Betty blog

On behalf of Betty...

Sorry for the delay, here goes

I usually read on the train and in particular in the mornings as I’m more with it. In the evening I need time to look out of the window, work or send some text messages. If my book is particularly good then it gets read both ways. My other time for reading in on holiday and I usually take about 5-6 books, all carefully selected beforehand to ensure I’ve got a good mix to match my moods and to mix things up

Reading is escapism and learning for me, it’s a chance to forget I’m sitting on the 07.36 and instead feel like I’m a million miles from my everyday life. I tend to read a mix of fiction, real life, particularly climbing and cycling as well as work related books. The work ones are never too heavy so things like the Tipping Point

Favourite author is probably Douglas Coupland and Joe Simpson. Favourite book would be Perfume

I buys my books in a mix of places, often Borders close to where I live and usually when they have offers on. I will look at the jackets and see what takes my fancy and I keep a list of the new releases so I can remember to buy them when they come out in paperback. I also keep a list so I can price check on the web and will then sometimes order via Amazon

I like my bookshelf, it’s like a trophy cabinet so I don’t really like to lend my books out. I also don’t like to borrow books as I feel there is a pressure to read and return within a certain timeframe. I treat my books with respect so you will rarely find one that has the spine broken!! (probably says a lot about me!). They are also arranged by Author/size (I’m a Virgo OK!)

I don’t use Facebook too often but I do have virtual bookshelf to keep a tab on everything I read

Am i an e-reader convert?

I find there's nothing more comforting than curling up on the sofa after a long day and escaping into a world of fiction.

As a kid I couldn't go to sleep unless I'd read at least one chapter of whatever book was on the go. Reading was always associated with bedtime and many a night I'd stay up way past it greedily reading my books.

I guess reading for me was therefore associtated with the forbidden and was an indulgence I wanted whenever I could sneak in the time. And because books are a silent past time, I could surrendor myself to the weird and wonderful worlds of fiction without being caught out.

And now, the feeling of physically thumbing through a well read book brings back waves of nostalgia from those secretive days. The tangibility of having a book in my hand, with tumbed pages and notations and indicators of past-time readings could never be replaced for me.

what I'm reading

I just finished reading "The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao" and can't recommend it enough. It's going to be one of those books I buy for all my reader friends.
I picked it up at my local bookshop because I liked the cover, didn't know anything about it but I realised it was on display because it had won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. So it was a bit of a gamble but I absolutely loved it.
I finished it last night, and started "Lullaby" by Chuck Palahniuk on the bus this morning - very different and recommended by a couple of friends as their favourite Palahniuk. It's quite small so I might be able to finish it by Friday so I can go on hols with another book. I've picked 3 candidates to choose from at the last minute but I also just ordered "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" by David Foster Wallace (couldn't find it in bookshops). If I get it in time, I'll probably end up with 2 books for the trip. Unless I take "Infinite Jest" which is enormous and quiet daunting, but meant to be absolutely brilliant.

Top recommendation

I've just had a delivery from Amazon. 'Stumbling on Happiness' by Daniel Gilbert. Normally I would give any self help type of book the widest berth possible. This comes recommended, however, by Stefan Sagmeister one of the coolest guys on the planet. He's a top designer who made his name with his album covers for the Rolling Stones and Lou Reed amongst others. If its good enough for him...

Printed books are the most important medium today

I currently have about 50 or so unread books on my wobbly bookshelf (from a collection of about 300). I partly blame this number on the simplicity of Amazon’s One-Click ordering system. I primarily blame it on my own endless curiosity:

(For instance, thanks to page 33 of the book ‘Do Polar Bears Get Lonely?’ I now know how toothpaste manufacturers get stripes in toothpaste!).

Anyway – when I was younger I had a similarly expensive relationship with music – vinyl in particular. But, whilst I still feel the same love for music today that I developed during my youth, I now spend significantly more time in Waterstones or on Amazon, than in HMV or iTunes.

However, this shift in priorities has nothing to do with life-stage.

(Switching to planner mode)

In today’s digital world, media is constantly evolving (music in particular is open to re-working, re-interpreting or remixing). But, because media is more accessible – and therefore more disposable – there is less intrinsic value in consumption. Sharing has become the primary source of enjoyment. (How often do you listen to songs on your iPod in their entirety?)

Many people have stated that it’s not the technology that’s driving this change, but the behaviour of the individual: We've essentially moved from a 'need-to-know' to a 'need-to-share' culture. Sharing is about one’s search for identity. It’s about the need of the individual to be validated by their peers - about them trying to figure out ‘how to live’.

(Planner mode off)

Which brings me to two reasons I love books and will always have unread books on my wobbly bookshelf.

1. In times of uncertainty – along with the ever-changing messiness of the web – the humble printed book represents something definite. Predictable. Complete. It does not need to be ‘mashed’ or ‘remixed’ to take it to a wider-audience. The individual will discover it, when the time is right.

2. Whatever trends or cultural shifts happen, one will always find oneself in a book. Or, as Ralph Waldo Emerson put more eloquently, "What can we read, but ourselves. Take the book, my friend, and read your eyes out; you will never find there, what I find."

That’s why I love printed books - and also why I think they are the most valuable medium in the digital age.

Just a quick thought

I'm not sure I can demarcate an activity called "reading" unless it includes so much that it is a redundent category. Even if I ignore the reading I do for work, I've normally got something nearby to read: newspapers, blog posts, magazine articles, chapters of books, whole books. I read some on my phone, a lot on my laptop or printed from the web, and some in actual old fashioned books.

Also, I'm not sure how to disentangle a lot of this reading from socialising as so much [mainly online but also offline] socialising is driven by text and texts. This didn't seems important in the past when books or magazines were the unit of exchange, but now I get sent articles all the time and, thanks to google sharing, delicious and the blogs I have in common with friends, shared texts are now part of conversation.

As a result, I think people read more often and more widely than in the past, and they do so in all sorts of different ways which don't seem to have much in common. I imagine that reading a trashy celeb auto-biog would feel like a long OK magzine. A thriller seems to have more in common with a film. And reading a proper history book is slow, reviewing, discursive, note taking process - which perhaps has more in common with a serious blog.

The fact that someone's reading in a particular format doesn't tell you very much. You need to know what they reading and the rhythms they're reading at.

I'll think more about this later.

why i miss reading

i used to read loads.

i used to work just over an hour away. this meant that everyday i would have at least one newspaper (the sun), one magazine (wired, q), one or two work-like books (some planning / digital stuff) and maybe a novel or two on the go (all sorts of genres: SF, thriller, modern greats, gangster & crime, UK and international authors. from pulp fiction to booker prizes... but nearly always bought from the recommendations at waterstones)

(actually interesting aside here - all non-fiction tends to be bought on amazon. most fiction tends to be bought in a book shop).

Now i live 25 mins away and get the bus in - and normally i've got my laptop on to keep on top of the 1000 of emails i get every week. And since i now live with my fiance, there's less reading at home now too.

I hadn't really thought about the fact i was reading less until i met an old colleague who asked 'what books have you read that i should - you've probably got through about 30 since i last saw you'. i think i'd read about 2.

well immediately, i suddenly felt a bit stupid. this person had me down as someone who talks about books. in fact it was clear that a lot of our conversations were often sparked by what we'd been reading (normally in the work / planning arena, it has to be said).

reading less meant talking less.

i then when i thought about it i started to worry that i wasn't filling up my brain with new ideas and thoughts from loads of different places. all i was reading was the work that i was doing - where's the new stimulus?

reading less meant thinking less.

now that reading doens't come naturally to my day, i need to plan it in. i need to have a goal and a focus. a reading list that rewards me when i get through it...

hmmm where do I start?

I guess my reading habbits change from time to time, I enjoy books and it's actually something that I like about the UK because the prices of books are pretty good, you can swing into a WH Smiths on an impulse or at airport and get a good 3 for 2 deal on some trashy fiction or some quite good non fiction stuff, for specific books or topics the internet is a good way to buy. free trade mags/ newspapers a good for weekend breakfast reading. Wiki-books is also a good place to do some "Snack" reading also some of the science daily has some good articals also.

I guess the best thing about books is that you can take them anywhere, when your stuck sitting on the runway at Heathrow with not being able to switch on any of your electronic gadgets - it's time to dig out that book you bought after speeding through a book shop at the last minute... pretty handy for trains also speeding through the boring country side you can just pick up your book. Fairly handy down the beach also just to soak up some rays and get stuck into some reading... I guess when you tavel alone or by yourself a book is almost like a companion that will not get bloody travel sick or nag about the state of the hotel room.

Sharing and borrowing books is also good, I'm sure if at any one time all my books were in my house at the same time they wouldn't all fit in! but it is a little annoying when you favourates that you could plow through on a weekend is being kept by a slow reader - you know who you are give me back my bloody book - if it's not being used to prop up the wonky leg of a table! buy your own mother fucking copy of the book if like it hanging around your house so much... ok I've worked myself up a little too much with favourate book seperation anxiety, I better go and calm down now.

Where do we start? Books usually do it with a dedication, so i'll dedicate this to all the books i've started reading but never finished; 

I'm sorry, it wasn't you it was me. The spark just wasn't there. 

I tried i really did. Gave it my best go, but you gave me nothing back...

Okay, okay. Time to end the relationship analogy, but that's what it is, and that's why i love it.  When you read a book, it's just the two of you, no one else. You go on a journey, experience new things, go through emotions and few unexpected (sometimes good, mostly bad) surprises. When you're really into it, but apart from it, you cant wait to be back together and hold it in your hands. 

You never forget the first book you love, you measure all others by it. And the beauty is you can read more than one book at once and they don't get jealous. It's an open relationship if you will. 

Books books books – how I love you! I’m obsessed by reading, have been since I can remember.  My friends often reminisce about TV shows they watched as kids and I can’t remember any of them – it was only when I asked my mum what I did as I child and why can’t I remember that she told me: “you always had your head in a book dear and just not interested in the tv.”  And that’s still the case – I’d much rather read a book or magazine or newspaper than watch tv, any day!

I read novels including fiction, biographies, histories and plays, magazines normally fashion/gossip and I do have a thing for the economist and national geographic… I skim read newspapers almost everyday for work and read the London paper and London lite nearly every night as they are thrust in my hand on my walk home… Also read stuff online – mostly from newspaper/magazine websites… I’m just a huge consumer of the written word!!! 

reading habits

OK, I’ll start with the questions too.

I read books mainly, and a few magazines (The Word, Vanity Fair every month, Rolling Stone, NME, Q, Premiere, Les Inrocks less regularly).

I read news and reviews online.

I always carry a book with me, but will abandon it for a few days when the new Vanity Fair / Word comes out.
I read books on the bus, in the car (at the red light), at home, on the train, in parks, in the queue to the cinema, in coffee shops and sometimes when I’m walking.

I only read online for a short while, as a 5min break from whatever it is I’m doing or if someone has emailed me a link. I also read articles picked by the people I follow on Twitter. Oh, and I read a few blogs I subscribe to, usually on my Blackberry on my way to work or back.

I read fiction mainly, although I love Jon Ronson, Malcolm Gladwell and Joe Queenan’s books.

I choose books based on friends’ recommendations, ‘families’ of authors or endorsement from writers I love (I got into Siri Hustvedt through Paul Auster, Nicola Krauss through Jonathan Safran Foer, Robertson Davies and Alice Munro through John Irving…), articles I’ve read, sometimes even great covers. I love spending time in bookshops browsing. I don’t wait until I have finished a book to buy the next one. I just buy books and always have a pile to pick from, depending on my mood.
I only buy hardbacks if it’s a new book by a favourite writer and I can’t wait until the paperback comes out.

I love recommending books to friends, and buying books for them. Same as with music and films. And I follow recommendations from friends with similar tastes.
If I discover a writer I like, I will read every book they’ve written, often back to back, to catch up on what I’ve missed.

Another use for The Economist

It's a good choice for swatting flies. Compact but relatively heavyweight.

Economist; Nexus; Private Eye

It's been a periodical couple of weeks.

I bought The Economist for the first time about ten days ago, in a fit of fascistic self-improvement and because it contained an article entitled Don't Protect Bad Belgian Art, which turned out to be a lot less interesting than it sounded. I read it with some wine, trying to get rid of the feeling that I'd sold out to the Man (cheap lager and roll-ups would have been a better choice but I don't smoke any more). It turned out to be exactly what you'd expect: closely reasoned, closely written, intelligent, considered and catastrophically dull. I realise now that I can't remember a single thing it told me. So this week I decided to go to somewhere else.

Nexus is an Australian magazine dedicated to weird shit and conspiracy theories. I've just looked for it in my book storage zone on the floor and it's disappeared.

I'm not suggesting anything, just saying.

I remember an article about Tesla and a giant eight-sided pyramid with a copper alloy hemispherical top that he was building to make rain when the Second World War intervened and but a stop to his brilliance. (Draw your own conclusions.) I read about some Serbian monoliths that acted as ionising air conditioners, although the article didn't say why prehistoric man would want to air condition Serbia. Maybe just because he could. Then I read about the oldest temple in the world, which is in Turkey. The revelations went on: I now know that a secret cabal of rich people is trying to impose a single currency on the world. (Why didn't The Economist tell me this? Are you thinking what I'm thinking?) And I found out about the experiences of a man from New Zealand who was kidnapped by a female alien named Zeena who looked just like the aliens from Roswell and you know maybe that's just coincidence and maybe it's also just a coincidence that her name is very close to to that of a fictional warrior princess who fought evildoers and protected weak mortals from the mighty godlike supernatural forces in the universe but I don't think so, do you?

I needed to get out of the nexus that Nexus had sucked me into.

My Private Eye arrived. I wept with joy. It's the best magazine to do the jobs I demand of it, which are to generate righteous anger, make me laugh and annoy the commuting management consultants on the 7.37 Misery Flyer to Marylebone. The Economist just makes them think I'm one of them. Nexus lets them dismiss me as a scruffy long-haired Jethro Tull fan of no account (which to be fair is exactly what I am). But Private Eye tells them I'm on their case. Yeah: be afraid. Be very afraid.

I would definitely describe myself as a reader - not least because it sounds more intellectual than a bookworm which is what I used to get called! I try to read at least a book a week and then read the weekend papers (Guardian/Observer) and then Guardian or BBC online during the week, plus The Week magazine as a good round up of the news.

I will read most fiction but prefer historical fiction or any novels set abroad. I am a strictly one at a time type reader - my treat for finishing a difficult book is getting to start a new book. Currently reading A Tale of Two Cities as I try to throw in some classics, although I mostly read modern literature. Once in a blue moon I'll read some trashy novels e.g. Chick Lit / Dean Koontz but need an excuse like a long plane journey - even then I feel a bit dirty! I choose books based on recommendations - from friends or from Amazon, literary award winners, what I know I 'ought' to read, and what's in the 3 for 2 deals! I'm in a book club so enjoy reading books I would never have considered or come across through that. I also always keep a list on me of books that I want.

Buying books is my luxury - I buy far too many to read. I love impulse purchases - online or browsing in shops at the weekends. When I'm feeling broke then I go hunting in charity shops. I would never give my books to charity though! Very rarely reread books as there's still so much I haven't read. Can't remember the last time I read a hardback - I mostly read on my commute so just too big and heavy. I also love giving books to other people - I think that books make for a really thoughtful gift.

I'm yet to discover my favourite genre so I try and read really different styles of writing as much as I can.
I recently read The Accidental by Ali Smith and Spohie's world by Jostein Gaarder. I still can't work out if I enjoyed either of these books but I guess the main thing about having read them is that I'm still thinking about them. To me, the sign of any good book is that it makes you think. Whether that's positive or negative, at least the book has had an effect on me.

Twitter. I am a recent convert due to peer group pressure. I've been on it since Friday and despite my best efforts I have become strangely addicted. So in terms of online reading habits this tweeting thing has made a difference. Beforehand my online reading tended to be for reference only. Paradoxically although I am posting this entry I have never been into reading blogs.

I'd say I've basically been obsessed with reading since I learned to.

 

I was about to write that 'I read anything and everything' but that's probably not true. The short version is that I'm very big on fiction and tend to have 2 or 3 books on the go at once. I've sort of been on a fiction spree since I finished my degree and stopped having to read golden age spanish plays. I still can't quite believe that I'm allowed to read whatever I like and shouldn't be prioritising uni books (and it was a while ago now!) That said, I'm a complete snob - if I read a Philippa Gregory it's half in secret.

Having books is a good feeling and I love having shelves full. I'd have more if I had the space ...And I love 'collecting' them so that I've read *everything* by a particular author. 

I'd way rather have a room full of books in any old state than a digital reader device. I'd feel like Penny our of Inspector Gadget using one of those. 

One thing I can't stand: bullshit management books.    

Today's Thursday, that means two magazines will be devoured for pleasure. The Spectator, which I have already skip read and which contains a couple of witty reviews of the controversial new Lars Von Trier movie 'Antichrist'. Campaign magazine which is really a work thing but truth to tell I always enjoy it mostly for the gossip.
I don't really have a book on the go at the moment although I quite fancy 'The Corner' by Ed Burns and David Simon. These guys are the writers of 'The Wire' which is, of course, the finest TV drama of all time. I am off on holiday in a week, I will definitely be getting hold of a copy.

Sam's reading habits

So, I get the pop this blog's cherry, woohoo!

Lacking inspiration I'm going to work against some of your questions, we'll see where they take me...

I very rarely read magazines, I'm more of a books and newspapers type. I tend to have four or five books on the go at any one time, one on the toilet, a couple by my bed, one I'm trying to get through for work and one that I'm saving for my next holiday.

While I don't buy papers or pick up the freebies I always love a browse through whatever's available in the cafe or on the coffee table at an office or friend's house. I mainly go through it in this order: sport; 'human interest'; international news; business; gossip.

I read a lot on line. I use Google Reader to monitor websites and blogs that I'm interested in and these range across many subjects, work and personal. I find it hard to find the time to do all this but there is just so much interesting stuff out there that I have to try.

What determines what I'm reading is very much location and whether there's access to the internet. Getting an iphone type device that's good for reading on could be dangerous for me...

I prefer paperback books for their portability. I like online because it tends to come in more bite-sized chunks.

My choices are based on recommendations from friends but also works referenced by other people, the latter being rife with online reading and linking through to influences. I have lots of books at home that I'm waiting to read and I should stop buying new ones until I've cleared some of the backlog but I do like buying books when I see them.

If I think something is amazing I'll talk about it relentlessly for a couple of weeks after reading it with the frequency dropping off dramatically after that. I'm really bad at remembering what was in what book or article beyond that point so I start to get vague which doesn't help me or the people I'm talking to. Currently I'm getting lots of laughs from a book called 'Welcome to advertising...Now get lost'.

I like reading because I learn from it. It inspires me, gives me ideas and makes me angry, depending on what it is I'm reading. I find it relaxing, so much so that I find it almost impossible to read in the evening as it puts me to sleep...

I also write, here's my blog.

iris reading blog introduction

Welcome to the iris reading blog. We want to hear all about how, what, when, where and why you read! Feel free to write about anything you like – but please focus on reading for pleasure / for yourself rather than reading for work – although if you read work stuff for pleasure we’d like to hear about that too.

Some things to think about to get you started:

Q: Do you read books, magazines, newspapers (free or paid for?)? 

Q: Do you read online? 

Q: What determines which of these you read at any given moment – is it your location, your mood, the time of day, the subject matter? 

Q: What is it about the different formats that appeals? That doesn’t appeal?

Q: How do you choose what to read? 

Q: Do you recommend stuff to others? Do you follow recommendations?

Q: How does reading make you feel? What are all the different ways it makes you feel?

How would you describe yourself as a reader? Fast and furious, slow and thorough? 

Do you always have a pile of books on the go or are you a strictly one at a time kind of reader?

Anyway, that’s enough from us – it’s your blog, write what you like – and feel free to read everyone else’s posts and write back to them!

Thanks