I realized recently that there are signs and stages when I’m enjoying a book so much that it starts to take over or at the least influence my routine. There’s the obvious sign of staying up too late (Bad Decisions Book Club).
And there’s the stages of book release anticipation that Aarya wrote about wherein one might reserve an entire day or call in “sick” on a Very Important Tuesday or Release Date. Sometimes, as Aarya also pointed out, a reader can combine both, waiting for the ebook to arrive between midnight and 3am, and reading immediately upon arrival. That’s like Platinum Status Bad Decisions Book Club.
Then there are the occasions when I won’t know a book has the power to influence my day and bend my schedule to its will. I’ll start a book that seems like it might be fun or interesting, and then I notice that I’m reordering my to do list, my schedule, and my time in order to read more. I have reading time built into most days already, but when I want more time and the book starts commandeering my calendar, well, that’s a sign of a very good book.
What activities become reading activities? There are several!
Workout Reading Time: This morning, I skipped my running program on the treadmill in favor of fast walking at an incline so that I could read more. I can’t read while running but I can read while walking, especially if I max out the text size.
Hands-Off Recipe Substitution Reading Time: If I switch out the dinner scheduled for that evening in favor of something I don’t have to actively cook or that I can stir while reading with one hand, that’s another few chapters at least. The Instant Pot is great for when I want another half hour to 45 minutes to read during my normal food prep time.
Walking the Dogs Reading Time: If I can get the audiobook, I will listen while I walk, instead of listening to my normal schedule of podcasts.
Internet? What Internet? Reading Time: If I entirely stop paying any attention to social media, or to all my favorite subreddits (Heya, r/CrossStitch!) in favor of a few more pages, then I’m reading a very good book. Usually my brain likes its candy breaks, but sometimes the book I’m reading is the only thing I want to do. (I love when that happens!)
Claudia: Ah, I’m definitely a member of the Bad Decisions Book Club, night-owl edition. I have a very early schedule at work so I always pay dearly for that — a sure sign the book is really grabbing my attention is when I do it anyway. I second the Instant Pot and other “set it and forget it” kitchen gadgets like a rice maker for some extra reading time. I also read during my commute, and that’s blissfully uninterrupted reading for a solid 30 minutes each way.
Other than that, I steal 10,15-minute pockets of reading here and there, which can be frustrating (I prefer to read in longer stretches) but another sign that I just can’t help myself.
Shana: I also do the reading while working out or cooking trick. When I decide to make risotto or pudding it’s a sure sign of book addiction.
I read while doing my hair. Usually I watch tv during the hour it takes to braid or twist my hair. But when I have a book that I can’t be separated from, I stop caring about the potential neck ache that follows a session of staring down with my arms above my head.
Aarya: The better question to ask is, “When am I not stealing pockets of time and reading instead?” The advantage of reading books in digital is that I can whip out my phone at any time and scroll through a chapter. I can’t quite describe the utter comfort and satisfaction I derive from knowing that my thousand book friends are in my pocket, just waiting to be opened and read.
Because of this convenience, it’s so easy to not do things that I’m supposed to be doing if a book really hooks onto me. My daily hour long walk at 7 am? I’ll find a bench and read instead (I have tried reading on my phone and walking, but that way lies extreme clumsiness and potential accidents). Meals? I’ll read while not paying attention at all to what I’m eating (this is a terrible habit and one I’m trying to stop; I want to appreciate what I’m eating!). Bathing? I’ll risk damaging my tablet and awkwardly balancing the e-reader while I soak in the tub.
Sleep? We all know the answer to that!
Sneezy: When a book takes over my life, I’m, well, fucked. I’d be up at three in the morning, assuring myself that this is the last page, just like I’d have been doing for the last four hours. I’d also read on transit (one time I missed my stop no less than four times), while waiting for transit. *But never on taxis, a ride-sharing service, or when someone I don’t know well or trust is in the car! The person in the car with me might be the one charged with knocking me out while the other person drives!*
While cooking – insist it’s a ‘hot pot’ when really it’s just everything thrown in a pot of water with no rhyme or reason, stir-fry things on autopilot while reading on my phone, or punt things into the oven and tell it to do the rest (in which it’s important to close your oven door and spend a second setting the correct time and temperature). While I brush my teeth. While blow drying my hair. While I’m stretching.
I might even read as I walk – which is mostly a hard copy thing. I find reading on my phone greatly reduces my peripheral vision, plus people tend to assume whoever is walking around on their phones is a mega douche. It’s no loss though, since reading on my phone gives me a lot more pockets of time that more than makes up for not reading while walking, which yeah, I know, terrible habit. The extra nooks include any moment that stretches longer than two blinks, like when I’m waiting in line, waiting for my friend/family/colleague, waiting for food or drink, or riding on escalators.
Speaking of phones, does anyone else feel like people are just generally more judgey and angry when they see someone on their phone versus a book? I’ve noticed people actively skirt around me if I’m walking around with a hard copy, and I’ve never seen articles complaining about bookworms. But if I’m in the corner on my phone, it’s omigerd-get-off-your-phone-you-millenial-I-hope-you-step-in-dog-poop-horse-poop-cat-poop-all-the-poops-get-run-over-and-die.
Other than that, if I suspect a book will emotionally wreck me, I put it off for when I will have time to read it in one slurp and question my existence as I sob into a muffin.
Catherine: I also read while walking. Walking to the shops, walking to catch the tram, walking down the corridors at work. If I’m walking, I have a book or my Kobo in my hand. I’ve been doing this since primary school and in spite of many people telling me that I should not, so I expect that this won’t change any time soon. And yes, I do mean reading, not listening to audiobooks. And no, I don’t walk into things or fall over when I’m reading (when I’m not reading, all bets are off). This is possibly because I’ve spent more time in my life reading while walking than walking while not reading, so I’m better at it…
I will read during my lunch break, if I can find somewhere to hide from friendly people (friendly people are the worst when you have a good book). I will read while cooking, if it’s something that can be dealt with one-handed, or if there are breaks when I’m stirring things or waiting for things to cook or whatever.
I will also read doing physiotherapy exercises. My physio would not approve of this, so let’s hope she isn’t a reader of this site. But physio is boring and books are interesting and I figure that doing my physio at 70% effectiveness every day is better than doing it at 100% effectiveness on some days and not at all on others, so I persist.
Other than that, I’m a fully paid-up member of the Bad Decisions Book Club, which has been made even easier by the advent of self-lighting e-readers – no more need for a torch under the covers! And I read on the loo, of course. Doesn’t everybody? Nobody else has mentioned it, perhaps because the rest of you are all too genteel. But I am not genteel, and I am not going to waste a moment of time that could be spent with a book.
Amanda: I so value my sleep. If I’m staying up late to finish a book, you know things are getting pretty serious. If possible, I’ll try to find an audio version of the book, as well. That way I can listen to it while walking to the subway and then pick up reading later when I’m home.
Tara: It takes a special book for me to be in the Bad Decisions Book Club, so it’s only happened a couple of times this year so far. Those are also the books that are so good that I’ll let my kids have a little extra Netflix with a bowl of goldfish crackers so I can read for longer.
If an audio book really grabs my attention, then I’ll also find myself suddenly motivated to catch up on my ironing or other typically mundane tasks that I can do while listening.
Elyse: As a founding member of the Bad Decisions Book Club, I have stayed up way too late many nights reading. My entire life is staying up too late reading. I might have been up till 3 a.m. last night. A few years ago we went on vacation to Costa Rica and my husband woke up ready for coffee and a swim only to realize I still hadn’t gone to bed. It’s bad enough that I plan time off around certain books being released. I’m sure my boss thinks it’s odd that I take random Tuesdays off as opposed to a long weekend.
I read a lot of thrillers, mysteries and romantic suspense. Once I’m hooked on a plot line, if I can’t suss out what’s going to happen, it’s not uncommon for me to stay up all night reading. I can’t go to sleep! I have to know what happens! I’ve gone to work on 3 or 4 hours of sleep due to a book more than once.
I don’t do this with TV shows, though. I can totally go to bed right after a big reveal. I think the immersive nature of reading is what pulls me in. I also really like reading at night when the house is quiet and dark and I have a cat curled up against me, so that likely compounds it.
Lara Diane: The Bad Decisions Book Club is a natural state of being for me. As a freelancer, I have a little too much control over my time and a good book (like Amanda’s recommendation The Blacksmith Queen erases many chores, tasks and plans. I’ve also figured out how to knit and read at the same time. It’s a (literal) balancing act, but possible!
AJ: A good book is a one-way ticket to Hyperfocus Town for me, so it’s more a question of when one isn’t taking over my waking life. I have to be strategic about timing my reading or it’s Bad Decisions Book Club 4 Lyfe.
I have a blanket No Starting Books After 10 PM rule (that I, uh, frequently ignore).
I try not to read before work, either, because then I end up being like “I don’t have to stop, I still have half an hour … uh, fifteen minutes … no, it’s okay, five minutes is a perfectly fine amount of time to shower, get dressed and pack lunch.”
Spoiler: No, it’s not. I can make it to work on time but sometimes my outfits are … let’s say ‘not coordinated.’
If I’m in the middle of a book but I absolutely must leave the house, I start taking it along on errands that couldn’t possibly involve any downtime. Grocery shopping? Just a few pages in the car before I go in. Getting gas? I can read with one hand and hold the nozzle with the other. One time a friend dragged me out to a bar and then ditched me, so I spent the entire night in the corner next to the pinball machine reading urban fantasy.
Best time I’ve ever had at a bar, to be honest. 10/10 would recommend.
What about you? Do you find extra pockets of reading time in your schedule when a book really grabs you with both hands and won’t let go? What are yours?
I am absolutely a read while walking person (this has included giant doorstop books) and I have also stayed up Way Too Late (this is also a problem because I am a ‘finished the last Harry Potter book in less than a day’ speed reader so pre books on phone days I had to take a tonne of books everywhere with me).
Working in a bookstore meant I was around a lot of books so when I found a really really good one it was like ‘must try to read and multitask somehow’ and when in school I, an extremely well behaved shy kid would read under my desk/behind a maths textbook. These days I know it’s really good when it can actually soothe me late at night post nightmare wake up(actually there’s a whole other post/comment on reading, trauma and mental health that I won’t get into) but when a book is just
I read while drying my hair. I’ve always done that. My Kindle makes it much easier, but I had a Jenga type situation on the counter with things holding my books open and trying to turn pages with a hand also holding a round brush. I also walk for an hour on the treadmill each day and read the whole time. It’s my reward.
Wow, I think you guys have me all beat! I always carry around a beat up paperback in my purse for any short break. Now that my kids are older and need less superivision, the playground is wonderful for reading. I know the paperback has really caught me when it comes out of the purse and becomes a house reading book.
And yes, I have noticed people are much nicer/understanding when you’re reading a physical book in public over a phone or even an ereader! It’s very weirdly snobby, but the good/bad thing is it often also makes people more friendly or chatty. No one has ever asked me what I’m reading when I have an ereader in front of me, but it happens a lot with physical books.
It’s kind of nice because they often want to talk about books and that’s fun, but it’s bad when you really want to get back to the book.:-)
Other bad decisions book club things, not just staying up to read until you’re finished, but buying the sequel right then and starting it. Yikes. Or finishing a book, getting to the last page and turning to the front and starting over again. Only done that once or twice.
Another thing I when I’m reading a book I really, really love is that everyone I meet may not be as interested as hearing every detail of the book as I am in telling it. My husband, my mom, my bookish friends, sure. They don’t mind. Maybe not random coworkers or family members and friends who only read books about Scandanavian alcoholic detectives.
I just remember my college job at the rare books library and being so entranced by an early Suzanne Brockmann book that I walked around in a daze, constantly reminding myself I did not have to share with the sweet little older ladies I worked with that I was excited because I was pretty sure Sam and Alyssa were finally going to “do it.” My lunch break could not come soon enough that day!
The joy of having adult children is that the enormous fund of time spent raising them is returned to you once more and the need to carve out extra reading time is lessened; but—alas!—the normal demands of living (a job, housework, preparing meals—usually just for me and my husband and, fortunately, he often makes our dinner) don’t go away. I always take my kindle to work, but I can only read it at lunchtime, but at home the kindle (along with the pile of HPs I got at the Friends of the Library sale) is always sitting on the side table next to my spot on the sofa waiting for me to get a few free minutes. I’ve never taken a sick day to read a book, but I have left my kindle on my nightstand the night before an anticipated book’s release and started reading when the book downloads at midnight. A bad decision, but always worth it! My mantra is a quote attributed to Logan Pearsall Smith: “Some people say living’s the thing, but I prefer reading.”
The biggest thing that happens when I have a really good book is that I will not put it down. I’m another speed reader as well and can finish a book in one day, even doorstoppers. One particularly memorable good book is HARRY POTTER and THE DEATHLY HALLOWS which I started at around 9 am release day and basically didn’t put it down until midnight . None of that time was wasted.
I meant to add in my comment midnight after I finished the book.
I almost never read late… I need all of the sleep. However if my eyes are open, so is kindle. The great part about the fire is the text to speech feature. I start a book as I head to the shower and don’t turn it off until about an hour after I walk into work and people start to arrive. I get the day going and pop an earbud back in when things quiet down. Listen all day and then usually switch genres for the ride home.
I have dropped a lot of tv, movies and random stuff people fill their time with. I read.
Look, if I sit down with a novel, I am going to finish it. I might get up to pee. I will eat about every third meal till I’m done. I finish a book and my body is cramped, I’m dehydrated, hungry, and will 100% start another one immediately.
Luckily I read fast (shoutout to Open Dyslexic on Kindle) so with most romance novels it’s only 3 hours lost to the world… but I also read epic scifi and high fantasy. I don’t start a book after 7pm. I try to only read works under 100,000 words on (shoutout to AO3 filters saving me from myself) week nights.
Gardening, mowing and yardwork are reading times, or actually listening times for me now. And when I go plant shopping. Something about listening to a book while my hands dig in dirt makes me feel very happy and peaceful. Baking is the same but I don’t do that as much in the warmer months.
I’m still trying to get better prepping meals on the weekend for my next week. I find I do better at that when I have a good book I’m in the middle of listening to and want to get back to right away.
I also listen when I do my nails and give myself a mani and pedi. I try to pamper my hands because they get really dry these days and my cuticles will split. Also on those times I give myself facials or some deep hair conditioning treatment, I’ll pull up an audiobook to listen to.
And while I’m running errands, as soon as I’m in the car, it’s usually listening times. If I have a good book, I’ll tend to schedule more errands for that day. So grocery shopping, library visits, filling my gas tank, pet store or any other running around town trip involves pulling up my Audible app and putting on my bluetooth headset.
I absolutely can’t read before bed because reading doesn’t make me tired or sleepy. I will always read just one more chapter and then stay up all night. So I try to save reading until I know I have time to indulge.
My Nook, Kindle, or paperback goes with me everywhere, whichever is being read at the time. I buy purses that have space for any of those. Even my smallest purse will hold the Nook or Kindle. I read when we are driving to dinner (I’m the passenger). I read at dinner while home. I’ve read while waiting for dinner to come to the table while at restaurants. At home, I linger after dinner reading. I stay up too late. Hello, 3 AM. I read while cooking. I know most of my recipes really well and can do both. I’ve punted dinner before because I just couldn’t get dinner started and the people I live with want to eat. I keep a couple of real quick things in the freezer for just such occasions. I used to read while I volunteered, but I found that I blocked out the radio communications too much. I have yet to master reading while crocheting. I have to get over my need to listen to the kids (now a tween & a teenager) and start audiobooks while crocheting. I’ve dropped off the internet for days because I’ve been wrapped up in books. Discovering an amazing series is good for that. Pretty much if I am wrapped up in a book, that’s where I live.
Aside from late night reading, here are some other indications a book has taken over: When I worked in an office, I’ve taken a bathroom break, and spent 5 minutes reading on the toilet. New Jersey has no self-serve gas stations, so while I’m waiting for the attendant, or waiting for the tank to fill, I can get in several minutes of reading time.
What are the signs that you’re about to join the Bad Decisions Book Club?
When an indie author announces that the next book in her series is coming out “in September” (no date), so I start every day by checking Amazon. Then check again at lunch. Again before leaving work. Again at bedtime. And anytime in between when I happen to be on Amazon for any reason. Because looking for the book is the next best thing to having the book. #awatchedpot
Bad Decisions Book Club?
To be perfectly honest, I never know I’m there until I’m in the middle of it. When it comes to books I know I’m going to devour, I usually have a plan. For instance, September 24 is circled in red on the calendar. I will be picking up Archangel’s War on the way home from work. There will be snacks and a beverage and a late start request for the 25th already on file. That’s not Bad Decisions, that’s foresight and planning.
Bad Decisions come into play when I start a book I had no idea was going to be so good that I couldn’t look away if I tried, and I’ve tried. The first sign is when I realize I need to use the bathroom. Badly. Then I realize I’m thirsty. REALLY thirsty. Then I have to physically remove myself from the vicinity of the book -that is if the urge to pee comes before I actually finished the book. I have given myself many stern talkings to about errands and chores and how getting to work on time means I don’t have to make up the time, which would give me more time before bedtime to read. Sadly, the book usually wins, and more bad decisions ensue.
You people are so my tribe. I understand each and every one of you. I am around people IRL that don’t understand my reading obsession. I try to make a tentative reading schedule each day and try to stick to it. (Notice that there are two “try’s” in that sentence.) Many times at the end of the day, I wish that I had succeeded and stuck to my schedule. But, if I get in to a good book, I keep looking at the clock and thinking I will just read for 15 more minutes and then get back on track. Next thing I know two or three hours have gone by.
For me, I find that when a book has pulled me into it I have to read at work. I find reasons why I need a break and why that break should be filled with that book.
I’ve also been known to come up with reasons why I can’t go out with friends because I needed to know what was going to happen next in the book I’m reading.
If my phone rings (even if it isn’t obviously spam), I let it go to voicemail. If I have to answer it, I cut the call short, so I can get back to the book. In the occasions when I can’t cut the call short, I talk about the book, so the other person hangs up.
When a book is coming out and I just have to read it the day it releases, I pre-make dinner. Many times we’ll have baked ziti or lasagna because a book was coming out.
@Karin: I also read while waiting at the gas station. Go NJ!
staying up too late.
When I have to pee and I realize that I’m still sitting on the toilet from the last time I did.
I also love being able to turn the page on my Nook with my elbow while I’m flossing my teeth.
I love this post! I kindle while doing all the things: nursing, walking, cooking, eating etc. I’ll take the elevator at work when I known it will be super slow bc it gives me more reading time. I’m a regular bad decisions book club member. I’m so much happier when I have time to read!
Here to back up the reading on the toilet excuse, ever since I was a kid I’ve been going for half hour ‘toilet breaks’. My mom eventually clued in that I was hiding my books under the bathroom sink, but as an adult, no one can stop me!
Not looking at the enviroment. Especially if I’m on a road trip with my mom and she points out something.
It’s ironic. She’s the long time reader and she gotten annoyed when I read stuff.
I’m undergoing a mild variant of the book club thing with the second book in the Foundation series, incidentally. I am running on six hours of sleep. -w0
But it’s so interesting, yet mundane. Like listening to a podcast about a subject you know nothing about.
Space politics, space politics, space politics…
I also value my sleep, but occasionally renew my membership in the Bad Decisions Book Club and stay up to finish a book or chapter. Usually, a book that has really caught my imagination and I’ve been chiseling time to read all day.
The other Bad Decision is starting work late because I need to read just a few more pages. My husband and I are both early risers (thanks, farm life). Most mornings, we read and have our first cup of coffee in the living room. I work from home, so my commute is 13 steps. I can’t be late to lead a Webex because I needed to finish a chapter or a book. Most of the time, my Kindle stays downstairs during work hours, because I will be tempted to do a little fun reading during a routine meeting. 🙂
Oops, almost late for a meeting ….
I know a book is good when I hit the snooze alarm (my alarm is a radio) to give me 15 more minutes of reading before I get up to face the world. I’ve learned not to turn off the alarm completely from experience – it is too easy not to look up for another hour. Before I joined a carpool my major cause of lateness was reading.
I also subscribe to the reading by snippets- in elevators, waiting for elevators, in the restroom, on the shuttle, on escalators, in the grocery line (in any line for that matter), while stopped….
Ha! I’m betting a huge percentage of your readers are members of the Bad Decisions Book Club. My personal experience makes me think the disease has a genetic origin; my husband and I are both members, and two of my three children have followed in our wayward footsteps. Please don’t tell, but I’m even guilty of being the mother who let her kid stay home from school to finish a book. (We never threatened time-outs when they were young – we threatened no bedtime reading!!) I agree completely with Sneezy that society misjudges those of us who are reading REAL books on our phones instead of regular phone stuff (!), and like Sarah, I bring my dog for extra-long walks when I’m listening to something good on audio. I sometimes imagine a sci-fi type world in which we can have books fed into us intravenously while we sleep. If there are any geniuses out there reading this, please work on it!
Bad Decisions Book Club? Been there. Got the t-shirt. And the mug.
If I’m really loving a book, I’ll hide out in my car to read it. It’s got comfortable seats and no one bothers me, though the neighbors may think I’m a creeper. I’ll also take it out to dinner or breakfast and leave the spouse at home. I have favorite places that are tolerant of book daters. Also I get extremely resentful if anyone interrupts my reading time at work.
I find that I dream about books that I really enjoy. I don’t always remember detail, just that I was spending extra time in the world of The Book or with its Peoples. It’s like bonus comfort for the comfort reads or bonus adventure for the adventures.
Can we talk about why on earth books are still released on Tuesday? Most of the books I order are ebooks so that means Monday at 10 PM PT, a new book drops onto my kindle. This is just as I am trying to wind down. So then I have to convince myself to ignore the book until Friday night (after a long day at work when I just want to relax!) If I didn’t use all my willpower to regulate my reading, I would have better eating and workout habits!
Honestly, the worst thing is when I turn on my kindle to read a little before bed and see a new book that I’ve been dying to read. Sigh! Please release books on Friday afternoons!
I used to be a regular on the Bad Decisions Book Club but now with age catching up and my body unable to function well without at least 6 hrs sleep, I have stopped starting books in the evening / night. However I still carry my kindle and read when I am traveling (I have a long commute)
The worst case was that I almost missed a flight home due to a book I was engrossed in while waiting to board. I suddenly realised that the place had gone very quiet and I popped up to see that everyone had boarded. The girl at the counter literally clutched her chest and gasped “what are you doing here?” and then had to reopen the gate for me to board. This was on an international flight and I dont even want to think what would have happened if I had waited another 10 mins!!
“dippable dinner” was born so I could keep reading. Anything that can be dipped, smeared or spread in the fridge or pantry was up for grabs. Turned out a lot of veggies and fruit were eaten that night and the tradition continued.
When Whitney, My Love was released I bargained with my husband to read all night. I stayed up with the ear ache child and he would take her to the doctor on a Saturday morning. I read while the baby alternately slept and screamed, finished the book, then napped while they were at the appointment.
Now my reading time is basically unlimited & I force myself to go for a walk & move. Still love an all night read though. There’s something about being SO immersed in a good book to the exclusion of all else that’s satisfying. Happened this month – Camilla Monk’s Spotless series hit my travel porn buttons as the characters travelled to places I’ve been and I was all in!
Love this post! I am a slow starter with most books, unless they are part of a series and I already know the characters. So I know the book is starting to get good when I start ignoring environmental things like comfort/discomfort, heat/cold, my children bickering….and then I know a book is REALLY GOOD when I can’t sleep unless I finish it. So many times I have tried to put the book down at a responsibly early hour and then I just lay there thinking about it until eventually I pick it right back up again. It’s funny because my daughters are like this too now. Recently we had a day with my older daughter where she was just being unreasonable, acting exactly the same way that she does after (not) sleeping at a friend’s house, but I couldn’t figure it out because I knew she had gone to bed at the normal time. Finally I was like DUDE WHAT IS WRONG and she admitted that she had stayed up until the wee hours finishing the 2nd of the YA Alexander Hamilton trilogy. I was like oh girl….I got you. Then I made her take a nap. Without her Kindle. #baddecisionsbookclubforlife
Awaiting my bad decisions membership card.
-I waited until 3 am for the ebook release of Mockingjay.
-I abandoned all activities to read The Poppy War
-I read ASOIAF instead of my course reading.
-Just this week I stayed up until 2 am reading Rebeakah Weatherspoon.
I often read late into the night or spend Saturday’s reading if no one is around. I don’t read on the Metro Link or the bus anymore because I will miss my stop. One night I ended up in Long Beach when I live in Pacific Palisades.