I do.
It’s funny that you make that list as a way of finding time to read, as I do much the same sort of thing when it comes to music for me. Commuting? Listen to music. Working out? Listen to music. Writing code? Listen to music.
I am left with one question though. With music, usually I can find a good stopping point because I think the after song in my collection is around 5 1/2 minutes or so. So, if I have a short period of time, I can listen to a couple sounds, or if it’s longer I can listen to a longer couple songs or possibly a series that go together or a whole album. If I have 5 minutes to read, I can read an article in a magazine and be reasonably satisfied, but if I try to read 5 minutes out of a novel, I get almost nothing out of the experience and have to reread most or all of what I’d just read later. By the same token, I won’t listen to an album knowing I can’t hear the whole thing unless there’s not a lot of importance to the continuity, but then that’s just equivalent to reading several magazine articles in a row.
So… how do you do that? I generally don’t have a lot of time to just sit down and read for 2-3 hours straight. Is it just a difference in how our brains work?
You shouldn’t feel dumb at all. I think it’s unfortunate that people seem to undervalue different modes of thinking and that different parts of the different modes are valued differently. I really don’t think the world would work without one-track minded people because, quite frankly, without people like you, people like me would end up starting a dozen different projects and never actually get anything done. Still, I’m glad to see that the condescension against non-readers isn’t as prevalent as it seemed.
I completely agree that reading stories to kids is awesome and counts as reading. I actually enjoy reading children’s books, but they’re a little different because they’re generally very short and don’t have a lot of description or corrolaries or whatever going on, so it’s much easier to keep my attention and not have my mind wandering off.
However, even though I actually do a fair amount of reading between message boards, e-mails, articles, papers, etc., I don’t think I could fairly represent myself as a reader because, at least by my interpretation, it means I might look forward to taking a couple hours on a Saturday afternoon and reading a book. Most people I know who aren’t exactly heavy readers still probably go through a book at least every month or two. The last time I actually read a book cover to cover was about a year and a half ago, it was very short, and I did it all in one sitting. All the others I’ve tried since then, even ones with short sections, I end up getting in some amount and just not finishing.
It’s funny you should mention that because both of my brothers, who read at least as much as what I would consider normal, have attributed my lack of interest in reading to me being ADD. I guess it’s been sort of an assumption by me and, to some extent, my family that I probably have some degree of undiagnosed ADD. I’ve never given any real consideration to getting checked for it since, I’ve never really felt affected too negatively by it. Most of the side-effects that I, or others, have attributed to it either aren’t really a problem (not reading doesn’t really impact my life) or I’ve found other ways to work around them. Then again, if I do have ADD, I guess I wouldn’t really have a basis for comparison.
Doing a quick search though, it’s easy to see how a lot of the potential warning signs that might have gotten me diagnosed as a child (assuming I have it) would have been overlooked because many of them could be attributed to other things. Wikipedia notably mentions divorce, ear problems, and I rarely had real problems with grades except in a few cases that might have been due to other things.
Either way, a that little bit of quick searching I did does make it look like it could be worth looking into, so I think I will. Thanks.
Well, contrary to what corkboard thinks, I do count magazines as ‘reading’! Also, if I have some sort of attention-span issue (when I don’t have much time, or when I’m recovering from illness/surgery and therefore on the kinds of drugs that don’t allow me to focus much), that’s what ‘books with re-readability’ are for! A lot of Stephen King short stories fit into the category for me! 
As I said upthread, I’ve pretty much taught my kids that reading the written word, be it a novel, a graphic novel, a message board, a magazine, or even erotica or porn (once they reach a certain age) all count as reading.
My 9YO is discovering the joys of “real” books (how she refers to chapter books) via the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. I think it’s great!
It sounds to me like corkboard’s life is just a little too hectic right now to squeeze in much reading. And sometimes life gets that way. But if you love to read, you will eventually find a way to squeeze it back in.
If you don’t love reading, then obviously, your interests lie elsewhere. I don’t feel morally superior over the fact that I’m a reader. If you want to know the truth, I read for the same reason I drink coffee (and beer, actually): because these are things I grew up watching my father do. From my earliest memory, I wanted to be like my father. I grew up watching him sit at the kitchen table with a book and a cup of coffee (in the morning) or a book and a can of beer (in the evening). For better or for worse (and believe me, he was far from perfect), he was my role model. ::shrug::
I broke my Kindle.
I read at work.
I read about a hundred emails every day, and skim about a hundred more.
I read and re-read statements of work, quotes from vendors, voluminous business requirement documents, requests for change, software quality assurance testing reports, root cause analyses and more. At lunch I read the dope.
By the time I get home, I’m not really looking for anything else to read.
For me, I can’t stand to read a book unless I’ll have time to finish it. If I start to read a book at night, I won’t get any sleep, because I’ll have to finish it. If I don’t, then the book isn’t holding my attention, and I’ll likely never get back to it. Knowing these things, I just wind up never getting started.
Books, unlike TV shows, seem more like a limited resource. Once you read it, it’s over with. So buying books seems stupid. And it seems that, whenever I borrow from the library, within a few times, something will happen to one of the books, and I’ll wind up having to pay for it. I’m disabled, so I have to live with my parents. And they are going through bankruptcy do to the recession, and can’t afford to spare the money. Ergo, my library card is useless until I can get the money to pay them back. And I’d have to send someone else, anyway, as I’m currently housebound due to the effects of a bad medication.
But I’m sure I’m far from typical 
The little free time I have, I want my brain to do as little as possible… Hence the TV gets my preference. Of course when I’m not working two jobs and going to school full time this could change.
That strikes me as a very strange way to think of books. A nonfiction book could be worthwhile because of the information it contains even if the writing style is nothing special. With fiction there’s a plot, characters, and dialogue in addition to the writer’s style. Unlike with a movie this is typically all the work of one person so if the author is completely terrible then there’s no one else to take up the slack, but there are many books where certain elements work better than others. I’ve encountered boring plot but interesting characters, bad writing style but exciting plot, stock characters but clever story, etc.
I’ve always been a big reader, but it’s always been more of reading the same few books over and over again, than reading new ones. I have several favorite books which I just read over and over again. It’s very much a compulsive behavior for me, more than a form of taking in entertainment maybe. It’s the same way with movies too, there are several movies that I have seen hundreds of times (sometimes even watching the same movie twice in one sitting.) I’m usually doing other things while half-watching the movie, like writing or drawing.
I was a very active book reader when I was younger but then I discovered the internet. It’s ruined my brain I fear. My attention span has been…hey,… what’s that shiny thing?
It seems like at the very least it should be “Why don’t you read for enjoyment?”. Some avid readers only count novels, others are more flexible, but at the core of it it’s always seemed the distinguishing characteristic is doing it for pleasure or enjoyment.
For instance, I read the local paper, Politico and the Financial Times online every morning. I make my way through the Economist throughout the week. It sounds like, at least, norinew would ‘count’ that as reading. But I think the big difference between me and a ‘reader’ is that my only goal is being informed and up to date. If I could have that knowledge downloaded into my brain daily I’d do it in a second, whereas so many other people actually enjoy reading the paper in the morning - to say nothing of enjoying a good novel.
I don’t read books for enjoyment because it’s too hard to multitask and I don’t usually concentrate on just one thing. I only watch a few TV shows, so when it’s on it’s always something I specifically want to watch - never channel surfing type ‘whatever’s on’. Even so, I only actually look at the television about 1/10th of the time. The rest I’m distracted - cleaning up, doing some afterwork work on my laptop, paying bills - anything. I realize pretty much everyone multitasks with the TV on some of the time, but I’m virtually always putting most of my attention to something else. It’s very difficult for me to sit and watch even an entire 30 minute show without occupying myself with something additional.
Since I don’t know of any way to do that with a book, I never read them. On the other hand I think I would have really liked radio shows if I had been around for them.
I’ve been an extremely avid reader my entire life. Growing up, I always had at least one book going, and usually I could get through several a week. I absolutely love it, but my reading has dropped drastically over the last few years. This is mainly because I went from being single and responsibility-less to having a wife, dog, and teenage stepson, and also because I quit my job and went back to grad school. Nowadays, what little free time I have is spent helping the kid with homework, working on the house, or just relaxing with my wife. The problem with reading is that it’s a very solitary activity, and I don’t get enough time with my wife as it is, so when I have time, it feels very selfish of me to go off and do something alone. Sadly, although I still always have a book going, it can now take me the better part of a year to get through it. I don’t like the situation, but it’s not likely to change, as it’s pretty far down my priority list.
Hm. My hubby and I actually bond over books. Years ago, we did a cross-country drive from Maryland to Oregon. We took all the Yes, Prime Minister books with us. Whichever one of us was driving, the other would be reading aloud from a book. Funny, funny stuff!
And while we don’t always share the same taste in books, sometimes one of us will recommend something to the other. He got me started on Greg Iles, and I got him started on Stephen King (especially the less-supernatural type ones, like Misery). Last year, he gave me a copy of A Prisoner of Birth by Jeffrey Archer. I’m not an Archer fan (he is), but he knew I’d like this particular book. And I did.
Now if I could just convince him to read Christopher Moore. . .
And some of our nicest moments are just lying in bed, each of us with our own book, and one of us will come across a passage that is either so funny, or so nicely written, that we feel the need to share it.
Obviously, YMMV.
I like to read; but I can’t just find books that I like. I like fantasy, but I can’t find any good books (I’m looking for David Gemell’s standards set in ‘The Lion of Macedon’ and ‘Lord of the Silver Bow’ and ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ by Mr. Martin). I like unconventional stories too, like those short stories which Ronald Dalh wrote.
I am also picky about writing style. If I flip to the middle of a book, start reading and don’t feel interested, I put it down. If the prologue don’t grab me within the first three pages, I put it down.
Yeah, my wife and I are both the kind of person who will get into a book and look up six hours later to find that the house has burned down and we’re sitting in a steaming pile of rubble. The last thing we want is to be distracted by some other person trying to take up brain space.
Yet another reason to not allow smoking in your home! 