How do you find time to read, what's your reading style and where do you think reading literature should rank in society's priorities?
This is a tricky question--er, questions, really--because the phrase "finding time to read" implies that reading is something that I must fit into everything else, rather than the other way around. I suppose it's just a matter of wording, but to me, it's also symbolic of something larger. After all, have you ever been asked how you make time for television in your life? Or how you manage to fit in all forty hours of work?
This gets at the heart of the second question, and I've already given away my answer: I think reading should be a priority, rather than a chore. A form of entertainment, fun, education, relaxation, rather than something to be squeezed in. It pains me that we think of reading as something for which we must carve out time, rather than something ingrained in our day-to-day lives; unlike television, housework, and grocery shopping, reading does not make the automatic to-do list. I'd argue that this is even true for avid readers--I know it is for myself--and it makes me wonder what an obstacle reading must seem to a non-reader, how difficult it must seem to carve out enough time to read an entire book.
But because I live in a world of reality, where chores and work and errands don't magically disappear in light of my desire to simply read, I do find time to read, and I do it at any given opportunity. I listen to audiobooks in the car, to and from work each day and any other time that I don't find myself with passengers. I listen to audiobooks while doing chores around the house or walking the dog--I purchased a portable CD player for just this purchase, so I can listen to audiobooks from my local library. I read in the mornings when I eat breakfast, and I read on my lunch breaks when I can, and I read in the evenings while my husband plays video games or watches television. I read before I go to bed. I read on vacation. I read when I travel. I read in line at the post office. I read whenever my mind--and my eyes and ears--are not caught up in other things.
I'm not hating on television or housework or even forty-hour work weeks here; I watch trashy TV shows (Worst Cooks in America, I'm looking at you), and I have a house to clean, and I work full time. But none of that is going to stop me from picking up a book each night, and whenever else I can, and from preaching to everyone else that they should do the same.
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Prompt from The Literary Blog Hop, hosted by The Blue Bookcase.
You've nailed it! This is one of my (HUGE) pet peeves.
ReplyDeleteHear, hear! I hate it when people talk about reading like it's a chore.
ReplyDeleteI have always loved reading. I don't remember not being able to do so. I have never thought of it as a chore - except for the times I had to read old English poetry in college - and don't understand it when others do.
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