I want you to think about your ideal reading experience. Think about the location. (Your bed? Favorite chair? The beach? Indoors or outdoors?). Think about the sounds. (Is there music playing? Happy children playing in the background? Utter silence?) Is there a snack or beverage nearby? Are you alone or with friends/family (presumably being quiet enough for you to read in peace)? What kind of lighting is there? Are you dressed in something ultra-comfy? What’s your position? Curled up? Stretched out?
Now … describe it so that we can all feel exactly how perfect it is … and why.
My preferred reading position is leaned back with good support for my neck and arms – and the book. Sometimes a proper fuss to get everything right (pillows and reading glasses and whatever). (I often prefer reading on the Kindle now as then I can change the font size etc and it’s easier to hold as well – plus it has built-in dictionary.) Depending the time of day, season, light and noise etc it can be either my bed or my sofa or my TV-lounger or my sun-lounger on the balcony.
Usually I prefer silence; but if it’s not quiet (like the beat of music from some neighbour, or disturbing noise from outside) then I prefer to put on my own music… something with a “steady flow”. I like Celtic music so that’s often my choice in those situations; but it depends a bit on what it is I’m reading.
While I sometimes read while I’m eating, I don’t usually eat while I’m reading. Do you agree there’s a difference?
What I mean is that I can sometimes take a book to the kitchen table and read while I eat there. But I don’t very often eat snacks while reading in my “comfy” reading positions, as sticky fingers don’t go well with turning pages. Perhaps a cup of tea or another drink within reach though. (And I might take a break in the reading for snack!)
ditto on the Kindle for the same reasons. my favorite spot to read is my bed, I use 4 pillows, two behind me to prop me and one under each arm for arm rests. i don't eat snacks or drink anything while reading and i prefer no noise at all, and if hubby has the TV to loud i read the same sentence over and over and have to close the door. i can't read with music playing. i take my kindle with me to the doctor office but if there are people having conversations i find it hard to not listen to them.
ReplyDeletei have at times taken the book to the table with me if i was home alone, and sometimes sit outside in the swing to read, once in a while i curl in a chair.
Same as for Sandra, my favourite place to read is my bed in the evening, and when I work from home, at lunch break I like reading in the old armchair that even has its own post on my blog :-)
ReplyDeleteI absolutely LOVE eating and snacking while reading; lunch break on home office days usually means read & eat for me unless I am at my parents' or out for lunch meeting a friend.
A regular reading place for me is on the train to and from work and while waiting at the station. Of course this means that it is not entirely quiet around me, but I find I can block out people's conversations quite well if they speak German and I am reading in English, or the other way round.
Music or the TV is never on while I am reading.
I remember your armchair from your blog, Meike :) I find it fascinating that you can block out conversations in one language when reading in the other (both languages that you know well). I've never really thought about how that works (or not) for me (with Swedish/English). The foreign languages I hear from some other balconies etc where I live I'm not even sure what they are. Turkish, Kurdish or Iranian probably.
DeleteI think I see your difference of reading and eating. What a good blog question!!!! When I was younger, my favorite was flopping on the bed on my side, up on one elbow to prop my head up, that was heaven with a book. Once I hit 50 or so, I could not do it anymore. It is SO frustrating that I cannot get in many of my old favorite positions anymore! Anyway, as a girl at home, I always brought a book to the dinner table. I loved propping the pages open by putting the edge of the book under the side of my dinner plate. Eating and reading, Heaven!! My mother thought otherwise. "GINNY, TAKE THAT BOOK BACK TO YOUR ROOM! This is not a library and dinner is for talking, not reading!"
ReplyDeleteIn bed, on a lounger, in the patio wherever I feel most comfy at the time.
ReplyDeleteLow music or the birds singing is also good background noise, but not tv noise.
My most frenetic reading period was when I commuted by train back in the '70s: The Ring Trilogy, many Russian novels. Even more recently the only (lengthy) book I have read in one sitting was The Glass Palace (a superb book) when travelling from Scotland to New Zealand. And, yes, I agree that there is a difference between reading when eating and eating when reading.
ReplyDelete