Books...Who Reads Books Anymore? - Page 3

Tse Moana · 07-10-2006, 02:11 PM

I love books, I love to read. Always have, I cannot pass anything with letters on it and not read that as well. Most of what I read is esacpism: scifi/fantasy a lot, pagan stuff, historic novels, poetry, some regular lit. Hardly any of the flimsy books though, they have to have some body (and then I don't mean number of pages).

I used to read more when I was younger, but then, that's easier with less responsibilities to take care of and all. Nowadays, depending on what needs to be done in a given month, I generally read between 2/6 books a month.

I have a great many books (600+ atm), am running out of space but will never stop getting more books, I love them too much.

I like to watch tv too and then divide the time between a handful of series I always watch and some freeranging along discovery channel, national geographic channel and animal planet. I watch stuff beside that, but generally only when I accidentally come across while channelflipping.

07-10-2006, 02:52 PM

What is really sad, & a real testament to the sickness of today, is how people used to ask me "what'cha' readin"... now they ask "why are you readin' that".
I'm not kidding, I get asked that all of the time. They ask me that often, also, when I tell them that I'm going to the library as well.
There must be a reason to read, something must be making you do it... it can't be because you like it, especially since I read non-fiction most of the time.

dar512 · 07-10-2006, 04:58 PM

Anyone else like to read in bed before going to sleep? I've done this since I was a kid [back in the dark ages]. I now find it hard to go to sleep unless I read for at least a little bit.

bluecuracao · 07-10-2006, 05:06 PM

I love to read before going to sleep, but I've had to learn to pace myself. Sometimes if the book is too good, I'll forget to go to sleep!

SteveDallas · 07-10-2006, 05:06 PM

I have to have some distraction or I just start thinking about stuff and it takes quite a while to get to sleep. Usually reading or listening to music or something will do the trick.

Ibby · 07-10-2006, 05:07 PM

Nah, my computer is within arms reach of my bed, so I stay online on AIM and various web sites until I pass out.

Though I DO sleep listening to music, every single night. I can't sleep without it.

Kitsune · 07-11-2006, 11:57 AM

I don't buy it. (PDF of NEA 2004 survey results.)

A decline in reading? Yes. "58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school?" I don't think so.

Trilby · 07-11-2006, 02:22 PM

I have cable TV and my sons have managed not to embrace CNN or Fox or any other network, cable or not, or show for their values. And I can't recall that they ever sought comfort from the scarey world in television, either.

Griff · 07-11-2006, 02:25 PM

It is only my way. Your mileage may vary.

I just ask myself, would I invite people into my home who behave in ways which seem normalized on tv?

Undertoad · 07-11-2006, 04:20 PM

My mom made sure we had only a 12" black and white TV, on purpose, and was careful about restrictions, etc.

Today I have the biggest TV I can afford and digital cable with 100 channels + 7 HBOs, TiVo, surround sound, etc. and watch hours upon hours of propaganda every day. In the truck it's Sirius with 150 satellite radio channels.

Clodfobble · 07-11-2006, 04:36 PM

One of my Radio-TV-Film professors had a standard question on the first day of every class: "How many of you were not allowed to watch television as children?" The percentages were astounding; usually more than half the class.

Ibby · 07-11-2006, 04:44 PM

I watched a lot of TV, but only the fun stuff. If it was supposed to be intellectual or funny or something and wasnt, i didnt care. I think ive always been a bit ahead of the age curve... I started reading when I was two... and here I am as a teenager, hanging with and getting along just fine with a bunch of people twice my age. I cant stand most forums populated by people my age, theyre pretty chaotic yet boring. No real content.

wolf · 07-11-2006, 11:23 PM

As I was trying to pick out the next book I'm going to read, I had a little movie flashback that should help everyone understand how into books I am ...

You've seen Fahrenheit 451? You know that house, the one where the girl lives with the older folks ... I don't have that much clever space, but I have nearly that many books.

Pancake Man · 07-12-2006, 12:42 AM

The 3rd-graders I work with don't read. I don't mean it isn't fun, I mean they can barely read. One was sent down the hall last year, to examine how the 5th-graders read. Absolutely no difference. Children see it as a chore, something that they only have to do in school, so they never learn to enjoy it. Think; now teachers are not asking "Can you read this?", they are saying "Read this or you fail." Not exactly positive reenforcement. Then again, the students aren't so eager, with the XBox 360 waiting at home.

Rant finished.

*walks away with head down*

Ibby · 07-12-2006, 07:53 AM

Man, in third grade, the teacher had to keep YELLING at me FOR reading in class.

07-10-2006, 04:58 PM	#3
dar512 dar512 is now Pete Zicato Join Date: May 2003 Location: Chicago suburb Posts: 4,968	Anyone else like to read in bed before going to sleep? I've done this since I was a kid [back in the dark ages]. I now find it hard to go to sleep unless I read for at least a little bit. __________________ "Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain." -- Friedrich Schiller

07-10-2006, 05:07 PM	#6
Ibby erika Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: "the high up north" Posts: 6,127	Nah, my computer is within arms reach of my bed, so I stay online on AIM and various web sites until I pass out. Though I DO sleep listening to music, every single night. I can't sleep without it. __________________ not really back, you didn't see me, i was never here shhhhhh Last edited by Ibby; 07-10-2006 at 05:11 PM.

07-11-2006, 02:22 PM	#8
Trilby Slattern of the Swail Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 15,654	I have cable TV and my sons have managed not to embrace CNN or Fox or any other network, cable or not, or show for their values. And I can't recall that they ever sought comfort from the scarey world in television, either. __________________ In Barrie's play and novel, the roles of fairies are brief: they are allies to the Lost Boys, the source of fairy dust and ...They are portrayed as dangerous, whimsical and extremely clever but quite hedonistic. "Shall I give you a kiss?" Peter asked and, jerking an acorn button off his coat, solemnly presented it to her. —James Barrie Wimminfolk they be tricksy. - ZenGum

07-11-2006, 02:25 PM	#9
Griff still says videotape Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 26,813	It is only my way. Your mileage may vary. I just ask myself, would I invite people into my home who behave in ways which seem normalized on tv? __________________ If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis D. Brandeis

07-11-2006, 04:44 PM	#12
Ibby erika Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: "the high up north" Posts: 6,127	I watched a lot of TV, but only the fun stuff. If it was supposed to be intellectual or funny or something and wasnt, i didnt care. I think ive always been a bit ahead of the age curve... I started reading when I was two... and here I am as a teenager, hanging with and getting along just fine with a bunch of people twice my age. I cant stand most forums populated by people my age, theyre pretty chaotic yet boring. No real content. __________________ not really back, you didn't see me, i was never here shhhhhh

07-10-2006, 02:11 PM	#1
Tse Moana You're just jealous 'cause the little voices talk to me Join Date: May 2006 Location: Netherlands Posts: 203	I love books, I love to read. Always have, I cannot pass anything with letters on it and not read that as well. Most of what I read is esacpism: scifi/fantasy a lot, pagan stuff, historic novels, poetry, some regular lit. Hardly any of the flimsy books though, they have to have some body (and then I don't mean number of pages). I used to read more when I was younger, but then, that's easier with less responsibilities to take care of and all. Nowadays, depending on what needs to be done in a given month, I generally read between 2/6 books a month. I have a great many books (600+ atm), am running out of space but will never stop getting more books, I love them too much. I like to watch tv too and then divide the time between a handful of series I always watch and some freeranging along discovery channel, national geographic channel and animal planet. I watch stuff beside that, but generally only when I accidentally come across while channelflipping.

07-10-2006, 02:52 PM	#2
rkzenrage Guest Posts: n/a	What is really sad, & a real testament to the sickness of today, is how people used to ask me "what'cha' readin"... now they ask "why are you readin' that". I'm not kidding, I get asked that all of the time. They ask me that often, also, when I tell them that I'm going to the library as well. There must be a reason to read, something must be making you do it... it can't be because you like it, especially since I read non-fiction most of the time.

07-10-2006, 05:06 PM	#4
bluecuracao in a mood, not cupcake Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 3,034	I love to read before going to sleep, but I've had to learn to pace myself. Sometimes if the book is too good, I'll forget to go to sleep!

07-10-2006, 05:06 PM	#5
SteveDallas Your Bartender Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Philly Burbs, PA Posts: 7,651	I have to have some distraction or I just start thinking about stuff and it takes quite a while to get to sleep. Usually reading or listening to music or something will do the trick.

07-11-2006, 11:57 AM	#7
Kitsune still eats dirt Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 3,031	I don't buy it. (PDF of NEA 2004 survey results.) A decline in reading? Yes. "58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school?" I don't think so.

07-11-2006, 04:20 PM	#10
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	My mom made sure we had only a 12" black and white TV, on purpose, and was careful about restrictions, etc. Today I have the biggest TV I can afford and digital cable with 100 channels + 7 HBOs, TiVo, surround sound, etc. and watch hours upon hours of propaganda every day. In the truck it's Sirius with 150 satellite radio channels.

07-11-2006, 04:36 PM	#11
Clodfobble UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Austin, TX Posts: 20,012	One of my Radio-TV-Film professors had a standard question on the first day of every class: "How many of you were not allowed to watch television as children?" The percentages were astounding; usually more than half the class.

07-11-2006, 11:23 PM	#13
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	As I was trying to pick out the next book I'm going to read, I had a little movie flashback that should help everyone understand how into books I am ... You've seen Fahrenheit 451? You know that house, the one where the girl lives with the older folks ... I don't have that much clever space, but I have nearly that many books. __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

07-12-2006, 12:42 AM	#14
Pancake Man Hand-of-Kindness Extender Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 131	The 3rd-graders I work with don't read. I don't mean it isn't fun, I mean they can barely read. One was sent down the hall last year, to examine how the 5th-graders read. Absolutely no difference. Children see it as a chore, something that they only have to do in school, so they never learn to enjoy it. Think; now teachers are not asking "Can you read this?", they are saying "Read this or you fail." Not exactly positive reenforcement. Then again, the students aren't so eager, with the XBox 360 waiting at home. Rant finished. walks away with head down __________________ Abandon all hope, o ye who read my posts

07-12-2006, 07:53 AM	#15
Ibby erika Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: "the high up north" Posts: 6,127	Man, in third grade, the teacher had to keep YELLING at me FOR reading in class. __________________ not really back, you didn't see me, i was never here shhhhhh

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