Discussion: How I Read

Reading is such a personal experience, in my opinion. The process is unique for everyone. I always find it super interesting to see the process other readers do in order to actually sit down (or lay down) and read a book. So I thought it'd be fun to let you in on how I read, from how I decide what to read to what I do while reading, when I read, and everything in between.

When

When I have time, I can definitely read at any time of the day and night. However, I do usually prevent myself from picking up a book in the morning (until probably noon) and any time of night over 10pm. This is just because if it's too early or too late, it'll be more likely than not that I'll be too tired to actually process what I'm reading and I won't be fully immersed in the story, both of which is something I need in order to read and really like a book.
However, this is all when I have time. Due to school and my extracurriculars, I don't actually have time to read for most of the year - which is so disappointing. I tend to only read when I have big breaks - meaning winter break or summer break (I find spring break much too short for me to take my time and read a book). Sometimes, I may listen to an audiobook in between classes but that is very rare.

Format

That brings me to the format I usually read. I would say the vast majority of books I read are physical copies and this is because I love collecting books and seeing them displayed on my bookshelves. Looking at them, feeling them and even buying them brings me so much joy. I have read a few e-books and while I have no issue with reading ebooks, its definitely not my favorite format. I've read even fewer audiobooks (try: one.). But I was honestly really pleasantly surprised with this format and though I don't think I can use it to read my more anticipated books, I want to explore it more with all the classics I've been wanting to read but never find time for.

Pacing

When I was younger, I would consider myself a slow reader. Now, though I could still be considered slow in comparison to people, I feel like I read a lot faster than I used to. I can read a book a week if the book is in the usual 300 pages range (usually). I'm actually pretty happy with this pace - if I had more time, I could probably read around 50 books a year with this pace. That, and I believe this pace really helps me appreciate a book more because it gives me the time to do that. I am not rushing to get out of the world and I have plenty of time to get to know the characters and the environment more thoroughly.

Choosing

The age long question. How do you choose a book? I think this breaks down to two categories: How do you choose a book to add to your TBR? and: How do I choose out of my TBR? For this first one, I'll admit most of the books I have on my TBR and wishlist are books I've heard being spoken about in the book community a lot. Of course, they have to interest me in some way - either being from an author I've heard a lot about, the description sounding right up my alley, it being compared to a book/series I enjoyed or just the reviews being great. From then, choosing the next book I read from my TBR relies completely on my mood. Some days, I'll be in the mood for a romance or other days I'll be in the mood for a fantasy or a memoir and then pick my most anticipated from that. I don't really go by a list because I feel like thats an easy way to get started on a book that isn't going to match me at that point in time and it isn't a fair try for that book.

Where

My bed and couch are my go to places to read. I can get so comfy and I can control the amount of noise that goes on around me. I can't really read in public because of this (though I have done it on a rare occasion) noise issue, it really brings me out of the world and makes it hard to focus.

Music

This kind of goes along with the whole 'I can't read with a lot of noise' thing. I don't listen to anything when I read - even symphonies which I normally love to listen to. It just takes more away from the experience rather than add to it, for me at least. Especially if the music I choose definitely does not go along with the mood the novel is trying to convey. Like imagine listening to Nicki Minaj while reading The Fault in Our Stars?

Annotation

I actually don't annotate my books just because back in the day I only thought of annotating as writing in my books and I couldn't bear the thought. However, now I'm seeing annotating in the form of those multicolored tabs - each of which symbolize an emotion or literary devices that impacted the reader. I so wish I would have done that and I wish I had enough comfort in the thought of it in order to do it now. I've read some books where certain scenes or quotes are so impactful that even when I first read them, I think "I hope I never forget/lose this moment." Though, with all the books I read, that's exactly what ends up happening but annotation could solve that! But I'm not used to it so I haven't attempted it yet. It's a big hope though.

There's so much of how I read that I know will eventually evolve with me as a reader. That's why I really like knowing other people's reading styles, because I think it says so much about them. 

How do you read?