What is your reading "style"?

Sweetgum
Tue, 16 Nov 2021 16:18:09 +0000

I always have a book or two going. Usually just one at a time, but occasionally I will read two at once.

I always read before bed. That is the main time I do my reading, but if it’s a good book I’ve been known to read while cooking supper or doing other tasks.

We used to listen to a lot of audio books in the car when the kids were little (Harry Potter, etc), but I fell out of the habit of that. It did save me when I had to clean out my parents’ house by myself after my dad died, though. My husband listens/reads with his ears all the time on his walks and runs.

I usually let the plot play out and don’t try to guess what’s going to happen next. I might linger over a beautiful turn of a phrase, but usually read at a pretty steady clip.

I don’t read quite a book a week. Usually more like a book every 1.5 - 2 weeks. Depends on how thick the book is!

I read literary fiction, mysteries, fantasy, non-fiction (been getting into some memoirs lately).

I have a Goodreads account (two actually) but I don’t really like the social part of that. I don’t particularly want all my friends to know what I’m reading so I don’t post there, but I do get emails about what they are reading. Just seems a little too intrusive for me.

I volunteer at our local library and mostly check out books there. Their COVID protocols are great and have been all through the pandemic — just as good as the grocery stores or better. I will occasionally buy a book to help out our local bookstores and I do a lot of my holiday shopping there, but I mostly use the library. It feels much freer. You can give it a try and if you don’t like it, send it back — no money lost. I can also do most of the same things on our library website that I can do at Goodreads, but it can be set to private or shared, and your reviews can be anonymous. I have a user name there like I have here so don’t have to broadcast the whole town what I thought of a book under my real name. You can rate books (give stars), track how many books you have read, put books on your “for later read shelf” or your “completed shelf” or “in progress shelf”. Of course, you can put books on hold. You can also make lists, rate books and write reviews.

I have a Kindle, but only use it or my phone in a pinch. Much prefer real books and usually take them with me when I travel and usually buy a few more on my trip.