Like most of you, I like to read. A lot. And I have very fond memories of doing just that as a child and growing up. Reading all kinds of things in all kinds of places from curled up in bed or on a couch to reading in diners and coffee shops.
I read all kinds of things now. Newspaper and professional articles, student work, lesson plans, blogs of all kinds, and tons and tons of online articles in the name of research for either my writer or teacher personas.
I’m currently reading historical fiction about Germany and Russia’s invasion of Poland that kick starts WWII. I like the book a lot, but it points up to me again how very little reading I do anymore for pleasure. And how much being a writer influences the way I read.
Criminal Minds has two really interesting posts here (don’t read the second half of the post about Goldman-Sachs if that’s not your thing) and here.
So tell me. What are you reading now? More or less than before? Does being a writer influence how/what you read? Your enjoyment of it?
Since having kids, I read less than I used to!! :( But I still love it. I read lots of YA and writing books these days. It's not the same lately. I read like a writer, which takes the fun out of it for sure!
ReplyDeleteThis year I have made it a mission to increase my reading, choosing new authors (or older classics), and I am really enjoying it! My reading tends to be a wide range of fiction (historical, sci-fi, memoir, contemporary, crime, YA) and social history. The latter is more for the novel, but luckily I love it, so I am on a bit of a win/win. :)
ReplyDeleteBeing a writer definitely influences what I read. I always try to read in the genre I'm writing at the time: right now, it's a lot of chick lit! When I'm between novels I like to experiment and I usually go to the bookstore to see what's on the bestseller lists.
ReplyDeleteI do like to read. My reading has slowed down with the kids. I'm currently reading Eldala by Michelle Gregory and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Yes, two books. I don't know why but I'm taking my time with them.
ReplyDeleteI read a lot of YA especially if it has paranormal/scifi/romance in it.
I love to read, right now I'm reading Sucks to Be Me by Kimberly Pauley, it was one that I spotted in Barnes & Noble, it made me laugh just from reading the back. I like to pick up fun Young Adult books to see what agents and publishers are liking. I also watch teens and see their selections to know what the "kids" are reading these days. Then I read tons of chick lits, I love them!
ReplyDeleteI don't read nearly as much as I used to. I don't read what I'd really like to read because the library in my little burb doesn't carry half the NYT listings. ("They're too racy.") And I don't have extra money for B&N. Depending on what they have in the used book store or what I can find at yard sales is pretty much what I read now. I haven't read anything newer than 5 years old in the last long time.
ReplyDeleteAs a YA writer, I read a lot of YA. Okay, I only read YA. I read now more than I used to. But as a drug rep, there wasn't enough time to read anything that wasn't business related. Now I look forward to curl up in bed to read.
ReplyDeleteI'm reading Forest Born by Shannon Hale. :D
Since I became a writer I read less than I used to because I spend time on my own writing, But whenever I do read, I feel refreshed to write again. It's an important part of my day.
ReplyDeleteI'm also someone that can't stop reading. If I'm in the bathroom and unfortunate enough not to have a book, I'll read the backs of the shampoo bottles and facial cleaners and what not. Have to be reading!
ReplyDeleteI'm a reader too. I still read a variety of things, a couple times a year I'll pick up a "classic," I gather up good-looking literary novels from the bookstore, but mostly I'm reading Young Adult fiction because my w.i.p. is aimed for this audience. It's fun, though. (waiting to see if I'll get tired of the teenage "voice")
ReplyDeleteI just finished (this morning over coffee) a murder mystery novel that was only just eh. I liked it because it illustrated what not to do in a book, and it was entertaining on many levels.
ReplyDeleteI love to read and have to get a couple more titles under my belt if I'm going to stay on track for completing 50 books this year!
I read a fair piece, but I go through phases: I'll read a lot for a while, and then nothing (or very slowly) for a span. Occasionally, I do research binges: I find a bunch of books on a topic and devour them.
ReplyDeleteI've found that being a writer sort of diminishes my enjoyment of all but the best books, because I find myself dissecting them, but on the other hand, it helps a lot with the craft aspect.
Right now - St. Peter's Fair by Ellis Peters, a Cadfael novel. I love these books.
I've always read a lot, but I've not read quite as much since I graduated from college 2 years ago. I think I'm still giving myself a break from having to read 20+ novels a semester and write about every single one of them.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I have read tons of romance novels/paranormal etc. Those are barely a blip on my radar, because I read them so ridiculously fast. I did get a Kindle at Christmas last year, and that's helping me read more too--lots of free ebooks. :-)
I've always been an avid reader, even when I was a kid. I think now that I'm a 'writer' though I try to read as many different genres as possible, rather than just my favourites.
ReplyDeleteDon’t miss out on my contest!
Being a writer has definitely influenced my reading. I am much more critical of what I read. On vacation this past weekend I picked up 2 books for the beach and they were too horrible to read past the 4th or 5th page. So instead, I sat staring blankly at the water as I wrote some more for my own stuff ;)
ReplyDeleteI do regularly library runs, though I've read almost nothing but YA and women's fiction for about four years now. I think I learn as much from books that don't succeed as ones that blow me away. Being a more critical reader is a mixed bag, though. Sometimes I feel I appreciate a writer's craft more, other times I worry I'm not letting myself be captivated and just enjoy enough any more, and it's bad for the soul, you know?
ReplyDeleteAnyone with SMY in their surname, just has to be followed...LOL
ReplyDeleteI am reading far more now than before. I decided to read outside of my usual genre. The variety helps my writing. I choose one each month (plus my usual style). It has been an interesting project, and I have found some great new reads.
Funny you should ask. I am reading your blog right now. (Sorry, just had to do it!) I just finished up "Sarah's Key."
ReplyDeleteI am reading Thin Places by Mary DeMuth. It's great, a little sad, but filled with hope. What I'm writing directly influences what I read. I've ready many, many WWII, Holocaust books because my first novel is in that setting (unpublished). My second novel is also in that era (also unpublished).
ReplyDeleteI love to read, but don't read as much when I am writing. I don't seem to manage my time as well as some. I only have so many hours. At the moment I am reading, Ship of Fools by Fintan O'Toole. A sad commentary on the collapse of the Irish Economy. Making my blood boil!
ReplyDeleteGreat questions! I was one of those kids who read all the time.
ReplyDeleteI find I have a lower crap tolerance than I used to, although I can still appreciate a good read that doesn't take itself seriously. I just don't read much anymore beyond magazines and news stories.
I think living without a book to read would send me to solitary. I love classics like Jane Eyre, and YA. It really doesn't matter what it is as long as it's not offensive to me, and as long as I care about the characters. A character that I care about right away I will follow anywhere :)
ReplyDeleteI try to read both inside and outside of my genre. I'm currently into cop dramas...which makes me very paranoid about locking my windows at night.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I tagged you in a post.
http://nitewriter6.blogspot.com/2010/05/tagged.html
I love reading and I can read in almost every situation - public transport, coffee houses, city pavements, anywhere. I think that as I develop as a writer, I'm beginning to love reading more because a) I can truly appreciate how much work an author has done when writing their book and b) I can admire their technique and become inspired by their style and ideas.
ReplyDeleteI do read a lot of stuff about writing and about the writing world--or alternatively, I read a lot of books because there's buzz about them, or they're new in my genre, or whatever. There's rarely a time I just pick something up because it seems INTERESTING anymore.
ReplyDeleteRight now I'm reading Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. I have this huge TBR shelf--books I've bought but haven't read. :-P
Definitely less than before...(sigh)
ReplyDeleteSince a computer made its appearance in my house, I find it steals some of the time I used to dedicate to reading - ok, it might be said that reading articles and so forth on the internet is still reading, but to me it means *books*.
Possibly fat, engrossing, lose-myself-in-the-story books.
I read YA most of the time because that's what I'm writing, but sometimes I'm in the mood for something different. I just finished a Regency Romance yesterday by Julia Quinn, but I'm going to start another YA tonight (The Body Finder).
ReplyDeleteWhen I was in a History graduate program, I read so much nonfiction and historical fiction as homework, I rarely read for fun during that time. And when I've been home with newborns, I haven't had the stamina to read more than an article.
ReplyDeleteNow I enjoy reading regularly again.
I'm reading more, but the writing has certainly changed my choices. I tend more toward writing How To's and research texts now, but I tend to enjoy the variety, so it doesn't feel like work.
ReplyDeleteYet. :) Ask me again in a year!
I read two books at a time -- I keep a fiction book on my nightstand (currently the 4th Harry Potter book) and I take a nonfiction book with me to read on my lunch breaks at work (I'm almost finished with "Screenplay By Disney", a book on the writing styles of Walt Disney and his team.)
ReplyDeleteI'm a recent college grad, and when I was in college, I hardly read anything because I had too much school work to do. Now that I'm in the "real world", I read as much as I can.
Between writing my novel, writing my blog, and my late shifts and 8 day straight work weeks -- whew! -- I don't read as much as I used to. I bought Jim Butcher's latest Harry Dresden, CHANGES, but I haven't gotten around to reading it. I finished Patricia Brigg's SILVER BORNE {but that was because I could download it on my Kindle.} If Jim's publishers would've allowed me to download CHANGES onto my Kindle, I probably would've finished it, while waiting for my hand-off to arrive.
ReplyDeleteOh,tomorrow is PRIMAL SCREAM! Blogfest. I had to enter early due to late night shift. Roland
I'm barely reading at all. I'm collecting titles for the days when I have free time. Next on my list is definitely Hush Hush and Soulless. I got a B&N gift card with the titles written on it so I won't forget.
ReplyDeleteAside from not having the time to read, I find I am a different sort of reader now that I've been writing for a while. I'm always critiquing, comparing what I might have done with a particular scene, or even trying to spot the places that I think the author had some critter say "but what about this," and the author responds "well, how about this fix".
Shameful. Sometimes I just want to go back to the days when I read for pleasure and didn't know how underdeveloped a character or setting was until I'd read the novel four or five times.
..........dhole
I have been rather disappointed in my reading habits lately. I used to go through books every 2-3 days, and now it takes me 2-3 weeks to finish one. Sometimes longer! But one of the reasons I have been reading less, is that I have been writing more.
ReplyDeleteAs for how reading affects my writing, well, I go through genre phases. I've read fantasies, action-thrillers, romances,and now I'm into murder-mysteries. And funny thing, I have a WIP that fits into each of those genres. (*I blush*)
I read about the same amount but my focus has definitely changed. I'm currently reading the genre of my WIP to keep me in the mind frame. I do read less YA fiction because that's not what I write but I still enjoy it.
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