How many hours a day do you read?

[TurquoiseSunset]

Also, it would be interesting to know if you are a student or at school, or if you work. Some people work long hours so they don't have loads of time for reading.

I read about an hour to two hours a day (on average) during the week. There are days when I get home from work and head straight for my book[s] and read until midnight, but that's not the norm...or possible...the dishes don't wash themselves you know!! :D

Over the weekends I obviously read more, but it depends on my plans. If I stay home I'll read, on average, about 5 to 7 hours a day. More if I really like the book. It might read through the night then.

[Jozanny]

I can read copiously when I do not want to deal with things, or when I am not practicing my craft, or working on an article. Hugo, for instance, was initially difficult for me to get into, but about a third of the way through Les Miserables, I sat and finished the book in one night--my attendants looked at the book, looked at me, scanned my library, and thought I was crazy but didn't say so.

But digital technology, I think, can negatively impact attention span and comprehension, as I've noticed I'm a bit ADD as I age and pc's and phones and the internet become a new way of life.

I'd say I go about 3 hrs a day unless I'm blowing everything off.

[Emerald Hill]

About 3 hours on average, minimum 1, maximum about 7 (but that's when I really enjoy something). I get through a book a week.

[keilj]

I work. So I read about 30 minutes a day, just before bed

Seems like I used to read a bit more when I was teaching, and my schedule was a bit more flexible

[Dodo25]

I used to read 2 hours a day under the week and 4 on weekend-days, but these days are gone. I don't have much time anymore and I've become pretty distracted because of my labtop..

Now it's about 30 mins under the week and 1 hour on weekends.. Except if I go on vacation! On days where I fly by plane and have to wait on the airports I sometimes read up to 15 hours a day.. And if I have a beach or pool and some nice wheather, it also easily reaches 6 hours..

[Alexander III]

I feel as the lost duck here, but I only manage to read 3-4 hours in a week. I cant even use the excuse of not having the time, as I frequently and aimlessly wander about outside for hours every day. I guess that I prefer to savor books slowly, and I am an utterly slow reader.

[applepie]

I suppose it depends on what it is that you're including. I read a ton in general, but much of it is journals for work and other industry related materials. Time spent reading for pleasure is a bit different. I'm lucky to squeeze out an hour or two in a week to read for personal pleasure. Between work, kids, housecleaning, and all the other bits in life, I just don't have the time. I suppose I could spend less time here, but even my visits here are occurring while waiting on an e-mail or something of that sort.

[Pryderi Agni]

Well, it all depends. Since I'm a student, I have studying to do (obviously enough), but I take time out at late nights and just chill out with a book.

I also sometimes take the book along with me to college, just to help me beat the commute.

I don't usually read on weekends, but if the book's interesting, well, I could finish it in one gulp :)

[gruntingslime]

It's always different. Probably at minimum 2 hours a day, unless I don't read at all that day because I'm busy (which isn't often). I don't watch TV or anything, so reading is one of my only sources of entertainment, apart from spending time out in nature. The past week I'd been reading so much, 7+ hours a day and my eyes became completely blurry and I got the most terrible headache, I was lying in bed for over an hour tossing and turning and groaning it was so terrible... I had a similar experience when I read The Brothers Karamazov and I read the entire book in two days. I remember I felt like I had a fever when I was finished and forced myself out on a walk on an evil day in winter, walking knee deep in the snow up here in the far north of Sweden... I'd probably still do it again. I would be one of those people who read a book a day or read every waking hour, but I get problems with my eyes and headaches if I read too much...

[Helga]

a few years ago I would have said up to 5 hours every day but I am a student and I also work everyday so I feel lucky if I get a half an hour a day. but next week when my exams are over I'm gonna start up again with one night a week when I just read from the time my son falls asleep and 'till I go to sleep, I go through many books when I do this...

[keilj]

a few years ago I would have said up to 5 hours every day but I am a student and I also work everyday so I feel lucky if I get a half an hour a day. but next week when my exams are over I'm gonna start up again with one night a week when I just read from the time my son falls asleep and 'till I go to sleep, I go through many books when I do this...

yeah when I was a student I found it very hard to find time to read. After doing all kinds of required reading for classes, who wants to then pick up a book to read for leisure?


In other words - everyone drop out!! School is just an obstruction to the only important thing in life - literature!!! (maybe I'm joking)

[fb0252]

before internet--probably 45 min to hr. most days for books.
after internet--i am having trouble focusing on reading at all. Every time I get started some video or other internet distraction interrupts. I am thinking with what is now available, to get anything out of it, reading becomes part of a strategy of whatever you want to do with your head or brain--i.e. do you spectate with books, or create? "eye" strain thing a problem these days.

[keilj]

before internet--probably 45 min to hr. most days for books.
after internet--i am having trouble focusing on reading at all. Every time I get started some video or other internet distraction interrupts. I am thinking with what is now available, to get anything out of it, reading becomes part of a strategy of whatever you want to do with your head or brain--i.e. do you spectate with books, or create? "eye" strain thing a problem these days.

ween yourself off the Twitter and Facebook dude :p

[ktm5124]

I'd guess around 4-6 hours, including school reading. I don't really keep count though.

I'm in college and I'm not working a job at the moment.

[dfloyd]

I read from 2 hrs minimum to 4 hours per day. This is strictly reading. I would read more, but my eyes can't take it. Audio books are a godsend. I keep one audio book in the car and one or two at home. I am currently listening to Anna Karenina. I read it when I was in my twenties, now I'm listening to an unabridged edition which has 30 cds. Save your eyes as much as possible. You'll not get another set! I'm currently on cd #22 of Anna Karenina. Next up is A Farewell to Arms. I've read it before, but now I'll just listen.

[ktm5124]

I read from 2 hrs minimum to 4 hours per day. This is strictly reading. I would read more, but my eyes can't take it. Audio books are a godsend. I keep one audio book in the car and one or two at home. I am currently listening to Anna Karenina. I read it when I was in my twenties, now I'm listening to an unabridged edition which has 30 cds. Save your eyes as much as possible. You'll not get another set! I'm currently on cd #22 of Anna Karenina. Next up is A Farewell to Arms. I've read it before, but now I'll just listen.

There's always laser eye surgery. I think I'd be too afraid to go through with it at the moment, but once it's proven itself over 5-10 years, if my vision starts deteriorating, I think I might sign up for it.

[janesmith]

When I'm not working I can read for up to 6 hours a day (more if I can get away with it!) Even when I'm busy I try to read for at least an hour every day- it keeps me sane.

[Modest Proposal]

I usually read 4-6 hours a day seeing as it is essentially my job (grad student). I was lucky enough to get fellowships for school so that I don't have to work outside of a little teaching and it's hard to justify anything but reading and writing with my surplus time.

Though there are days where I spend about 8 or 9 hours reading, this is pretty rare because I try not to get too behind.

[Helga]

yeah when I was a student I found it very hard to find time to read. After doing all kinds of required reading for classes, who wants to then pick up a book to read for leisure?


In other words - everyone drop out!! School is just an obstruction to the only important thing in life - literature!!! (maybe I'm joking)

there may be some truth in that but I'm trying to finish this part of school so I can go to college and study literature, so when I'm reading I'm really just thinking ahead.... right?...

[Cygnus X-2112]

I usually get in 1 to 2 hours a day, and more on weekends depending on my workload and plans with people, but if i'm sick of society and don't really want to see people (much like right now) and have a book i'm really interested in i'll read from when i get home from school to when i go to sleep haha.

[Frankie Anne]

I work full time and have a yard, garden and animals to tend to so I only read about 1.5 hours at night before bed.

[keilj]

there may be some truth in that but I'm trying to finish this part of school so I can go to college and study literature, so when I'm reading I'm really just thinking ahead.... right?...

I'm actually a big believer in a university education - for exposing you to a lot of well-rounded subjects that you might otherwise never study. I think it gives you some great tools and foundations for a capacity for varied critical thinking and understanding



but I also truly believe that every important thing in life comes to us from fiction writers!!

[grace86]

I too am a firm believer in higher education. Crucial to have an open mind in university, but not a gullible one. Through university is how I learned a lot of things to read, not just some awesome literature, but some reliable scholarly works in history, philosophy etc. etc.

In university, I didn't read much at all for pleasure. I did read for study about 4 hours a night (I'm being optimistic here). And I worked at the same time.

After graduating, all I do is work right now, so I still pull maybe 2-3 hours a night of reading for pleasure...all night if it's something I really enjoy or if in need of escaping the real world for a little while. It's amazing the places you can travel while reading!!

[WuWei]

As a literature student it is very hard for me to separate my school-related reading to my pleasure-reading. It's actually impossible. I read something like 4-5 hours a day, but most of the time I'm reading books I'm required to read. Then again, it still is literature, so I don't think I should really make a distinction

[TurquoiseSunset]

I feel as the lost duck here, but I only manage to read 3-4 hours in a week. I cant even use the excuse of not having the time, as I frequently and aimlessly wander about outside for hours every day. I guess that I prefer to savor books slowly, and I am an utterly slow reader.

Nothing wrong with that...don't ever apologize for being outside a lot. Anyway, I can probably read more than I do. I still live with my parents (hopefully I'll be moving out in short while) and I like me some t.v. :D So between watching a show or two every day, chatting with my parents, doing chores, going out, and whatever else needs to be done especially over weekends, I don't always spend the time I could have on reading, but then it doesn't follow that I should have spent that time reading anyway.


It's always different. Probably at minimum 2 hours a day, unless I don't read at all that day because I'm busy (which isn't often). I don't watch TV or anything, so reading is one of my only sources of entertainment, apart from spending time out in nature. The past week I'd been reading so much, 7+ hours a day and my eyes became completely blurry and I got the most terrible headache, I was lying in bed for over an hour tossing and turning and groaning it was so terrible... I had a similar experience when I read The Brothers Karamazov and I read the entire book in two days. I remember I felt like I had a fever when I was finished and forced myself out on a walk on an evil day in winter, walking knee deep in the snow up here in the far north of Sweden... I'd probably still do it again. I would be one of those people who read a book a day or read every waking hour, but I get problems with my eyes and headaches if I read too much...

You should go for an eye test! Something's not right there. When I read as much as that it never makes me ill in any way. Tired perhaps, but that's it.
I'm really interested to know if other litnetters experience anything like that. anyone?


...it keeps me sane.

Me too and if I haven't read at least half an hour before bedtime I struggle to fall asleep. It always feels like I haven't ended the day yet and there's still something to do before I can sleep.


There's always laser eye surgery. I think I'd be too afraid to go through with it at the moment, but once it's proven itself over 5-10 years, if my vision starts deteriorating, I think I might sign up for it.

This is quite a common procedure...I know a number of people who've done it, some many many years ago, and were very pleased with the results. If your eyesight is bad enough your insurance should cover it.

[Helga]

As a literature student it is very hard for me to separate my school-related reading to my pleasure-reading. It's actually impossible. I read something like 4-5 hours a day, but most of the time I'm reading books I'm required to read. Then again, it still is literature, so I don't think I should really make a distinction

this to me is a good thing. my brother is in anthropology and his leisure reading is 95% connected to his school work. I don't want to spend hours reading biology for school I want to spend hours reading literature old and new from all over the world. leisure and homework.

[The Comedian]

For pleasure? I'd say about an hour most days. . .and this hour is divided up into small chunks. I'd like to have more time but I read a lot at work and with two kids at home, I don't have much time to devote to quiet, joyful study.

[gruntingslime]

You should go for an eye test! Something's not right there. When I read as much as that it never makes me ill in any way. Tired perhaps, but that's it.
I'm really interested to know if other litnetters experience anything like that. anyone?

I've gone for an eye test and the optometrist said that there is nothing wrong with my eyesight I just get "tired eyes" and that most people don't get glasses for that. I got a pair of glasses and use them when they become really blurry (my vision is affected both near and far-sighted). I don't really like using them because I find it agitates my eyes and makes them become more dependent. I'm not really sure what this problem could be, but I don't think it's entirely related to reading because I get the same feeling if I'm inside for a long time (more than a day) or else if I don't eat much vegetables. It could also be partly mental. I tend to think a lot, and even only as a result of thoughts find myself castrate tossing and turning. The problem with thinking hasn't been so strong lately though, I've gotten a bit of a grip on myself I could say. I used to fear insanity, but I've calmed down quite a lot and I'm also able to express myself more clearly as well.

[Night_Lamp]

My summer inter-session class started this week, so on top of pleasure reading (when I get the chance) it's about five to six hours a day right now.

The course is paced at a book a week; this week is Don Quixote, which I have not read in many years and am enjoying revisiting.

[purplybob]

Since I got rid of the TV, anywhere from 2-6 hours

[scaltz]

My reading hours are a bit weird... I normally say to myself to have a reading duration limit of 30 minutes before going to sleep... but every time I read, this 30 minute time limit seems to expand more and more finally resulting into a sleepless night. An example, instead of sleeping at 9:00... I sleep at 5:00 a.m solely because of me wanting what happens next (no, not to books like the "Bourne Identity" or "Harry Potter" but to books like "The Picture of Dorian Gray" or "1984", weird books to get addicted huh?) because of reading... and that my friends is during school days.

[LadyButterfly]

If I don't have anything else to do 4-5 hours a day. If I do have anything else to do... 1-2 hours.

[Pierre Menard]

Not enough.

Literature is one of my great loves, but like another great love in film, I have to be in a particular mood to engage in both and the mood doesn't hit as much as I'd like.

[JBI]

5+ hours a day, almost all related directly to my field. I also spend a great deal of time online. With the exception of school work, and going out with friends, the bulk of my free time is absorbed in reading.

[Desolation]

Not nearly enough. Sometimes I'll read voraciously, and spend every free moment that I can get with a book...But then other times, I'll go weeks, or even months, without touching a book. I've noticed that the less free time I have, the more I read. When I'm on break, and have infinite time on my hands, I tend to put reading off in favor of more leisurely activities. Whereas when I only have a few hours every day, I feel the need to use them more wisely, and get more reading done.

[ennison]

About a half hour. More on wet days and Sunday afternoons.

[Silas D]

I read five to six hours a day on weekdays and around eight hours on weekends.

[MeLiKeyClaSsIcS]

So long as I'm not at work or class, and I've gotten my assignments and creative writing "done", pretty much all the time. I read on the bus and train, on my breaks during work, and while I'm brushing my teeth. I prety much read whenever I can pull my book out. I have other hobbies, but they don't hold a candle to reading. It's one of the few things that directly affects my mood. When I'm reading, I'm on cloud nine, and when I haven't started reading during a set day, or when someone interrupts my reading, I become extremely cranky! I don't see how people find reading stressful at all! It's such a crazy notion!

[Alexander III]

Somehow I have always preferred the idea of reading rather than the act in itself, and consequently I waste much time enjoying the idea rather than the act.

[Buh4Bee]

I try to do it 30 minutes a day, but sometimes I am too tired. I read more when I am excited about what I am reading.

[Scheherazade]

Twice as much as I should, half as much as I would like to.

[Ecurb]

I travel westward by airplaine, circumnavigating the globe and reading. That way I am able to read 28 or 29 hours a day, sometimes more. Unfortunately, because I never go outside of airports, I read mainly the women's magazines available at all the shops: Women's Day, Redbook, etc.. I have read so many articles on how to lose weight that I now weigh only 37 pounds.

[cafolini]

I read a lot on the internet through bing searches. But as I'm getting older, I have to take breaks to regain my concentration. I am a soccer, basketball and tennis fan and do a lot of reading about that also. I read a lot about politics and help people that make sense to me. Politics to me is the only way things of importance can be accomplished.

[Scheherazade]

I travel westward by airplaine, circumnavigating the globe and reading. That way I am able to read 28 or 29 hours a day, sometimes more. Unfortunately, because I never go outside of airports, I read mainly the women's magazines available at all the shops: Women's Day, Redbook, etc.. I have read so many articles on how to lose weight that I now weigh only 37 pounds.But I bet you also know how to get the best of your wardrobe and be prepared for every occasion even with only 9 essential pieces!

[MorpheusSandman]

I always manage at least 30 minutes before bed, but beyond that my reading habits are sporadic. When I really get into an author, novel, poem, etc. I can easily spend 8-10 hours a day reading. But I've also gone through slumps where I may go a month without hardly reading anything... probably because I get burnt out.

[dfw]

"Somehow I have always preferred the idea of reading rather than the act in itself, and consequently I waste much time enjoying the idea rather than the act."

same

i avg about 0 minutes per day for serious literature
i don't even particularly enjoy reading, when i do read,
mainly because i can never get physically comfortable when reading

[Snowqueen]

At least two hours a day. It’s my habit to read something before going to bed, even if I don’t find it very interesting. It helps me to keep going till the end.

[bIGwIRE]

Just counting literature I read an average of two hours a day,usually before my family is awake. I also read to my kids, and try to read a few poems with my wife every day.

I found I have to make time, because finding it is impossible. I work a lot, 330 days last year, putting in about 63 hours a week. I steal the time from TV, I don't ever watch it, and from sleep, which I need more of.

[Kafka's Crow]

I recently finished listening to 'Sarum: A Novel of England' by Edward Rutherford. It has 1346 pages and on audiobook, it was on 32 CDs. I finished it in 8 days. My eyes trouble me and I hate glasses. During my student days I used to read a minimum of 10 hours every day. I remember reading AC Bradley's Shakespearean Tragedy during one mad frenzy of reading which lasted a couple of days and the book was done. Now I am paying the prize with farsightedness (presbyopia). I can listen to Audiobooks for hours every day. I walk my dog and listen to books, I drive to and from work and listen to books, I go to bed and listen to books, I wake up and listen to books. My local library has an ample stock of audiobooks. These days I am listening to The Gift by Vladimir Nabokov. I must say that technology is very distracting and steals most my time as well on the other hand it has given me audiobooks to make up for the weakened eyesight.

[Phangirl7]

About 3.

[Jassy Melson]

It depends on what I do on a certain day. Oftentimes I am too busy with other tasks to read at all. Other days I may read three or four hours.

[jayat]

I've been reading for four or five month full time. It's curious because I began reading Shakespeare translated and I usually spend two or three weeks to finish Hamlet or Midsummer Night Dream. Now I read from the original and I usually spend a week fulltime for just an act (four or five scenes). However, now I'm appreciating the reading fully, deeply, in all its extent. I reallly prefer to read few but getting all the meanings. That is quite exhausting. So except the time I am doing tasks at home like ironing, I spend 4 hours a day. Like dfloyd, this is stricktly reading.