YouTube

Are you a morning reader or night reader?

When I was working I was a lunchtime (often interrupted) and evening reader. These days, which MUCH more time on my hands I’m an all-day reader until around 6-7pm. Evenings are usually for gaming, chatting to the guys online & Blogging & stuff (and spending FAR too much time on YouTube!).

How quickly do you read and how much time do you devote to reading on a daily basis?

Pre-retirement my aim was 50 pages a day (on average). I’d read far more at weekends though so it spread out over the week. These days I aim for 100 pages a day and usually exceed that. Once I hit my target for the day I tend to slack off and do other things.

How many books do you average reading in a month?

Generally 8-10 depending on size and what else is going on. As I’m generally reviewing 8 books a month now I like to keep a reasonable review pile so I’m not in any great danger of running out of books to review here.

Do you read multiple books at the same time?

Often, yes. I have a weird ‘rule’ I brought in a while ago called Non-Fiction Sunday’s in order to increase my non-fiction reading (that was back in the day when most of my reading was fiction). This means that if I’m already reading a novel I put it to one side on Sunday and pick up a non-fiction read, then back to my novel on Monday until I finish it – then I’ll (generally) finish the non-fiction before moving on.

Do you challenge yourself to read a certain number of books per year?

As long as I have enough to review I’m pretty cool with numbers. Pre-retirement I aimed at 60-70. These days my aim is 100 per year.

How do you choose what to read next?

LOL- That could be a VERY complicated answer. I’ll give you the short version otherwise this could be a whole Blog post. Presently I have two stacks (or around 40 books total) on my sofa – I get one seat, the books get the other. This is my ‘read next’ pile which is the confluence of other book piles coming together to inform what I’m reading next. In addition to this I roll a dice after each finished book to see if I’m adding a ‘random’ other book to make things ‘interesting’ and keep things fresh. On top of this I do get hankerings for particular books or types of books which I sometimes give in to. Presently my brain is voting for Espionage and Fantasy. I’ve added an Espionage non-fiction to be read soon and am musing the possibility of some Fantasy.

How do you find new books that interest you?

Bloggers I visit, Amazon recommends, shop visits, various websites around the bazaars…. LOTS of places really. I’m always on the look-out for something new.

What is your favourite resource for hearing about new (to you) books?

Fiction-wise probably ‘Fantastic Fiction.com’. It’s FANTASTIC.

Do you listen to any book podcasts?

No, I prefer to read physical books.

Do you listen to any music when you read?

There’s always music playing in my house. Presently listening to Bjork.

Do you read a lot of older classics (in fiction) and non-fiction or mostly more recent published reads?

The vast majority of my reading throughout the year post-dates 2000 publication date. I do, however, also read a significant percentage of books from the 20^th & 19^th century. I certainly have no great objection to old books – even old non-fiction as long as it looks interesting or relevant (not TOO out of date) – but even older non-fiction can teach you about how knowledge or attitudes to things have changed over time.

How do you feel about judging older books by modern standards?

Judging older books my modern standards is inevitable. As readers we (generally) HAVE modern standards so can’t really switch them on and off like lightbulbs. People in the past often had different ideas, different experiences and different levels of knowledge than we ‘moderns’ do. We also, inevitably, have the benefit of hindsight so we can see where some ideas or attitudes led. Likewise future generations will be judging us by THEIR standards and, no doubt, finding us as wanting as we find writers and thinkers of centuries past. But one of the positive things I often take from when standards clash is just how far we’ve come since the days when people were judged (without comment from others) on things like race, sex and orientation that would literally be unthinkable for many today. I don’t primarily see ancestors at fault, I see progress.