# Do you like it when someone reads to you? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 5, 2010, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-it-when-someone-reads-to-you/563051 "2010-12-05T18:31:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-it-when-someone-reads-to-you/563051/21 "2010-12-06T00:55:44Z")
I like it, which is good, because my husband has spent the last two years reading me the novel he’s writing. 😃 And I love to read aloud. I’ve read him (during our twelve years together) about (counts) at least fifteen novels. Some read aloud better than other. L. M. Montgomery is great for read-alouds. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-it-when-someone-reads-to-you/563051/22 "2010-12-06T01:37:34Z")
I haven’t experienced it lately but I’m pretty sure I would have to kill the person reading to me. Unless it was Katy Perry. Maybe. ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-it-when-someone-reads-to-you/563051/23 "2010-12-06T01:38:24Z")
No, I don’t like being read to. I can only tolerate audio books in the car, and even then I’d prefer to read for myself when I’m a passenger - except that I get motion sickness. (I suspect my husband is secretly grateful for this, because I keep him company on long drives instead of retreating into a book.) I like to read aloud, though, and my family claims to enjoy listening to me. I suspect I’ve spent hundreds of hours reading aloud - Harry Potter, Narnia, Tolkien, James Herriot, lots of stuff. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-it-when-someone-reads-to-you/563051/24 "2010-12-06T04:11:21Z")
My husband I used to read to each other - the Harry Potter books were actually some of the ones we read. I love lying in bed with my eyes closed listening to a bedtime story. We took turns, but he was always trying to get me to be the reader, so I guess he likes being read to, too. We got out of the habit when we had kids and catching as many moments of sleep as possible became a priority. We’ve emerged from that phase now, though - we should start reading together again. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-it-when-someone-reads-to-you/563051/25 "2010-12-06T05:31:54Z")
Hate it. Once I learned to read I wanted to do it myself. I can read faster, and have more of an understanding of the material if I do it myself. Being read to holds as much appeal for me as going to a workshop with the obligatory PowerPoint that is put up on the screen while the presenter reads each card. I get the same feeling from both experiences. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-it-when-someone-reads-to-you/563051/26 "2010-12-06T05:40:47Z")
My wife and I live in two different cities for weeks at a time. I enjoy reading to her over the phone, and to have her read stuff to me. It’s especially helpful if either of us has something boring to do like the dishes. My favorite things to read are bits from the New Yorker. I like to think I read out loud well. Once, while we were waiting for a train on a mostly deserted L platform, I read her [a bit from Patti Boyd’s biography “Wonderful Tonight”](http://books.google.com/books?id=CNhh0TMLmmwC&lpg=PP1&dq=patti%20boyd&pg=PA149#v=onepage&q=window&f=false) about “Friar Park”, the home George Harrison fell in love with. Another person on the platform complimented me on my reading. (I hadn’t intended to perform for anyone else, but it was a quiet night.) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-it-when-someone-reads-to-you/563051/27 "2010-12-06T05:50:09Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > … Another person on the platform complimented me on my reading. (I hadn’t intended to perform for anyone else, but it was a quiet night.) Oh, you reminded me of reading on a train. I was reading an early Harry Potter book to my kids (and really enjoying being Hagrid and Dumbledore\*). I paused for a swig of soda and we heard a couple of kids call from the next compartment: “Ooh, you’re not stopping, ARE you?” \*Just channel _Sean Connery with heartburn_ for Hagrid, and _James Mason with asthma_ for Dumbledore. ---
**Author:** ![Dervorin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Dervorin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervorin)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-it-when-someone-reads-to-you/563051/28 "2010-12-06T12:41:48Z")
> [@ianzin](#): > > I’m a big fan of reading out loud to one another, and I think it’s a crying shame that very few people actually do it. > > As several posters have pointed out, as a way of achieving information transfer, reading aloud isn’t very efficient and usually isn’t all that enjoyable either. But that’s not what I’m talking about. > > For two people who are in some sort of affectionate relationship, anywhere on the scale from close friends to lovers, reading out loud to one another can and should be wonderfully enjoyable. It’s fun, intimate, pleasant and a marvellous way to spend time together. It’s also fun _finding_ well-written material to read for one another. (I think ‘A Christmas Memory’ by Truman Capote is hard to beat.) > > It’s true that not everyone is naturally good at reading out loud (although many say this when they have never tried, and most can improve with a little practice). But I maintain that for all except the very poorest speakers, reading out loud to a close friend or lover can be a wonderful experience. Not only is it fun, but you are developing a useful skill at the same time. Many successful business people find it very important to be able to present well at meetings, presentations, sales pitches and so on, and a lot of this simply comes down to reading out loud. Hear, hear! I couldn’t agree more! My last SO and I read Gerald Durrell’s “My Family and Other Animals” out to each other, and it was a wonderfully bonding experience. “My Family” nights were definitely special. Admittedly, I did about 90% of the reading, but I enjoy reading, with all the silly voices and accents, and I think slowing down to read a book aloud allows you to enjoy the language in a way that silent reading cannot achieve. This is definitely something I’d like to continue with future partners, and would miss if it went out of my life entirely. ---
**Author:** ![Grey\_area](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Grey\_area](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey_area)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-it-when-someone-reads-to-you/563051/29 "2010-12-06T13:47:52Z")
I just realized I’ve _never_ been read to. Not in recent memory anyway. Maybe I was in elementary school and I just don’t remember… ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-it-when-someone-reads-to-you/563051/30 "2010-12-06T14:29:20Z")
> [@Pai325](#): > > Hate it. Once I learned to read I wanted to do it myself. I remember many a struggle with my poor mom. “Moooom, will you read this to me?” “You can read it.” “Noooooo, it’s too hard! I’m too young!” “You’re twenty!” Okay, maybe not at twenty, but I know for a couple of years after I started reading on my own I still loved having someone read to me. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2010, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-it-when-someone-reads-to-you/563051/31 "2010-12-06T15:07:42Z")
No, not really. As others have said, it’s infuriatingly slow. I listen to audiobooks while I walk the dog, but I’d prefer to read the same story myself. Having your partner read to your when you’re apart sounds really sweet, though. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-it-when-someone-reads-to-you/563051/32 "2010-12-07T02:22:37Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > What is the “reading tone”? [Like this guy.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MstyFwhLy4) ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-it-when-someone-reads-to-you/563051/33 "2010-12-07T03:24:48Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > As others have said, it’s infuriatingly slow. Read-aloud books are a _different medium_. “I could be reading this to myself.” That’s not what it _is_. Do you get frustrated by the pace of talking to people? That said, I’ve found a lot of enjoyment in deliberately slowing down my reading, savoring word constructions and images longer, something like lingering over a meal rather than wolfing it down. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-it-when-someone-reads-to-you/563051/34 "2010-12-07T08:50:37Z")
> [@spark240](#): > > Read-aloud books are a _different medium_. “I could be reading this to myself.” That’s not what it _is_. Do you get frustrated by the pace of talking to people? > > That said, I’ve found a lot of enjoyment in deliberately slowing down my reading, savoring word constructions and images longer, something like lingering over a meal rather than wolfing it down. Yes. It’s a different medium which I don’t enjoy as much. Being frustrated at seeing someone plod slowly through a book right in front of me is not the same as having a conversation where they’re coming up with the constructions themselves. Sometimes I do slow down to savour phrases, or go back over them, but not for the entire book. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-it-when-someone-reads-to-you/563051/35 "2010-12-07T09:03:56Z")
There are a few people (usually actors) who are very good at reading aloud, and who I enjoy listening to. Most people, though, don’t read aloud very well, and I get incredibly frustrated. I process the information differently…and I process it better if I read it, rather than hear it. I generally enjoy reading the information for myself much more, as well. I can enjoy a movie and a book which essentially are the same information/story, but I’ll enjoy them in different ways. I LOVE to read, and reading is still my first choice of pleasures. My older relatives have remarked to me that they always found it funny that I was reading at quite a young age, and constantly dragged one or more books around with me, even when I was in first or second grade. Some kids dragged their toys around, I always had a book or two with me, and I still do. Now, I’d probably enjoy audio books (read by a competent speaker) for things like long road trips, if I still took long road trips. At home, though, I’ll put on a movie or some music if I’m going to be sewing or knitting or otherwise have my hands and eyes engaged. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-it-when-someone-reads-to-you/563051/36 "2010-12-07T16:46:03Z")
Pretty much, what Lynn said. I hate being read to unless the reader is very good and can read at a pace that sounds like normal conversation. Elementary school teachers seem to be adept at this, but generally, I can’t stand it. I don’t like audiobooks either. I much prefer music on long road trips. I’d rather sing than keep having to back up the audiobook because I zoned out and missed some important detail. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-it-when-someone-reads-to-you/563051/37 "2010-12-07T17:07:43Z")
A good reader never comes across as plodding. A very good one reading the right sort of book _will_ sound like someone coming up with their own constructions. ---
**Author:** ![Teacake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Teacake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teacake)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-it-when-someone-reads-to-you/563051/38 "2010-12-07T20:25:45Z")
My partner and I spend a lot of time reading to each other. It’s lovely. Out of interest, would the people who are saying they don’t like to be read to also prefer to read (e.g.) Shakespeare or Ibsen to themselves in their heads, rather than seeing performances? A good reader brings more to the material than just reading the words more slowly than you could do it yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-it-when-someone-reads-to-you/563051/39 "2010-12-07T20:32:11Z")
God no. My wife sometimes reads “interesting” articles from the newspaper to me. I’m bored after “Listen to this.” ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-it-when-someone-reads-to-you/563051/40 "2010-12-07T20:36:14Z")
I hate it. I process information visually, not aurally. When people try to read to me I quickly get antsy; if they’re asking my feedback , I generally refuse to supply it until I have read the passage myself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-it-when-someone-reads-to-you/563051.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-it-when-someone-reads-to-you/563051.md?page=3)