Me & Reading

Niall over at The Speculative Scotsman posted a piece the other day about reading habits and it got me thinking - how do I read?

I posted a short comment, but I thought it needed a little bit more expansion, and explanation. Here's my original comment:

It all depends for me, if it's a book that I've been waiting for and the prose is to my taste then I can devour a book in a day or two. If it's done in a style that I struggle with then it will take anywhere up to a couple of weeks, or longer. Each author is unique and while I can read some over and over again with no qualms (Peter F Hamilton), others can make reading a struggle, but still rewarding (Alastair Reynolds).

Now, it's all well and good saying that I can devour a book in a day or two, but in reality these books are few and far between. In recent memory I can only think of a handful that this can apply to: The Dreaming Void & The Temporal Void by Peter F Hamilton, Cosmopath by Eric Brown, most Harry Potter books, The Painted Man by Peter V Brett and The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. These aren't small books either, which I find surprising when I look back at what I've read. So why do I find them so irresistible? A good question...

These books only really fall into two categories: books that I've been highly anticipating and books that grab me pretty quickly with their prose and style. Those that I've been anticipating for a while will get priority in my reading and I'll drop anything else I'm reading at the time to make space for them. Usually it's because I've been following a particular series and the next volume promises to answer questions, sometimes it's just because the author is a favourite of mine whose style I find very easy to read. Some books (like PM and NOTW) instantly grab my attention and deliver a story that makes me want to turn the pages and is written in a style that allows that to happen easily.

I haven't got any excuses for listing the Harry Potter books, my wife got me reading them. As punishment I married her and she is now cursed with me. Forever. Muhahahaha!

Books that I can name that I've enjoyed reading but have taken a long time to get through are fewer. Alastair Reynolds usually falls into this camp. Of his books I've read I've enjoyed most of them, but they've taken a while to read. Pushing Ice is probably my favourite of his, although it took me close to a month to get through. Rewarding all the same, but because of his style I just can't read them that fast. I'm finding this is very much the case with his current book, Terminal World - it's great stuff, but taking a while to read. China Mieville is another - I've never managed to finish Perdido Street Station because by the time I get over halfway through I'm starting to forget what happened at the start.

I also go through periods where I want to do is read, read, read. When this reading fever grips me I usually alternate between three or four books at a time and manage to read a lot more than I would if I focused on one book. I find that having the variation gives me much more enjoyment - if one book starts to feel a little bogged down I pick up another, but I'll always work my way back.

On the other hand I sometimes go through periods of extreme can't-be-botheredness. I hate it when these creep up and attack when I'm not looking, and it doesn't matter what I try and pick up I just can't focus. I haven't yet found a sure-fire cure for this other than wait it out, which can be a real pain when I know I want to read something, but just can't muster up the energy to do so.

One thing I found recently that helps my habit is audio books. While at home doing the ironing manly stuff I usually stick one on and the time flies by - I'll even plug it through the stereo while playing games. Plus with my iPhone now I can listen to them on the move and in the car, so all is good :)