I Read as I Breathe

My husband and I went to one of his coworkers houses last week. I'm not overly friendly with the people who we spent the evening with, and one of them asked me what television shows I watch.

Do I watch House? No. Do I watch The Bachelor? No. Real Housewives, Catfish, Dr. Who, Pawn Stars, or others? No.

About the only show I watch is Dowton Abbey. And Jeopardy! when I'm washing the dinner dishes.

So, I was asked, what do you watch?

Words on Paper. That's what I watch - words on paper. Otherwise known as BOOKS.

I READ books and rarely watch tv.

That's me. I always have a book with me.

Have you read this? Attributed to Rosemarie Urquico, it begins with:

Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.

Me. I am that girl.

According to the University of Sussex studies, reading for just six minutes has been shown to reduce stress by 68 percent. Reading before bed further reduces that stress. Why would you not want to read? Why would you not want to climb in to someone else's life, rattle around in someone else's brain, see the world thorugh fresh eyes and experience situations you may never come into contact with?

If you can try on other people's lives and learn more about what makes them tick - why wouldn't you?

Are you a reader?

Comments

[Shelly]

I love to read!! I read everything I can get my hands on too. Newspapers--online now only, dictionaries, reference books, fiction, non-fiction, and whatever I can get my hands on. I love trivia because of it....has come in very handy at times. I love my kindle app on my phone. I love downloading books to my iphone. I read the manuals to everything so I know how things work or can be fixed.

TV? Don't have one in my house. Never had one growing up...my parents thought we watched too much TV and took it away. Best thing they ever did. All of my sibs and I love reading and most of us do not have TV in our homes. My hubs grew up with the TV on 24/7 and can sing all the jingles from the day. His mom told me I was bad because I would rather read a book than watch TV or a movie. His family struggle with reading and all hate it, but love watching movies and TV shows.

I do watch downtown or a show via the internet, however I am always doing something else, like reading the news or a book on the iphone.

[Wendy]

LOVE to read. I have my Nook with me at all times. I had to buy a purse based on whether my nook would fit in it or not. We do have a tv in our home, but I am unable to just sit and watch, I have to be reading or playing on the computer while watching and am just as happy to have it off. I do watch certain shows though, but usually have them DVRd so I can watch them on my time.

[Vicky]

Love love love to read! I don't understand people who don't. I feel sad for them!

[Janyll]

I love to read, I was the kid reading the cereal box at breakfast. If I have to wait somewhere for more than a couple of minutes and don't have something to read, I get all twitchy. But alas, neither of my kids are readers (despite being read to every night for years). Makes me sad.

[Jenna]

I read WHILE I watch TV which is to say I don't really watch TV. I believe this is why I didn't watch many movies growing up -- though my parents say that I *did* see a number of them. I would always have a book with me on family movie night. heh

[Athanasia]

Reader extraordinaire right here! Yup, that's me. I love to read and have been a reader since a tot. Me too with the library card since I was 12!

I prefer paper books to Kindle though I do have the app on the iPad. My favorite places are libraries and bookstores. Once a year I purge the bookshelves, keeping only the absolute favorites, in order to make room for more books.

I keep a list of "want to read" books in the back of my weekly calendar so when I go to the library I can find them all. T

I am a TV watcher and read during the commercials unless I've DVR'd the program. I also do needlework while watching. However, I watch only my favorites. It's not a "turn on the tube and watch a random show."

Both my kids are avid readers. My son carries a satchel everywhere he goes so he can keep at least one book (usually more) at hand to read no matter where he is.

[Ginger Britt]

LOVE BOOKS...LOVE THE SMELL AND THE FEEL OF A BOOK. ALSO LOVE MY KINDLE. HAVE HAD A LIBRARY CARD SINCE I WAS 9 OR 10 AND MY IDEA OF A GOOD DAY IS A DAY SPENT IN THE LIBRARY OR IN BARNES AND NOBLE. I LOVE TV TOO AND ESPECIALLY DOWNTON ABBEY.

[Headless Mom]

My #2's 4th grade teacher gave us all kinds of statistics about reading. The crux of it was: the student who reads for 20 minutes has up to 80% higher SAT/ACT scores than kids who don't read, and they will make 80% more money over their lifetime than non-readers.

Yep. We're readers over here.

[Headless Mom]

20 minutes a day.

Sheesh. I need an editor.

[JMB]

I'm an avid reader too but lately I've been dissatisfied with my reading log. I'm in a book group and sometimes it's a struggle to start the read, especially if it's not something I'm interested in. I have to force myself to order the book, pick it up at the library and read. Many times I will be pleasantly surprised, re "The Fault in Our Stars". I've learned over the years to kind of fake it with the group if I haven't finished a book. So reading to me is a personal thing - I love it, but I don't necessarily like being told what to read.

[Christal]

Me read? CONSTANTLY! Voraciously. Undiscriminately (unfortunately).

[Yum Yucky]

The vicious kids had previously cramped my reading style, but I'm getting back on track. I've been to Barnes & Nobles two weekends in a row now. Never mind that they have AWESOME cupcakes. I bought books, too. Then I got the books home and couldn't find them. The hubs had "stored" them in the basement. WTH!?

[LizP]

I love to read and I love my Kindle app! It's on my iPad and on my phone so I can read the same book no matter where I am.

[Terry]

I was going to type love to read, but actually I live to read.

[WebSavvyMom]

-->I love to read and wish I had more time to do it. I read every night to unwind before turning off the light.
I love how *our* city lets you select books online and go through the drive through at the library to pick them up. (At least at the Bayside branch)
I do watch tv though but only after everything else is done in the house.

[MamaBearJune]

Book lover here. When we were little kids, we lived right behind the library in our town of less than 200 people. My older sister and I were ALWAYS there! I think they gave us library cards and we were probably just 4 and 6 years old! Whenever we moved, we always went to the library within the first few days to get our cards and a stack of books.

[Sharilyn]

Reading IS breathing. Right? Yep, that's what I thought.

[suburbancorrespondent]

I have a delicious-looking copy of Sonia Taitz's The Watchmaker's Daughter waiting patiently next to my computer right now. Not much of a TV person, myself...Downton Abbey excepted, of course...

[Mom of an unruly mob]

I love the smell of books. I have gotten used till reading digital screens... Because i like to read in bed after/while the hubby is falling asleep, and the screen bothers him less than the flashlight I used to hide with as a child under the covers when i should have been sleeping....

[PamL]

Oh yes, to my detriment....I love those days where I just sit and read for hours. Unfortunately, that means taht not much gets done around here. :(