BTT: Time is of the Essence

[fourzoas]

As the weather gets colder and the holiday To Do lists get longer, I think Booking Through Thursday gets concerned with issues of reading and time.

1. Do you get to read as much as you WANT to read?

(I’m guessing #1 is an easy question for everyone?)

2. If you had (magically) more time to read–what would you read? Something educational? Classic? Comfort Reading? Escapism? Magazines?

Well, this is hard, because, really? I read all the time. From the moment I get up in the morning until right before I shut my eyes at night, I'm involved in some act of reading (although I listen to audiobooks in the car...).

However...

1. I don't get to read as much as I WANT to read because I don't always get to read what I WANT to read. I'm staring at several books right this second that I'd love to read, but I need to read other things that take precedence, and by the time I'm done with those things, there will be a new set of "must reads" that will rule out the "want to reads."

2. If a TARDIS showed up to whisk me away to some place where time wasn't an issue, I'd be reading all of the above--books related to my academic areas of interest, classics (which actually are more comfort to me), books to get lost in...yeah. I read them all.

Et tu?

Comments

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

I don't read as much as I want because I spend so much time either working or writing - and since I lost my daily commute, that's taken at least an hour's reading time out of my day...

ETA: Meant to say, I picked up a volume of Blake's poetry from the library today that includes The Four Zoas - which I've not yet read!

[fourzoas.livejournal.com]

When I had to commute using public transport (which I could do here if I would plan for it), I got a good bit of reading done. I should start that up again--when the weather's warmer! ;-)

I have to tell you that The Four Zoas is not a bit of fun or light reading--it's unfinished, narratively labyrinthine, and not something I actually look at as a bit of a lark. I recommend (if you can get your hands on it) A Blake Dictionary (http://www.amazon.com/Blake-Dictionary-Ideas-Symbols-William/dp/0874514363) if you can get your hands on a copy--will help with the mythology.

FZ was a potential dissertation topic for me--I was planning a digital edition of the text as a scholarly editing project--but decided against it in favor of another, less-esoteric (and therefore, more marketable...) endeavor.

Let me know what you think--I may dip my toes back in along with you over the holidays!

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

When I had to commute using public transport (which I could do here if I would plan for it), I got a good bit of reading done. I should start that up again--when the weather's warmer! ;-)

Hee!

I have to tell you that The Four Zoas is not a bit of fun or light reading--it's unfinished, narratively labyrinthine, and not something I actually look at as a bit of a lark. I recommend (if you can get your hands on it) A Blake Dictionary if you can get your hands on a copy--will help with the mythology.

FZ was a potential dissertation topic for me--I was planning a digital edition of the text as a scholarly editing project--but decided against it in favor of another, less-esoteric (and therefore, more marketable...) endeavor.

Let me know what you think--I may dip my toes back in along with you over the holidays!

I can't say I've *ever* considered Blake to be particularly light reading! I'll have to see if the library has A Blake Dictionary...

[ebbyzone.livejournal.com]

I don't get to read as much as I WANT to read because I don't always get to read what I WANT to read.

Same here. I take in loads of information each day, but very little of it falls under the classification of "want."

Instead I find myself staring at the books, and the lists of books I'd like to read, and the recomendations my friends have passed on to me (much like Ten in the icon). Wish I could, but I know I can't; there's just no time.

[fourzoas.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I blame multi-tasking--I love getting lost in a book/story/poem, but I always have something else pressing on me. When I go to visit my parents (where there is no internet of any speed), I find myself irritated for a day, then able to leap right back into whatever novel I've brought.

[catholicphoton.livejournal.com]

I'm lucky in that I read pretty much only what I want. My mom likes to send me books, sometimes our taste is in accord, and sometimes not (she likes to send me tomes of the meta-fuzzy and bliss-ninny ilk) :)

I read mostly on the way to work (when I don't have a new Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! podcast to listen to http://www.npr.org/programs/waitwait/), during my breaks, before I go to bed and on my days off. In other words, almost all the time ;-)

If I had more time I'd read more newspapers rather than just their web sites ;-)

[fourzoas.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I miss my corporate career because I rarely had to read anything on my off-time unless I wanted to read it. Now, though, I feel guilty if I'm reading something that's not work related...

I love the feel of a paper, especially on Sunday, but I've pretty much given up on them.