Things you do while reading

[brandons34]

While reading, whether it be for school or leisure, I try to take notes and write down every word or reference I don't know(to look up at a later date). What are your habits while reading?

[Pensive]

Things you do while reading

Usually nothing. It disturbs my flow of reading. I am even too lazy to check meanings from a dictionary if I come across a difficult word. (well, mostly)

[downing]

While reading, whether it be for school or leisure, I try to take notes and write down every word or reference I don't know(to look up at a later date). What are your habits while reading?

Brandons, this is exactly my way of reading. I think that if I do not note the things I don't know, I will later forget them and automatically lose information, which isn't a desired thing. But, sometimes, just like Pensive, I forget to write down(because I don't have a piece paper and a pencil at the moment in the nearby or for other reasons such as laziness :lol: , or when I am too stucked to the novel to permit myself to interrupt reading). In this case, I lose information. I read Gone with the Wind three times- the first two times I didn't write almost anything on the paper, so I read it for the third time and wrote EVERYTHING I didn't know on the piece of paper :lol:. Of course, I don't think I could do this with every book, but GWTW is my favourite,so...

[rabid reader]

I move a lot while I read, I will sit, then lay on my stomuch, or then lay on my back, put my feet on the wall, read while leaning on the wall piviting on my neck which is on the bed. Just a lot of movement.

[Niamh]

I move a lot while I read, I will sit, then lay on my stomuch, or then lay on my back, put my feet on the wall, read while leaning on the wall piviting on my neck which is on the bed. Just a lot of movement.

I move around alot also. But i do like to curl up with a mug of tea and some chocolate.

[symphony]

generally its just me and my bed and the book :D
i dont move, i dont take notes, i dont check dictionaries, neither do i snore (well may be if its THAT boring... ;) ), I just lie there immersed in the book, in another world, in another time.

[Video Drone]

I eat if the book is boring. And boring means all books excluding Harry Potter and a few others. I just can't concentrate when I'm really not all that interested. I usually don't write things down because I read off a Pocket PC and it has an in-built English-Russian dictionary.

[Petrarch's Love]

The only reading I've ever taken notes for have been the works I really need to remember on the list for my upcoming PhD exams. Otherwise I most often knit while reading which, since I read almost all the time, means I produce sweaters rather quickly. I also eat while reading and listen to music a lot of the time, and I used to swim while reading, though I'd recommend a fairly disposable paperback for that kind of exercise. Of course, while reading student papers I usually read with one of those stress balls in one hand. (JK):p

[Virgil]

I'm obsessed with taking notes in the margins of the book. Especially if this is a second reading. I try not to write much on a first reading.

[Bakiryu]

I take off my classes, curl in bed underneath a blanket and turn the electric fan on. If night I hold on to my flashlight. :)

If it's a medical book I tend to ask a lot of questions and take notes.

[applepie]

I generally like to curl up with a cup of tea or wine if I'm reading for my own pleasure. If I'm reading for school, then I fidget. I'm up and down, I have to have something to snack, and I often can't sit to read for more than twenty minutes at a time. The only class I was able to sit and read my book in one shot was Astronomy. I'm thinking I'll do fine with Biology also, but the other classes were a bore. Maybe not English... I don't remember too well, but I liked my English and Philosophy classes.

[Poppy]

Unfortunately fall asleep.

[hedbanger]

I eat and fart while I read. :F

[Dublo7]

Usually I put on some soft music, lie down, and then read.

Usually music like Sigur Ros or Radiohead.

[Logos]

I'm one of those people who use pencil or highlighter to asterisk a certain page and/ or underline or mark arrows to certain passages for later reference, in my own books only.

Library/ref material gets Post-it® Standard Flags and I have about a dozen Flag Highlighters and Pens stashed everywhere :lol:
http://www.3m.com/us/office/postit/products/prod_ft_fph.html

[Scheherazade]

I'm one of those people who use pencil or highlighter to asterisk a certain page and/ or underline or mark arrows to certain passages for later reference, in my own books only. I don't mind marking or making notes on my own books with a pencil either. Only on my course book I use coloured highlighters (different colours for different purposes). I fold pages etc if the passages I am interested in are too long to mark.

I use flags only with the library books (only while studying).

Guess I am one of those people who treat books 'badly'.

Other than marking, I don't do much else while reading... Might play with my hair but eating etc distracts me a lot.

[Redzeppelin]

I don't mind marking or making notes on my own books with a pencil either. Only on my course book I use coloured highlighters (different colours for different purposes). I fold pages etc if the passages I am interested in are too long to mark.

Books I teach get marked up every time I re-read them (using a different color pen/pencil for each different reading); depending on my mood, I will make notes in other literature (if not the first reading, definitely the second).


Guess I am one of those people who treat books 'badly'.

Marking a book is the reader's act of conversing with the book; like people, books reveal their richness in "dialogue."

There are two ways to "mistreat" a book:

1) See it only in terms of it's "practical" value.
2) Don't "listen" to the questions it is posing as you read it.

[formality hater]

I often snap my fingers but can't do it for a long time.

[Gadget Girl]

I'm resting my head on my hand or sometimes moving my feet impatiently.

[BulletproofDork]

Listening to music. (don't ask)

[thelastmelon]

I usually listen to music and drink tea.

[aabbcc]

I usually have a nice cup of warm tea next to me whilst reading, so I sip it.

Rarely I do any marks on the book (if not sometimes I - but with light pencil only - underline some important parts if the book is mine), but I always have my reading journals next to me or, if they are not available, a paper to note my thoughts on, or write quotes, etc.
If I listen to the music, it must be some rather silent classical music.

[Themis]

While reading, whether it be for school or leisure, I try to take notes and write down every word or reference I don't know(to look up at a later date). What are your habits while reading?

Depends. If I am studying and already know the book, I only look up paragraphs (§) and such. When I haven't read the book before, I write down the things that seem particularly important to me.

And of course, while reading "literature" I often listen to music nowadays.

@'Marking a book': I do that. About three months before the actual exam I get excited and mark just about everything. I only use flags in law codes.

[jon1jt]

am i the only person who loves to drink coffee while reading?

[vheissu]

am i the only person who loves to drink coffee while reading?

Nope, I do that as well...but then again, I tend to drink a lot of coffee anyway!

[Plauen]

While reading, I tend to think.

[Nightshade]

unscrew the bottom of my laptop... Ive lost at least 3 scews out of it while I was reading online texts this summer...:rolleyes:

[Visionary3]

Now that I am on the interent so much, I usually read before going to sleep. My kitten Beatrice comes and lays on me and purrs so I pet her while reading.

[jon1jt]

am i the only person who loves to drink coffee while reading?


Nope, I do that as well...but then again, I tend to drink a lot of coffee anyway!


i second that. ;)


Now that I am on the interent so much, I usually read before going to sleep. My kitten Beatrice comes and lays on me and purrs so I pet her while reading.

cats were placed on earth for the single purpose to sabotage the reading experience. miaow. :p

[amanda_isabel]

Usually nothing. It disturbs my flow of reading. I am even too lazy to check meanings from a dictionary if I come across a difficult word. (well, mostly)

true for me too. but i like to read lying down. sometimes i eat but then i either forget about the reading, or the food. :)

[Reccura]

I just read in my usual position; lying on the bed or sitting on a comfortable chair. I hate noises when I read, it distracts me greatly, and I prefer reading alone in our room. :D Just a lot of concentration.