What is your reading environment like?
How and where do you like to read? Tell me all about your reading environment(s), both real and idealized. Do you sit in an arm chair with a cup of coffee and a worn paperback? Lie in bed with a cat curled up next to you in the dim glow of your ereader? Under a tree in the woods, listening to the book on your headphones? If you could find/build the perfect reading space for you, what would it look like?
And then, what about your more practical reading: on your phone on your lunch break? While waiting for your kids in the car during soccer practice? Tell me about the times you fit reading in even if it's not necessarily the full focus of the moment, or the times where you settle for a comfortable but less than ideal setup.
Include any meaningful rituals or accessories too. Do you like to put a good album on the record player to accompany you? Do you have a special bookmark that you use? Do you share your book covers on social media or livetweet each chapter? Does your favorite lamp like to look over your shoulder as you turn the pages?
Basically, tell me all about what reading looks like for you -- with enough detail so we can picture it!
Ideally: On a lazy morning, still in bed with the cat on my feet and the dog trying to fit into the small of my back. I'd reread an older book that smells of dust, paper and nostalgia.
My practical reading environment: At my computer, reading .epub files in a reader or web novels in a browser. On my phone while I'm walking the dog. While I'm walking by myself. On the toilet. At the dining table, on the evenings I don't eat dinner with anyone. While I'm putting away dishes or laundry. Continuously, unless I have a specific other task in mind that needs attention. Ever since I was little I was a voracious reader, and that has not changed as I've gotten older.
I read before I go to sleep. The light switch is too far away to reach, and switching the lamp on and off sort of defeats the purpose of the light switch, so I'm usually doing it in the dark. This is fine because I'm reading on a Kindle Paperwhite with the brightness turned almost all the way down. Usually I'm sitting cross legged under the bed covers, but sometimes I'll just lay all the way down.
My other reading location is on a treadmill at the gym. Treadmills are real boring, even with headphones, so I started reading while I run. I'll get on the treadmill and start it at a brisk walk while I setup. I'll turn on my headphones and put on a music playlist from Spotify, usually one of the daily mixes. Then I'll unlock the Kindle and put it in front of the treadmill display. Then I'll setup my fitbit to track the run, crank the speed up on the treadmill, and get to running/reading.
Oh, so you actually read read while running? How the heck do you manage that? Your motion doesn't hinder your eye focus?
Nah, it's fine. I've got the font enlarged enough on the kindle that it's not hard to follow, even when my head's bobbing around. And page turn is just tapping on the screen, so it's pretty easy to manage. It would be a much bigger pain in the ass if I were trying to read a paperback or something. The kindle's just another TV or monitor.
When I first read that I thought you where running outside and reading :D
Oh no. I need a bit more situational awareness when I'm running outside. Reading while running outside is a good way to get run over.
This has made me realize that it depends on what I'm reading. On the rare occasions I'm reading fiction, I'd prefer to be lazing in bed all day, getting really engrossed in the book. In fact, one of my favorite memories is the summer I read through five or six books in the Wheel of Time series back in college, only getting out of bed around four p.m. each day to finally get breakfast after 6-8 hours of reading (and possibly napping). I'm usually reading non-fiction though, and it only occurs to me now that I prefer to be sitting upright for that. My ideal situation there would probably be on one end of the sofa, pastry or sandwich nearby, with a leg stretched out to the other end so I can tickle my SO with my foot every now and then. A park bench to myself on a warm, breezy day is a close second.
Either way, I probably have my headphones in with a playlist of relaxing music playing, to tune out human distractions more than anything else. If the location cooperates I'm fine with the sounds of nature.
My usual one is a bus or train; my commute gives me an hour+ of time where it's read or fall down an internet hole, so I've been trying to take the book option whenever possible. It's not the perfect environment for sure, but I feel like the best reading environment at the end of the day is the one you have, so I take advantage of it.
My favorite has to be either on my balcony (it overlooks a creek, so it's really pleasant), or on the ruins of a house foundation in the park near me on a sunny day.
My usual reading environment is my bed, and it's also quite close to my ideal one: cozy, good lighting, thanks to my new bed with an angled headboard even in an upright position. I usually read in the evening before going sleep, so no coffee.
In my ideal reading environment I'd have a nice Charles Eames Lounge chair instead of my bed, but I guess I cannot complain.
I usually don't listen to music, since my favorite music styles tend to have a lot of lyrics, and that distracts me quite a lot.
What I really miss though is those days, not evenings, that I used to spend reading while I was growing up. Nowadays I'm a bit proud that I get to read every evening, but during the day? No chance. Just alot of other stuff to do.
Ideal: Relatively empty room with a comfy chair and warm lighting. I'm easily distracted, so the less going on in the room, the better!
In reality: Wherever I can find a few minutes of quiet. But usually in bed after my wife and kids are asleep. Thankfully I bought a back-lit Kindle last year, so even light is optional!