This week’s prompt from Ok, Let’s Read is about where you read:
Where do you spend the majority of your time reading? Are you the kind of person who can fall asleep reading in bed? Do you read in public? Why or why not? Where would be your fantasy reading location?
I’m not really the sort to pick a place and stick to it — I read too much for that. But there are trends, of course. I read propped up near the front desk when I’m on my clinic shift; I read on the bus on the fifth seat back if I’m not getting travel sick; when I’m at my parents, I read in my desk chair with my feet on the bin; in Cardiff, I mostly end up reading sprawled out on my bed. Sometimes, when I want to ignore my computer, phone, etc, I go into the spare room and flop across that bed.
In the winter, I can often be found reading while huddled up to my portable gas fire. Now that is lovely.
I don’t fall asleep reading in bed; I do find that I’m getting sleepy, of course, but I’ve never woken up ages later with the book on my face or anything. There’s always a point where I realise I have to sleep now, and then I put the book aside. It helps that I have to wear glasses even to read, I’m that short-sighted, so I have to remember to take my glasses off and put them away safely before I can sleep comfortably.
I do read in public, wherever I can. I usually have my ereader now, which probably puts a stop to potential conversations with random people about what I’m reading, but normally I resented the interruption anyway. I do like heading off into the woods nearby and finding myself a quiet spot: last summer it was a bench under some enormous conifers. That was public, if a curious raven counts as an audience. I haven’t had chance to go back this year, but there’s another spot I’m thinking of higher up the mountain, just a little off the path, which is in a nice patch of sun — probably better than the shady spot under the conifers now we’re getting into autumn.
One thing I would quite like is to be able to just take a book and go sit in a castle to read. Castell Coch isn’t that far away, but I’m not sure how they’d feel about me commandeering a window seat near one of the arrow slits and putting my feet on the stonework.
Yep, these scenarios have been and some still are familiar to me: in buses, outdoors, somewhere comfy. While I wear everyday glasses I’m lazy about transfering to reading glasses for, well, reading (they’re more performing-music-specs) so never have to worry about falling asleep reading. Not that, like you, I ever do.
Heh. Buses is easier if you don’t get motion sick. I mourn for the hour of every week that gets wasted by my bus trips to the clinic. Ah well!
I am the sort of person who can fall asleep doing most anything, so yes, I have fallen asleep with my glasses on, reading. Oops.
Reading in public, during meals, on the way places, where ever I have a book and nothing to do and no one to talk to, I will read 🙂
I’m too paranoid about breaking the damn things, special lenses and all, soooo. Yeah.
Yep! Sounds familiar.
Reading out in the open sounds lovely! I especially liked imagining what “higher up the mountain” would look like in your case – I’m guessing it’s beautiful. I’ve never been much of an outdoors reader, except when I’m on vacation by the sea – then I can spend hours reading in the shade.
I don’t know about beautiful — it seems like the wrong word for the Welsh mountains. It is lovely, though. But I tend to be more of an indoorsy person, usually; my outside reading places are usually a way to work in both exercise and reading, heh!
I’ve never been to Wales and I actually have only a very vague idea of what it looks like. I’d love to go someday, though, I have it on my infinite list of future travel destinations.
If you only ever have the chance to go to two places in Wales to get a good representation, I vote Castell Coch and the Brecon Beacons.