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 20th & 19th 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.
2 comments:
like
Just one more part to come.....
Post a Comment