Reading Habits.

I came across this list of questions about reading on another blog I was reading, and I thought they were intriguing, so I’m posting my answers too.

Do you have a special place in your home dedicated to reading?

I do not really have a particularly favorite place to read, but when I’m reading by myself, I can often be found reading on the futon, in my bed, on the daybed in the sunroom, or in my hammock.  When I read to kids we most often all gather together on the futon, but Mr. TOF and I love to read in my bed too.

 

Bookmarks or random pieces of paper?

Neither!  I can never keep track of bookmarks, and I never seem to have random pieces of paper around, so most often I just turn the book over upside down, or remember the page or chapter that I was at in my head. If I can’t remember, I just take a few minutes to page through and find the place where I left off.

 

Can you just stop reading, or do you have to stop at the end of a chapter or after a certain number of pages?

When I’m reading nonfiction books, I typically stop at the end of a chapter, or where I fall asleep.  Regarding fiction, why would I stop?  Ha!  I tend to read fiction books straight through from beginning to end, barely stopping to go to the bathroom, actually.  I have to read at night so that my kids don’t interrupt, because I get very grouchy with people who get in the way of my story.

 

Do you eat or drink while reading?

No.  Definitely not.  That would be a recipe for disaster.

 

Do you watch TV or listen to music while reading?

Absolutely not.  First of all, we don’t have a TV, of course.  More importantly, I am not a person who multitasks, and I can be very easily overstimulated by auditory noise.  I can’t write when people are talking near me.  I can’t talk on the phone when someone else is in the room.  I can’t read while hearing music.  My brain just doesn’t deal with background noise.

 

One book at a time, or several at once? 

Because I read fiction from cover to cover in one sitting typically, I usually only have one book going at a time unless the book is especially terrible or boring.  I often have two or three nonfiction books that I’m working through, and also several books of poetry that I’m bouncing back and forth between.

 

Do you read at home or everywhere?

I’m a homebody, so most of my reading does take place at home, but I have no qualms about taking a stack of books on a trip when we are traveling.

 

 Do you read out loud or silently in your head?

When I read to my kids I am usually reading out loud, which is a lot of fun for me since I used to love being on the speech team and coaching speech when I was and English teacher.  When I am reading personally, I read silently.

 

Do you ever read ahead or skip pages?

I rarely skip pages, and I try really hard not to read ahead, but sometimes I get so anxious and caught up in a story that I HAVE to know how things turn out, so I might succumb to the temptation of reading the last chapter of a book when I’m really supposed to be in the middle.  I always go back to where I left off though, and see how things turn out like they do without skipping anything, and I reread the parts I’ve already read when I get to them chronologically.  This just breaks the tension that builds inside of me sometimes, and actually helps me to be a little bit more of a careful reader.

 

Do you break the spine, or keep it like new?

Sometimes I break the spine correctly, like I was taught when I worked in the library at college.  Most of the time I try not to crack the spine, though.

 

Do you write in your books?

No.  I have trouble even writing in workbooks.