Would you say that you read about the same amount now as when you were younger? More? Less? Why?
I was all set to say "less". I do have my nose stuck in a book much less often than when I was school age. Why? I don't know. Partly because I do other things in my spare time. (Clay is a big consumer of my free time.) Partly it's because I just get out of the habit. When I'm reading something new-- if I'm enjoying it-- I want to read, read, read it until it's done. That gets tiring after a while, and it's difficult to get things accomplished if I'm constantly tempted to read, so it's probably good that I don't read as many "new to me" books as I used to. ;o) I still re-read favorites, but often it's only a bit at a time, so it's somewhat less disruptive to the other areas of my life.
However-- after initially thinking "less", I realized that on the other hand, I read much more nonfiction now than as a youth. I read blogs, news stories, informative articles, and so on. That's quite a bit of text, so it's entirely possible than I actually read more now, over all.
Do you read horror? Stories of things that go bump in the night and keep you from sleeping?
I sometimes do, but it's not usually the "blood and guts" type of horror. That just doesn't appeal to me, either in film or in writing. I'm more interested in "classic horror" (Dracula, Frankenstein) and "spooky stories". I like suspense and creepy-crawliness. Or at least, I think I do. When I'm in the thick of it, to the point that my usually friendly surroundings begin to feel sinister, I second-guess myself. ;o) Nothing I've read in a long time has kept me from sleeping, but I can certainly give myself nightmares.
Do you have any family-oriented memories with books and reading?
Definitely my best memory of the combination of family and reading is the bed-time story. Being read to-- and later reading aloud myself-- was a wonderful, soothing ritual. Unless I'm completely exhausted, I still like to read at least a few paragraphs before turning in for the night. Without question, that's a habit I'd want to start with children of my own. I firmly believe that it helps children develop a love of reading. Besides, it's just so much fun. Let's face it-- many children's books are at least as good as "grown-up" books.
When Donald and I combined books, it was inevitable that we'd have some duplicates. However, because Donald was at one time an active book collector (and still has the disease, though I'm trying to get it under control before we run out of space ;o)), we have more than two copies of some books-- particularly the Swedish translations of L.M. Montgomery's novels. I appreciate a nice-looking book, but I think I care less for "book as object" than I do for "book as message/idea/story". I'm perfectly happy reading my battered paperback. Generally, I'll leave the nice hardback on the shelf. Wouldn't want to mess it up by actually reading it, and it's the same story, no matter what package it's in. (g) . . .Have I answered this one before? It feels familiar. Oh well. (g)
Edited to Add:
When a story is all text, no photos, I don't care much about the book's physical form. I'm just after the story-- the pictures and voices it creates in my head. When it's a picture book, on the other hand, I'm just as much interested in the photos as I am in the words-- maybe more interested, depending on the book. I'm can also be somewhat sentimental about books that I've had for a long time, especially if it was my first contact with a well-loved story.
