As Winter draws nearer I had expected to find myself reading an increasing number of books. I envisioned myself curled up with my favourite blanket, spending the cold, dark nights immersed in fictional worlds. This doesn’t appear to be happening. Instead I find myself reading less and I am currently finishing about half the number of books that I did in the Summer months. This goes against everything I believed to be true about seasonal reading.
I thought that in the Summer I would be so busy enjoying the sunshine that I wouldn’t have much time for reading, but it seems that while I was busy during the day I was quite happy to spend each evening quietly reading. I was also able to get out into the garden and read during the day. This isn’t the case now.
It isn’t that I have less free time in the Winter – I am just spending it doing different things. On these cold days I have found myself wanting to spend more time cooking: baking cakes and making other comfort foods. I have also been drawn towards the television: watching more films and keeping up with the X-Factor.
I’m sorry if this means I have less books to review on this blog – you’ll just have to wait for the warmth of Spring to persuade me to read a bit more!
Hopefully I’ll make up for this by being a bit more creative with my blog and I may come up with a few more excuses to post photos of my family 😉
Am I alone in this seasonal shift?
Do you read more in Summer or Winter?
52 replies on “Cold weather is reducing my reading time!”
Oooh – you made the Whoopie pies! Did they go down well?
Verity, They taste lovely, but do stick to the top of your mouth a bit! They look good, but I think I’ll stick to lighter, fluffier cakes in future.
It’s funny how life just gets in the way of reading sometimes. I love the photos of the the kids, it’s always nice to see a balance of books and personal posts.
Bibliophile By the Sea, I know I’m not very good at doing personal posts. I’ll try and ensure I do one occasionally 🙂
I find I do read more in summer but my reading mainly influenced by my job working shifts means I tend to read a set times ,all the best stu
Stu, It would be interesting to know which shifts lead to more reading. I know I read a lot more if my evenings are free. For some reason reading in the morning rarely appeals.
I love seeing your kids too. I don’t know Jackie, I have issues 12 months out of the year. It seems like even though in the summer we don’t have homework and sports, we are always on the go and the kids require more entertaining. I think I’m hosed either way!!
Sandy, Oh no! You seem to do a lot of reading despite your distractions 🙂
This summer was pretty abysmal for me reading wise, so I am definitely reading more now than I was then. I know what you mean though–I have been wanting to cook and bake a LOT since the weather got chillier.
Stephanie, It is nice to have so many homemade cakes around, but they taste good all year round so I don’t know why I don’t make them in Summer too!
Hmmm mine doesn’t seem to be very seasonal, it is more dependent on my work schedule and how much travel I have – and where I am. Work travel to the US sees me reading more, the trip to Botswana / South Africa in Jan/Feb saw me reading less, when I’m home and not on the road it depends on what else is going on, rather than the temperature outside, it seems!
Usually the winter baking urge might hit, but the kitchen in my apartment I’m in now is way too small with no counter space which makes me not bake. It’s sad!
Amy, Travelling on my own always leads to me reading more – I do love several uninterrupted hours of travelling. Unfortunately I don’t get to travel on my own very much any more.
I seem to have more work to do in the cold weather, so I think my reading does suffer some. I’m also more distracted by the television this time of year.
Kathy, All the good TV programmes seem to start in September. There was nothing worth watching earlier this year, but now I have several shows to follow. I wish they’d spread the good shows out over the year!
More cakes, fewer books: fewer cakes, more books. They’re both appealing states, really! I had a lovely, lazy reading summer this year, following by a hyper-productive reading September, which seems to be easing a little. Now on the evening commute, I find myself staring out the window more, reading a little less.
BuriedInPrint, “More cakes, fewer books: fewer cakes, more books. They’re both appealing states, really”
LOL! You are right. It certainly isn’t worth complaining about!
I know exactly what you mean Jackie! Normally winter feels like the perfect time to read, but this month has been SO busy with social gatherings and the like that I just haven’t had much reading time at all. I think I may also be in a bit of a slump, so that’s not helping either, but really, I’ve just been so busy (and yes, I’ve been sucked in my tv of late, too!) that I just haven’t had the time to read in a sustained way. Ah well, I’m sure things will get back to normal soon enough!
Steph, Perhaps I’m in a reading slump too – I have read several average/poor books in a row. Perhaps I’ll read more if I stumble across a really good book?
It depends on the book. If it’s dreary outside and the book is less than great I’ll read slowly (especially as you can’t read outside comfortably), but otherwise I’ll read more because you’re stuck inside and also there’s the end of the book-reading year coming up and I feel I want to read as many as possible.
Though right now I’ve taken weeks on one book and just posted my last review I had ready so I’m in a similar position to you.
Charlie, I’m so behind with my reading that I now have to finish a book before I can write a review. I like to have a bit of a buffer on my blog, but that has disappeared now. 🙁 Hopefully I’ll be able to read a bit more next month.
I am definitely reading less at the moment, but I am doing a trial run for NaNoWriMo, as well as preparing for the actual NaNoWriMo. Then there is the run up to Christmas which always sees me making a Christmas journal on top of the usual Christmas jobs. Aargh!
Vivienne, Aargh!! Christmas! I can’t believe how fast it is approaching. I think I’ll have a busy few months preparing for it, but hopefully I’ll do most of the preparations during the day with my boys and still keep my evenings free for reading.
Don’t sweat it. Take a little reading break if you feel like you need one. No one should feel like they HAVE to read all the time. It takes the fun out of it.
Brenna, Don’t worry – I never read if I don’t want to. I’d hate reading to feel like homework!
I’m not sure I’m a seasonal reader… I like the idea of reading in the winter, as a really pretty image, you know, fireplace, blanket, warm light, etc., but I don’t find myself reading more in the winter. I also like the idea of reading in the summer months, outside in nature.
That being said, I think for me, I read when I have the time (and sadly, the energy). Sometimes that’s in the winter and sometimes it’s in the summer…
Jen, The image of reading by a fire is very appealing, but unfortunately I don’t own one 🙁 I wonder if I would read more if I did?!
Interesting…I’ve not really considered seasonal reading in this way before! The amount of reading I get done has always been intricately linked with my life: school, a retail job, etc. I guess I, too, would expect to read more as the chilly autumn and winter seasons come around. I’ll see what my reading stats say!
Erin, I’m glad I’ve made you think about something in a new way. Have fun looking at your stats!
I think I read more in summer too. I can go out and read outside on my lunch break. Not on winter! And since our winter in Australia is not too cold to warrant a central heating in the house, our house gets very cold in winter and it’s hard to even hold your hands out for a length of time like holding a book. Brr. Love me summer!
mee, I think we have the opposite problem to you here in the UK – it isn’t hot enough to warrant air conditioning and so when we do get a few hot days it is terrible! Sorry to hear that it means your hands get too cold to hold a book – I recommend making a tent out of your bedding and reading by torchlight underneath it!!
I definitely read more in the winter! Summers here in Arizona are too hot to do anything but loll around listlessly, so when fall/winter comes I can concentrate on reading.
Anbolyn, Thank you for commenting on my blog for the first time 🙂
I can’t imagine it getting too hot to do anything – I guess that is the benefit of the UK’s mild weather. I hope you’re enjoying your reading now.
I’m with you, Jackie. Partly because I get through tons and tons of books whenever I go on holiday, and because it’s so nice to sit outside on a lovely summer evening with a book. In the winter, the darkness is so energy-sapping all I want to do is turn the telly on.
On the plus side, I do a lot more knitting in winter! That’s how I justify the excessive TV watching 🙂
Lyndsey, I’m afraid I can’t even claim I’ve done anything productive whilst watching TV – at least you have some knotting to show for it.
Yay for whoopie pies! I agree though that they stick to the roof of your mouth a little though and heavier than other baking.
I had a dreadful summer reading-wise and was fully in a slump until fairly recently. I find that I am enjoying reading more in the colder weather and find that comfort reading and classics (which suit the climate) are far better suited to my tastes and needs just now. So, no, I am the complete opposite to you! I am enjoying The X-Factor though 🙂
Claire, I’m not a fan of things that stick to the top of your mouth so I think that might be the one and only set of whoopie pies I make. I’m going to stick to making apple cake for the next week or two!
It is good to know that you’re out of your reading slump now. Long may it continue 🙂
I think I read much more in the wintertime — I never want to go outside and I hunker down in the house! Of course, now that I live in North Florida, it’s not quite the same as it was in the Northeast (Maryland) — I will say that it still gets about twenty degrees in the winter here, but it’s not consistent. Many more nice days in winter than freezing cold ones, but still — read in the winter, I do!
Cute pictures!!
Coffee and a Book Chick, I think I’d stay inside a bit more if it was so cold! Enjoy all that Winter reading 🙂
Fall is usually the season when I have less time for reading than any other, but since I’m more underemployed than usual this year, I’ve had more time for reading. It’s nice, but I’m spending more of my time tracking down elusive books at far-flung libraries, since I can’t buy as many!
Jeanne, I hope you are having fun in your distant libraries – it is always nice to investigate new ones 🙂
I read more in the winter, mostly because my kids don’t have any sporting events that I need to attend! =) Cute kiddo!
Jill, I haven’t reached the age for attending sporting events yet – not sure I’m looking forward to it!
Here in northern New England many of us admit to being seasonal readers of a different sort. Our summers are short so we keep busy. Fall is beautiful and bountiful – we enjoy it and start cooking and baking more like you. Winter may find us indoors reading more if we are NOT skiers, skaters, snowmobiles, etc. You get the picture.
We all have slumps now and then, my husband can’t seem to find anything to read lately, too tired…and those new fall shows. Take your time with the reviews, we’ll wait. Forcing yourself to read something takes some of the enjoyment out of it – right!?!
SEY, You make the seasons of New England sound so wonderful 🙂 I have visited New England a couple of times and I loved being there in the Fall. I expected the trees to be beautiful (they were!) but I didn’t expect all the scarecrow competitions, apple and pumpkin products, chilli making competitions and maple syrup goods It was such a wonderful foodie experience.
I think I’m a pretty steady reader — but I never thought about it before.
Beth, You’ll have to check your stats at the end of the year 🙂
Is that you in the first picture? I love pictures…
Amanda, Yes, that’s me!
You are not alone in this. I have been experiencing slumps too. I watched my Sept “had read” list and compared them with last year stats,
http://bibliojunkie.wordpress.com/2009/12/31/reading-habit-analysis-for-2009/
September is always a slump. I hope things will get better for both of us towards the end the year!
JoV, Wow! That is quite an impressive September slump! Let’s hope things pick up for us both soon 🙂
I’m not sure it’s seasonal for me at this point, but when I finish graduate school in December I can certainly see myself falling into seasonal reading rhythms. I’ve been a very moody reader lately and have been reading many books at once. Oddly, I’ve been having days I don’t read at all, which I hope changes.
I think I’m the opposite! I find i read more in winter because the sun goes down and it’s gloomy and so I curl up in a warm blanket and read. In summer, my son and I were out playing a lot more frequently.
Cute kids, by the way!