Your WOT-reading habits

[szilard]

We know from a survey (a Teletext survey of 4,000 Britons in 2007, based on readers' own admissions) that "some 32% of those who bought or borrowed the fourth instalment in the Harry Potter series, admitted not finishing it. ... Less than a quarter of people found time to read every day, with 48% saying they were too tired".

We are fans, so one would say oh, we read the books from start to finish, but, according to many posts, we often skip books, storylines, chapters, or even paragraphs if we don't like them. And there are fans, who never re-read the series, because they find theorizing a much more interesting process.

So, what are your habits?

Do you need silence?
Do you have a special place/time/setting?
Do you read every day?
Do you ask constantly: does this make sense?
Do you jump back and forth?
Do you use WOT-related sites during reading?
Audiobooks, ebooks, paperbooks?
Can you identify yourself with the actual POV? (Yes, I'm going against Nabokov and co.)
Any skimming or skipping?

etc, etc

One of our current member can read in blocks - it must be fantastic, but using that technique would make the books even shorter...
 

[Kesiera_Sedai]

I don't need a certain time/place/space to read, but I'll admit that sometimes I just scan certain parts of books and only read in depth if I realize as I get deeper into the book that I missed something.

[DojoToad]

I read whenever and wherever. For 5 minutes while shoveling down breakfast or for a couple hours when on the couch. It's all good.

[Basel Gill]

I read whenever I get time. Silence is helpful but not a requirement. I'm in my second time through the series and have been reading start to finish, without any skimming/skipping, switching back and forth between the ebooks and paperbacks. While I'm doing this I'm reading through Leigh Butler's WoT reread blog on Tor.com for the first time, and enjoying it very much. Her writing is both insightful and humorous. (Her blog covering the Song of Ice and Fire series is also excellent.)

 

At some point, I plan to start the audiobooks. I've never listened to them before. Before meeting Cindy, I'd never listened to an audiobook in my life.

[dexterryu]

I've read the series several times in addition to listening to the audiobook versions of each. The audiobooks are excellent... and make the author switch almost unnoticeable.

 

When I read, I need it to be quiet. I also tend to read in bursts where I read a ton and other times where I read very little, so definitely not every day. That said, I do turn to reading when I need to get myself to sleep as it drains me out pretty quickly at night.

 

I often check sites for the books I am reading... not for spoilers but often for clarification when something seems off or I want to fact check (WoT Re-reads).

[szilard]

I don't need a certain time/place/space to read, but I'll admit that sometimes I just scan certain parts of books and only read in depth if I realize as I get deeper into the book that I missed something.

 

Interesting.

 

I read whenever and wherever. For 5 minutes while shoveling down breakfast or for a couple hours when on the couch. It's all good.

 

Excellent!

 

I read whenever I get time. Silence is helpful but not a requirement. I'm in my second time through the series and have been reading start to finish, without any skimming/skipping, switching back and forth between the ebooks and paperbacks. While I'm doing this I'm reading through Leigh Butler's WoT reread blog on Tor.com for the first time, and enjoying it very much. Her writing is both insightful and humorous. (Her blog covering the Song of Ice and Fire series is also excellent.)

 

At some point, I plan to start the audiobooks. I've never listened to them before. Before meeting Cindy, I'd never listened to an audiobook in my life.

 

Hats off!

 

I've read the series several times in addition to listening to the audiobook versions of each. The audiobooks are excellent... and make the author switch almost unnoticeable.

 

When I read, I need it to be quiet. I also tend to read in bursts where I read a ton and other times where I read very little, so definitely not every day. That said, I do turn to reading when I need to get myself to sleep as it drains me out pretty quickly at night.

 

I often check sites for the books I am reading... not for spoilers but often for clarification when something seems off or I want to fact check (WoT Re-reads).

 

Is this independent of genres? I usually mix them up: novel, poems, novel, history textbooks, essays, novel, plays, novel + math, chem, biology, architecture on weekends.

 

Or you just need a little digestion time?

 

 

Thank again, girls and boys! Or boys and girls.

[OlwenaSedai]

I am a very unpredictable reader, I guess. I need to be surrounded by books to feel at home and at ease, but sometimes I can go weeks without reading anything, other times I read at all possible times during the day - all evening, on my way to and from work and also during toilet breaks at work sometimes! And since I got a Kindle, I have a habit of arriving early to appointments with friends in pubs, restaurants etc. to squeeze in some reading time.

 

In the most intense periods, it's like how I have it with computer games or TV shows - my thoughts constantly drift to the books and the story, and I have problems focusing at whatever it is I am doing. I have even left parties early to go home and read/play/watch TV sometimes, although I am usually a quite extroverted person. I believe that is why I need that world of my own - I spend all day, every day surrounded by people and it's how I prefer it, but therefore I need a refuge which is all mine. I do like to discuss it online, though, or sometimes with friends if they read the same story as me. I also like to create small sub-stories in my mind, sometimes I also write them down, but I do this more with TV shows - I guess I feel the book stories are more static, you can't change them, while the TV shows don't necessarily have long arcs or a specific story, so you can use the characters for other stories that you make up yourself. Maybe I will feel different after I finish the entire series, which I actually haven't done yet. 

 

My reading habits have changed after I got an eReader, I read more now and it's more convenient. But even before that, I always used to drag books around with me wherever I went. I just like knowing I have the book I'm reading at hand, even if I know I won't have time to immerse myself that day.

 

When it comes to habits specific for WoT - I consume WoT, more than anything else. I read the books fast (but never skim, that's a deadly sin in my book) and move on to the next one right away. With other books, I devour the books more slowly and spend time in between each of them, pondering what I've read and the potential development of the story. But WoT is like a drug, I just want more right away. :P

[jack of shadows]

@olwena,

let me get this straight,you go to work,when it's time for a toilet break

you take your kindle with you,15 minutes later(more?) you return to

your seat,if your colleagues ask you what took you so long? you tell

them that you opened a gateway inside the toilet room to maradon to

help rand kick some trolloc's arses???

[Kesiera_Sedai]

No, she's probably doing what I usually do... trying to break out of the shield Moghedien left tied off during one of my TAR nightmares. You know they say whatever is done to you there stays when u wake...lmao

[OlwenaSedai]

@olwena,

let me get this straight,you go to work,when it's time for a toilet break

you take your kindle with you,15 minutes later(more?) you return to

your seat,if your colleagues ask you what took you so long? you tell

them that you opened a gateway inside the toilet room to maradon to

help rand kick some trolloc's arses???

Not 15 minutes at a time, that would be very noticeable :P But I can take like several breaks of 5 minutes during the day. xD

[szilard]

I am a very unpredictable reader, I guess. I need to be surrounded by books to feel at home and at ease, but sometimes I can go weeks without reading anything, other times I read at all possible times during the day - all evening, on my way to and from work and also during toilet breaks at work sometimes! And since I got a Kindle, I have a habit of arriving early to appointments with friends in pubs, restaurants etc. to squeeze in some reading time.

 

In the most intense periods, it's like how I have it with computer games or TV shows - my thoughts constantly drift to the books and the story, and I have problems focusing at whatever it is I am doing. I have even left parties early to go home and read/play/watch TV sometimes, although I am usually a quite extroverted person. I believe that is why I need that world of my own - I spend all day, every day surrounded by people and it's how I prefer it, but therefore I need a refuge which is all mine. I do like to discuss it online, though, or sometimes with friends if they read the same story as me. I also like to create small sub-stories in my mind, sometimes I also write them down, but I do this more with TV shows - I guess I feel the book stories are more static, you can't change them, while the TV shows don't necessarily have long arcs or a specific story, so you can use the characters for other stories that you make up yourself. Maybe I will feel different after I finish the entire series, which I actually haven't done yet. 

 

My reading habits have changed after I got an eReader, I read more now and it's more convenient. But even before that, I always used to drag books around with me wherever I went. I just like knowing I have the book I'm reading at hand, even if I know I won't have time to immerse myself that day.

 

When it comes to habits specific for WoT - I consume WoT, more than anything else. I read the books fast (but never skim, that's a deadly sin in my book) and move on to the next one right away. With other books, I devour the books more slowly and spend time in between each of them, pondering what I've read and the potential development of the story. But WoT is like a drug, I just want more right away. :P

 

At first glance, your post is very funny, but after reading it through for the second time I have a question: are you alone in your life?

 

You say that you are an extro, but I see a very lonely person. Maybe I just misread the signs (I'm not intelligent).

 

And maybe you should reduce your commuting time: it's really great when you don't have to spend 1-3-5 hours on bus/train/car (and you don't have to go to the toilet all the time).

[OlwenaSedai]

 

I am a very unpredictable reader, I guess. I need to be surrounded by books to feel at home and at ease, but sometimes I can go weeks without reading anything, other times I read at all possible times during the day - all evening, on my way to and from work and also during toilet breaks at work sometimes! And since I got a Kindle, I have a habit of arriving early to appointments with friends in pubs, restaurants etc. to squeeze in some reading time.

 

In the most intense periods, it's like how I have it with computer games or TV shows - my thoughts constantly drift to the books and the story, and I have problems focusing at whatever it is I am doing. I have even left parties early to go home and read/play/watch TV sometimes, although I am usually a quite extroverted person. I believe that is why I need that world of my own - I spend all day, every day surrounded by people and it's how I prefer it, but therefore I need a refuge which is all mine. I do like to discuss it online, though, or sometimes with friends if they read the same story as me. I also like to create small sub-stories in my mind, sometimes I also write them down, but I do this more with TV shows - I guess I feel the book stories are more static, you can't change them, while the TV shows don't necessarily have long arcs or a specific story, so you can use the characters for other stories that you make up yourself. Maybe I will feel different after I finish the entire series, which I actually haven't done yet.

 

My reading habits have changed after I got an eReader, I read more now and it's more convenient. But even before that, I always used to drag books around with me wherever I went. I just like knowing I have the book I'm reading at hand, even if I know I won't have time to immerse myself that day.

 

When it comes to habits specific for WoT - I consume WoT, more than anything else. I read the books fast (but never skim, that's a deadly sin in my book) and move on to the next one right away. With other books, I devour the books more slowly and spend time in between each of them, pondering what I've read and the potential development of the story. But WoT is like a drug, I just want more right away. :P

At first glance, your post is very funny, but after reading it through for the second time I have a question: are you alone in your life?

 

You say that you are an extro, but I see a very lonely person. Maybe I just misread the signs (I'm not intelligent).

 

And maybe you should reduce your commuting time: it's really great when you don't have to spend 1-3-5 hours on bus/train/car (and you don't have to go to the toilet all the time).

Lol! My commute is about 15 minutes. :p I live in the city centre. And to whether I am lonely, sometimes I am, but most of the time I am not. I have a boyfriend, a large loving family and many good friends. :) but one can still feel lonely as in feeling no one understands how you think etc., but ut was much more like that a couple of years ago. Now I am generally happy and content.

[mb]

first time through any novel is generally skim ahead and afterward return to the part I was reading; kind of alternate between those.

second & future times through are generally read straight through with very little skimming ahead.

[thehumantrashcan]

   I zone out when I read.  My wife hates it.  I've gotten better though.  There were times when someone would talk to me while I was reading and I would carry on a conversation with them, answer their questions but if they asked me what we talked about or sometimes if they even talked to me, I wouldn't remember, I would only remember the book.  Now-a-days, if I have a book and it's good, I can't put it down and pretty much read any spare moment, however, that only happens if the book is good.  This also drives my wife crazy as, unless I have to do something at home, I usually have a book in my hands.

[jack of shadows]

luckily enough,you're not married to nynaeve.

[thehumantrashcan]

Sometime I wonder though, it may be why she's one of my most favorite female characters.

[szilard]

Lol! My commute is about 15 minutes. :p I live in the city centre. And to whether I am lonely, sometimes I am, but most of the time I am not. I have a boyfriend, a large loving family and many good friends. :) but one can still feel lonely as in feeling no one understands how you think etc., but ut was much more like that a couple of years ago. Now I am generally happy and content.

 

OK

 

first time through any novel is generally skim ahead and afterward return to the part I was reading; kind of alternate between those.

second & future times through are generally read straight through with very little skimming ahead.

 

Why? I've never heard about reading like that.

 

   I zone out when I read.  My wife hates it.  I've gotten better though.  There were times when someone would talk to me while I was reading and I would carry on a conversation with them, answer their questions but if they asked me what we talked about or sometimes if they even talked to me, I wouldn't remember, I would only remember the book.  Now-a-days, if I have a book and it's good, I can't put it down and pretty much read any spare moment, however, that only happens if the book is good.  This also drives my wife crazy as, unless I have to do something at home, I usually have a book in my hands.

 

Excellent!

[mb]

not sure why I read like that.  though I do not mind spoilers on any novel/story I read.

I think I started reading like that several years ago.

[Guest]

The only times I have to read books is usually during my breaks at work, although I do occasionally get in some leisure reading at home, too. Because I can read a page a minute of just about any book I got, then I can average almost 250 pages of reading per week.

 

Now, when I was single and long before I met my wife, I would spend 2 hours or more reading great books, such as the WOT, at a time without pausing for breaks or anything else there at my home. The last time I did any binge reading was when AMOL came out. That is when I went back to my old habits of reading 2 to 3 hours at a time until I finished the book.

[mb]

"page a minute" is vague; different books have different size pages and different size font/spacing/etc.

also different formats of same book.