I typically read throughout the whole day -- in the morning, during the afternoon, the evening, and late into the night. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realised that I read while waiting for something. In the morning I would read on the train while on my way to school. In the afternoon I would read while on my way home, while I waited for the laundry to finish, or while waiting for supper to be ready. At night I’d read until I was finally tired enough to go to sleep. At first, I thought the only time that I didn’t read while waiting was in the morning, as I read for about 30 minutes before getting ready for the day. But even then, I realised I was subconsciously waiting for my roommate and boyfriend to leave so that I wouldn’t have to rush so they could use the bathroom, kitchen, or entryway.
While the time of day didn’t affect whether or not I’d read, I found that the places I read affected the material I would choose. There was the most diversity in the types of material I would read at home, as I might read anything from smutty historical fiction romance novels to assignments for school to both the Canadian and Mexican online newspapers. On the train I’d still read smutty historical fiction romance novels, but only if I could read them on my phone. If I were at school I would usually only read things on Reddit because I would only have ten to fifteen minute before I knew I would have to do something else.
I also noticed that the place I was in also affected how I would read something. For instance, when I’m at home and browsing Reddit I click everything open before even reading the title. By contrast, when I’m at school I only open something after having read the title and after making sure that it doesn’t contain material that could be deemed unsafe for work. In other words, I would censor the material I read depending on where I was, as well as based on the chances of somebody else being able to identify it.
I also compared how my reading has changed from when I was younger, and when I was working full time and now that I’m a student again. I found that, since I’ve become an adult, I am more open to reading different genres. For example, I’ll explore speculative fiction, science fiction, and mystery novels. As a child, I would focus more on historical fantasy novels such as Harry Potter, Doomed Queen Anne, and anything from Tamora Pierce. One of the main reasons I broadened my range of reading as I grew up was availability, as the selection of reading material in my town was severely limited. The only places I could access books were my school and public library, which only had so many historic and fantasy young adult fiction. After a while I grew bored of constantly rereading the same books, and so I eventually started expanding my reading preferences.
Once I became an adult a few things changed. I could go to my public library’s adult section. I also started working. I suddenly had funds and different means of acquiring books. With my new stream of income, I could buy books online and get them instantly delivered to my kindle or phone. However, while I was no longer limited to the books that my town had to offer, I was limited by what I could read at work. As a field medic, one of my responsibilities was to sign people into the site and give them orientation if they hadn’t been there before. I’d also have to sign people out. This meant that my reading would be interrupted several times a day -- anywhere from every 5 minutes to 2.5 hours. This made it impossible to read any mystery novels while at work because I’d get too jumpy and the interruptions would ruin the reading experience. Instead, I’d typically read things that I had already read before, and that wouldn't be classified as horror. As a student, I try to find books that are preferably free or very cheap to read on my kindle. This means that a good chunk of the books I read for pleasure are classics such as Anne of Green Gables or anything by Jane Austen.
While doing this report, I found that I can read anywhere and I will read everywhere. I usually do this while waiting to do something else, but the place that I am reading affects what I’ll read, as well as the way in which I’ll read it. Most importantly, I found out that these external factors often decide what I’ll read, rather than my own preferences.
