<!DOCTYPE html><html><head><title></title></head><body><div style="font-family:Arial;">Hi, I'm Dave and I'm a read-aholic.</div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">Fiction, if the pace is adequate, pretty much linear, let the author tell the story.</div><div style="font-family:Arial;">Non-fiction, non-linear.</div><div style="font-family:Arial;">Way more than half the time, multitasking, reading while watching news or sports, reading while walking (driving), three or four books open simultaneously.</div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">Used to do hot tub reading a lot, but alas, can't afford it in this climate.</div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;">davew</div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div style="font-family:Arial;"><br></div><div>On Tue, Jan 27, 2026, at 12:04 PM, Steve Smith wrote:</div><blockquote type="cite" id="qt" style=""><p>good (and very relevant to my own experience) thread...
thanks...</p><p>I was an early and avid reader, with modes and subjects shifting
through time and context. </p><p>I have shifted 99% of my fiction (text) consumption to audio and
boosted my video fiction (4X) consumption significantly in the
last 5-10 years for lots of reasons (social engagement, more free
time).</p><p>Like Jon said, "reading was (once) pure play", I've replaced it
with lower-engagement/demand alternatives which is a bit like
replacing the episodic wild berries in my diet with pure sugar or
maybe pixie-stix? Or maybe just candy-bars with *some* nuts and
chocolate to buffer the power-hit of refined sugar?</p><p>Following Glen's point, I do read more non-fiction via linear
(and resampled linear) text than I do fiction... and it is a mixed
blessing. I've always enjoyed nonlinear/hyperlinked prose (e.g.
browsing/tracing a dictionary/thesaurus/encyclopedia) as well as
self-curation of tech/history material using ToC and Index
navigation, but also highly value the author/editor's curation
(what I think Marcus rankled at?).</p><p>(about) the only time I read much in significant linear batches
is when I soak in my clawfoot tub. After a significant physical
activity (usually chores) or during some mild illness (light
flu/cold or taking a chill from exposure) I will settle into a
long hot bath where I can sometimes read chapters and chapters
from a book or some long-form journalism which I normally crash
out of after 5-10 mins max.</p><p>Mary is much more capable of dropping into a book (still) despite
the distractions and has not really shifted into audio-consumption
of fiction. Her stack of "have read" grows monthly and
reinforcing my "audio-forward" fiction, she reads aloud to me A)
at bedtime; B) on short and long drives; C) when something is
acutely compelling to her. </p><p>I'm ashamed to admit that about all I have to offer in return to
her is "being a good listener" and an occasional short-segment of
an audio-book I've been listening to which is salient to whatever
is afoot in the moment in the world or between us. My offerings
are a fraction of the quantity (and quality?) of hers to me.</p><p>Too much of my reading happens from a screen (this one) and/but I
can *barely* read from my TS (tiny-screen phone) which saves me in
some ways (I spend less time staring at my palm than many) but not
in others (when I'm staring at my palm I'm likely just reading
headline-fragments).... </p><p>My (midlife-adult) children both read modestly, though both have
commutes which have pushed them into audio (something I introduced
them to on car trips as children). Both prefer Kindle-class
screen-readers for portability/convenience but do still murder
trees. ElderDotter before-child commuted 1hr each way by rail and
read a LOT during that time. YungerDotter worked in our bookstore
for a year while finishing her BA in Santa Fe which reinforced her
appreciation for the used-book world, but the demands of parenting
and careering and general adulting have cut into *their* reading
time. YD commutes in a TSLA (FU Elon Musk!) but loathes the
(f?)SD features and definitely doesn't Read While Driving (best I
know).... </p><p>ED records/rates (most of?) her conquests on GoodReads (yes, I
know, Bezos coopted that and is a dipshit for doing so) but does
not review much if at all there. So I know she is consuming
(possibly on audio but not exclusively) order 1-4 novels/nonfics a
month, many of which I myself have already read and. few which I
have been inspired to (esp. if Audio-available). Reading lists
used to be an important part of my larger social fabric, now it is
just with my familial and some professional intimates.</p><p>Mary's children are also mid-life/career readers still and some
of their consumption habits bleed into my awareness through her (2
are GoodReads rater/reviewers). One D-in-Law is the most eclectic
(a big Jane Austen/Raymond Chandler/Agatha Chrisite fan who also
reads AE. Van Vogt and jack Williamson interleaved with heavy
shite on Cancer (she is Stage 4 6 years in now), as well as
Feminist and Ethnic studies). She is a trained
Librarian-Archivist which might explain her text-heavy
orientation. She and the son-husband declare to consume all their
news and politics and economics strictly through long-form
journalism and I (mostly) believe them. He's a serious film-buff
so the cinema he reports on is eclectic and arte-haus heavy. He
broadens our watch list significantly. Sharing their diets
as-such with us enhances our intergenerational coupling (gives us
something to talk about besides Trump-Reviling, when we chat).</p><p>My grandchildren (all 2 of them) are less likely to be lifelong
readers beyond the basics required by school and
friend-networks... but I may be wrong... the parents
offer/push/expose them to as much as makes sense in-context but
tik-tok/video/"socials", etc are strong attractors of attention.
My own shift from written text on paper to screens and linear to
highly non-linear and from text to audio/video-narrative follows
their pattern with a little more plasticity/inertial resistance
than they naturally have. Mary's 2 (twin) grandchildren probably
read more than their general peers (fairly screen-time restricted
at 9 years old) and the boy, finally diagnosed Autism-Spectrum
voraciously goes through topics like the Titanic, the Vietnam War,
still illustration-heavy but concept/factiod dense. His social
skills are not always helped by being encyclopedic in his latest
obsession.</p><p>My dog does not read nor listen to synthesized audio nor watch TV
(except through seideyez), although he is acutely aware of dogs
barking, doorbell and knocking sounds coming from the TV as well
as animal-shapes on TV (Dogs most acutely, cats sometimes, horses
and other large mammals. Mary reads to him sometimes and he
does alert to her (tone of) voice, but I don't think he's
processing anything beyond "emotional content". </p><p>Our mothers died with unfinished novels at their bedsides and our
fathers barely read at all (Mary's was marginally illiterate, my
own never bothered beyond Forestry and Grazing Journals in his
early career). Our grandparents (except 1) might have been
functionally/circumstantially illiterate with little time or
available material to read though all finished 8th grade and two
graduated a work-study hillbilly college in Geology.</p><p>I discuss way too much of my reading/listening with an LLM (re
Jon's reference) to my benefit and demise methinks. Youse guys
have to hear less of my reflections and observations that way,
however. Net win?</p><p>Did I tell you about Daniel Boone, T.Jefferson, T. Roosevelt, G.
Cleveland, H. Arendt, Wengrow&Graeber, Sterling&Gibson, et
al? (off my very recent Audio-stack). </p><p>"TL;DR" is a bit too long even for a bumper sticker these days?</p><p>- Steve</p><div class="qt-moz-cite-prefix">On 1/26/26 5:05 pm, Jon Zingale wrote:</div><blockquote type="cite" cite="mid:CAH5Jek0S1uTM1ik5ik2NdvqbXhj5swqDy-tYtBrfD8ytcxJWfg@mail.gmail.com"><div dir="ltr"><div class="qt-gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);">I
remember loving the book "Last love in Constantinople". It is
a fiction book that comes with instructions suggesting that
the reader pull tarot using just the major arcana and then
read the book's chapters in the derived order.</div><div class="qt-gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);"><br></div><div class="qt-gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);">Lately,
I almost never find the place in myself to settle into reading
as deeply as I once enjoyed. When I would read a lot, I
wouldn't stress at all about how I moved through or sat with a
text, linear or not. Instead, reading itself was pure play.
Much of that joy now feels alien to me, a faint dream.</div><div class="qt-gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);"><br></div><div class="qt-gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);">I
can remember feeling the transition away from being situated
in deep focus as normal and into something much more reactive
as the new normal. It's almost like I expect to be smacked in
the back of the head at any moment. I feel as if my eyes are
anxious not to waste anymore time where they are.</div><div class="qt-gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);"><br></div><div class="qt-gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);">Occasionally,
when I get a few days off from work, step away from my
numerous obligations, get a few miles of running in, alternate
between the sauna and the cold, I briefly find myself
remembering what it was like to have a deeper reading
practice.</div><div class="qt-gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);"><br></div><div class="qt-gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana, sans-serif;font-size:small;color:rgb(51, 51, 51);">I
delight in those rare moments where I find that I can sit with
a math book, say, and have something I want to direct my
attention toward, and I don't mind at all that the content
undresses slowly. I don't even care that it would in some ways
be more efficient to discuss the topic with an LLM.</div></div><div><br></div><pre class="qt-moz-quote-pre">.- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-..
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