I’ve noticed some odd changes in my reading habits as I get older. Namely my attention span seems to be slowly slipping towards what I like to characterise as “manic guinea pig” levels. I love the physicality and heft of large, thick books but I find myself approaching their reading with a sinking heart – it’s difficult to keep myself patient for the time it takes to read them. I think that’s why my recent reading run has been so successful – several shorter books (though I did manage Wolf Hall and that’s no shrinking violet in the length stakes). On the other hand though, I don’t want to be stuck reading shorter books forever, I vastly admire any author who can sustain their creations for truly long books, and I don’t want to deny myself the pleasure of being immersed in those creations.
I’m hoping to some extent this is a phase rather than a long-term change! My reading style seems to go through cycles. Up until quite recently I was always loathe not to finish a book I had started, out of some sort of need to prove my stick-to-it-ness. These days, though, I am far less patient with books that are not keeping my interest or proving worth my reading time – and oftentimes it’s hard to put my finger on exactly what it is that is making it unreadworthy. Sometimes even bad or badly-written books can be readworthy, with a judicious amount of skim-reading.
Perhaps it’s just as time goes on and I think about the amount of great books out there yet to be read and the amount of great books to come I see less use in wasting my time on those that are falling well outside that category.
Question and Comment Time: So, dear viewers of mine, have your reading habits changed over the years? Can you give a book up or are you readers to the end? Do you have to read only shorter books or longer books and do you mind?
If a book hasn’t got me page page 40 (it used to be 20), then the chances of me finishing it are slim. Especially if I have others waiting. I do often have more than one book on the go, quick reads and longer reads which I’m go back to (if they’re good enough, or I’m desperate).
Ah, yes, that’s another good question – how long do you give a book before you know it’s time to give up? I’ve read up to 3/4s of a book and still given it up – I’m an eternal optimist.
In my youth I did used to be able to read several books at once but I find now that I lose track of the thread of a book if I get too involved in another one. And I make myself sound old when I say things like that!
I think the last time I read two books at once was when I was reading We Need to Talk About Kevin and I found I couldn’t read it at night before trying to get to sleep – it wasn’t conducive to good sleep.
The only thing that altered my omnivorous reading was having undiagnosed cataracts for nearly 18 months – and then having to wait another 4 months before I could beg&borrow enough to have one eye operated on (if I had continued on the public list, I *still* would not be able to read without intense concentration or b) drive (utterly necessary as I live in a remote area.) Sorry for the blahblahsowhat-type intro but it may emphasise that the only thing that stops me reading is eyesight problems. I still have 4-5 books on the go at once (admittedly down from the 7-8 of a decade ago.) I love long books I can immerse my brain in. Equally, I enjoy good short stories. I read a great deal of non-fiction – always have done. If I start yelling at the author – and it does happen – because of bad writing or authorial stupidity – you can almost guarentee I wont finish the book – the last like that was “Eat Pray Love” which I also physically destroyed (done that to only 4 other books in my life…)
I move between non-fiction and fiction all the time – like to mix it up, and I notice that if I read too much of either one after the other I start feeling a bit stale. Weirdly though I’ve realised I have mostly reviewed fiction on here – I must start talking about more non-fiction.
Don’t get me started on public health. Sad, but grrr. But you’ve made me think about how much I take my reading for granted. I’ve listened to a couple of audio books recently – my non-fiction selection was so amazingly good it sort of ruined the couple of fiction I’ve listened too – the reader makes such a difference as I find anyone who “acts” the voices too much irritates the beejesus out of me. But it could never replace reading with my own eyes, holding a book… smelling the paper…
One thing I’ve never done is given up reading all together or gone a day without reading at least 1 or 2 pages in a book.
My reading habits have certainly morphed over the years. This might be partly due to age and changes in circumstances, but I wonder if this is also attributed to my online multi-tasking. I still consider myself to be an avid reader, even if a fair component of my reading is now online, but this complements my love of books. I used to read several books at once, covering various genres; I still currently have a few on the go at the moment but prefer to have one major read at a time. I now tend to alternate between a fictional read and a biography of some sort. I wonder what my reading preferences will be in another ten years’ time?
That’s a great way to put it and I’m the same as you – one major read at a time.
Actually it’s possible I guess that my diminishing attention span could be related to increased internet reading – or just general increased computer use overall, where I tend to do several things at one time and spend short bursts of energy concentrating on each in turn. Changes in circumstances too, as you say, if the rest of your life is pretty demanding, attention-wise, it can be hard to really devote the time to good brick-size epic.
I love a) having a good brick-sized epic book on the go, although as I do most of my reading lying in bed at night it’s a bit of a strain on the wrists, and b) having a fiction and non-fiction book on the go at once. I belong a book club where we have a sciency theme (mostly nonfiction, but also a bit of science fiction and the odd DVD too) so there’s always something in the queue!
What do you all think about re-reading books? Is life too short?
I used to re-read a lot but nowadays it’s restricted to mostly Terry Pratchett and the occasional Jasper Fforde – not that I don’t like re-reading, in fact I would totally endorse re-reading, some books just get better and better and it can be a totally enjoyable experience every time you re-read, like visiting an old friend every year. I guess my access to new books (new to me, I mean) has just increased so I don’t necessarily have to re-read, like I used to.
Like visiting an old friend every year – that’s a great way to describe re-reading. It is one of the great joys in life I think. Closely allied to ‘comfort reading’ ..
Ah yes – so true! “Comfort reading”, I like that.
Totally agree with both your comments about rereading Ngaire & Carol: a couple of years ago my nextdoor neighbours made me a gift of a book they no longer wanted – “Bandoola” by Col. Bill Williams. I first came across Bandoola (a magnificent – in all senses of the word – Burmese tusker) in a school prizebook
“Elephants! Elephants! Elephants!” (we were allowed to choose our prizes.) I’d never been able to get a copy – and here, it was, just over the fence all the time! I devoured it that night, reread it the next afternoon, and then – over the next weeks, went into a happy binge of rereading all my elephant books (um yes, quite a few…)
Which I plan to do again, soonish-
There are some stories that are so good, so involving, I just *have* to repeat the joyous pleasure.
When I was ten my family did some extended travelling and I, obviously, couldn’t take a lot of books. I read The Neverending Story by Michael Ende over and over and over – was brilliant. I’d like to go back and re-read and see if it can bring back all the memories of that time.
‘The Shipping News’ is high on my rereading list – I love it so much. Plus I have an inexplicable fondness for rereading the Swallows and Amazons books, anachronistic as they are.
As for comfort reading, the #1 Ladies Detective Agency series have served that purpose wonderfully well, For some reason I resisted diving into them, but once I did I was hooked and have a well-worn path down to the Newtown Library to see if there are any I’ve missed. They’re perhaps stretching an idea too thinly, but oh what a great idea.
Right, off to track down my copy of The Shipping News and lug it off to bed!
I like it – rereading The Neverending Story!
Yes – for four months is was almost neverending – I think my parents thought it was neverending, anyway!!
[...] I’ve been thinking a bit more about my reading after posting the other day about My reading habits (and the interesting comments that followed). I realised my ability to enjoy (or not) a book is [...]