How much do you read?

I saw a new user ask this question, based on the idea that Dems read more. Leave a message please, telling us *what* you read.

Since the stroke, I read a mostly history, poetry, and fiction.

I think Terry Pratchett should win the Nobel prize, same for Don Delilo. Billy Collins is an extraordinary poet whom I recently saw at a reading at Rockhurst college.

.... but I read mostly history, specifically: WWII, espionage, and Cold War. Some fiction too... mostly 'spy trash' and thriller/mystery, but I go through it too fast so I like to stick with the slower-going history to get my money's worth. :)

So it's mostly magazines and essays for me nowadays. And DU of course. :hi:

Should not try to share a two bedroom apartment. We don't need speed reading, we need speed bookcase building. We ran out of wall space for more bookcases a decade ago. We have enough books, that a book on care for books, suggested that we need to "consult a structural engineer". (we had already been at capacity for 5 years at that point, and the floors haven't moved that much...)

Lets see: Block of humor, check. Block of cookbooks triple check. Block of art photography books, double check. Block of mystery novels, quadruple check. Block of science fiction, double check (been weeding). Block of Math texts, check. Block of computer texts, check. Block of cycling books, check. Block of reference books, double check. Block of music books (including sheet music), double check. Block of metalworking books, double check. Block of technology (especially about tech problems) books, check. Block of history double check. Blocks of various magazines, quntuple check. Other random stuff, ghod only knows.

...try working at a used book store for 3 years!! 50% off books marked at half their cover price. Its a healthy addiction :)

lucky! :bounce:

a love of reading? My old dream!

or at least half a dozen couples who could be you.

I like both your approach, and your collection of interests.
How about books on early musical instruments and Willi Apel's
'The Notation of Polyphonic Music 900 - 1600'?
The complete lute tablature of Francisco da Milano...
building your dream bike... working with carbon fiber...
Chomsky's 'On Language' is beside a college text on Generative Transformational Grammar. Sitting on the table in the next room is Hannah Arendt's 'Origins of Totalitarianism'
and Pratchett's 'Thief of Time'
Across the room is Elliot Erwitt's 'Personal Experience'
and a disturbing book on Diane Arbus, I found them throwing out at a library. Above them is a poster of Danae, by Klimpt and across from that, a self portrait I did in oil at 18.

And remember, folio volumes only on weight bearing walls...

Hwas thu Hal -- oh yeah, And books on/in Anglo Saxon.
Hesiod's Theogony in Greek...

Lets see, two copies of David Munrow's early instruments (one copy mine, one copy first ever Christmas gift to Susan), one of Appel. All but two years of the catalog/program from the Boston Early Music Festival. No lute tab, but a lot of Renaissance consort music, a bunch of the Bach urtext editions. Sue plays harpsichord, I used to play early winds (recorder, shawm, crumhorn). My fingers don't fit well on string instruments.

Not sure about "building your dream bike", but I do have copies of the Paterek Manual, along with Talbots book on building frames. On the more theoretical side, a copy of Sharp's 1903 book on bikes and trikes, whitt and wilson's bicycling science, and even the Cal Poly "Lord of the chainring" class notes for the single track vehicle design course. (and on the cycling politics side, I have copies of Forrester's "bicycle transportation", and "Effective Cycling" -- along with instructor certification/syllabus for same)

No Chomsky any more... (dictionaries for about 10 different languages however) A copy of Beowulf, and a second with a translation. Do have a copy of "A pattern language".

Have several of the Pratchett series, but not thief of time.

Arbus is one of my personal favorites. I also love the American Visionary museum. Not sure what that says about me... (the AVM is in Baltimore, and the artists represented in the collection are often mentally ill - the standard artist bio will usually include stays in various institutions) My personal favorite photographic subject is architectural ruins.

Don't have very much wall to hang photo's or art -- they all have bookcases against them. The few random spots, that do have stuff hanging, include a couple of woodblock prints. (most are 50 year old copies of the classics, purchased by an old friend of Sue's parents, who spent several years in Japan in the late 40's and early 50's.) a photograph of the tower on the top of Glastonbury Tor that I took about 20 years ago, and a "broadsheet" containing a Harlan Ellison short story, that was part of a fundraising event to save a local bookstore. (worked, the place survived for more than 20 years after the event).

So many intelligent and creative people with so many fascinating interests. Can we like all move to within walning distance of each other? :-)

Most of the sizing proceedures in the bike frame building texts isn't applicable to the machines I build. Like you I ride recumbents. Built the majority that I ride. Is that avatar in the standard set, or your own, I wanna switch...

only the frame and the seat is stock.
Very quick, and I like USS better (also have VR40 and my S.O. has a Bacchetta Giro)

And yeah, bents are not chocolate soldiers. Each one is its own beastie.

eom

But I read, on average, about two books a week. Usually one fun book, then one more serious book. I love reading, but I don't usually finish a book in one sitting. (Unless I'm on a long flight!)

I am constantly reading. Newspapers, magazines, and mostly on the net. I don't watch TV at all except for DVD's. I post on 3 boards, one for movies, one for gaming and here. I always come here last because I end up spending the rest of the night reading posts and checking out links.

**edit** My whole family reads, 2 kids learned very fast and the third is right behind them.My wife(she just joined as frazzledmom, if you see her give her a warm welcome, she's been lurking for months) is usually reading 3 or 4 books at the same time. My kids read every night in bed and the young one has a Leap Pad he uses at night which is helping him to learn faster. I come from a family of readers. All Dems. Maybe that says something...

My wife reads even more than I do. We can pass hours together without saying a word , and we have a blast doing it. I guess we're probably nerds, huh?

I'm paraphrasing: Michael Douglas as Professor Tripp says, about Frances McDormand (who plays the college's chancellor and his married lover), "She was a junkie for the printed word, and I was her supplier."

I identify with McDormand in that quote. I read constantly. Reading is the single over-arching theme of my life.

i appreciate your help =)

and welcome to DU.
BTW, do you feel vindicated yet?

;-)

Trivia books, science.. a few magazines, namely national geographic, scientific american, x-box monthly (blushes), and whatever novel I happen to be reading at the time. Right now its Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance... but it was the Sara Douglass 'Hades Daughter' series before that.

or too much music!
I read 2--3 books/wk, usually at least one serious. Otherwise, sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, historical fiction, and an occasional sexy-vampire book (Laurell K. Hamilton). Reading "Reading Lolita in Tehran" now. Going slow with it---it's a book to be savored, and to think about.

History, lit, sociology, gardening/cooking/sustainability, trashy fiction etc ;) I'm usually in the middle of 4 or 5 and just pick up whatever seems interesting.

I did not marry a reader (he is a Dem though). That used to upset me. Then one day I realized I don't have to share the book budget with him lol, and now the books have taken over the dining room and living room. *sigh* We're either going to have to move or put in an addition to accomodate more growth. Did I mention that we have three kids that are also readers? They've outgrown shelf space in their rooms too.

Edit to add...Forgot to add that my parents are readers (and Dems), and my in-laws are not readers (and Rep).

dozens of articles a day...and at least 2 hours from one of the many books I have on my table.

When I'm on a reading jag/find a lot of good things to read it can get close to a book a day. And I read a dozen or so articles every day online, including those at Smirking Chimp and Counterpunch.

I tend to get obsessed with a particular subject and then read on it for a few years until I exhaust all the good books. Some of my favorites are/have been: feminism, evolution, astrology/numerology, alternative healing, english literature, psychology, and writing.

I bought a blank book about ten years ago and started listing all the books I read so I can remember what I've read, and when I've read it. It really comes in handy when you go through so much material that you can't remember for sure if you've actually read a book, or if that was one you were meaning to read.

This past year I've read about 50 political books, mostly relating to the Bush administration. Lots of really good ones but two of my very favorites were Cruel and Unusual by Mark Crispin Miller and What's the Matter with Kansas? by Thomas Frank.

I've got lots of bookshelves, but I end up trading in over half of my books at the used bookstore, so that I don't run out of space. And I get everything that I possibly can from the library, to save money.

Not too keen on current fiction, but I did take a chance on the gargantuan Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace last winter, and really loved it. It earned some permanent space on my bookshelf.

My bed (air mattress on the floor) is sandwiched between hundreds of books in a room that has bookshelves for walls. x(

Lots of Natural History, Biology in general, History, Politics. Some fiction, mostly scifi and fantasy.

where the press is free and EVERYONE can read.... all will be safe.

I love to read. Unfortunately, since I started back to school, I've mostly been reading management material. I like fantasy type books and lately have been reading Icewind Dale.

When I've looked for other sities to move to hoping to make a better life, public libraries are the top of my criteria. If they're no good, I won't even consider a place. Even foreign cities (Forget Brisbane - their library is horrible). During extended travel periods, there have been times I've felt famished for pig-out reading, while nursing some popcorn paperback.

Books have always been a huge part of my life, and i've enjoyed passing this on to my kids (they don't read as much as i did as a kid, but the seeds are there).
Even though i am "low income" and don't have a lot of education, my house has always been full of books , i think this is why my husband is reluctant to move! I always assumed everyone was like this, but i was working for a house cleaning company, going into some rich houses, and i was surprised at the lack of books. Including one for a local congressman.
As i am getting older, it is getting harder to read some print, so i read more and more on the 'net.
I invented a book holder that would hold my book open while i eat. Nessecity is the mother of invention.
I find it very scary that not only does g bush not read much, he actually admitted it.

What I would like to get back to, though, was my habit of a few years ago of reading at least two newsweeklies cover to cover, as well as two commentary/opinion mags. My New Year's resolution is to try to sit and substantively read one newsmag. (Thanks, DU, for rewhetting my appetite to become more knowledgable on current events.)

As for books, right now it's school texts. But I am currently reading volume one of Arthur Schlesinger's two-part biography of RFK.