newbie Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 I was just glancing at all the books clubs and wondering do our spouses think we are batty, or do yours read as avidly as you? I will start, mine is a big whopping NO:tongue_smilie:! He looks at me like I am from Mars. Both my dd's and I eat books like they are chocolate and he just cant fathom, why. He will not touch a book, and I have bought him all kinds of genres. I would love to sit in a house where everyone is reading, that would be idyllic. Thats okay, I guess our differences make us stronger.:001_huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newlifemom Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 :iagree:'cept the Bible he doesn't read much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plain jane Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Currently, dh and I are reading the same amount: zilch. :o Typically, I will read 3-4 books per month while dh will do 1 book every 3-4 months. He doesn't really seem to have as much spare time set aside for leisure activities so it's more difficult for him find time to read. To be fair, dh never watches TV either. He does read a lot of magazines and newspapers though, likely because they are easier for him to finish in the limited time he does have. I tend to talk a lot and narrate most of what I read to him during supper or when we're in the car. Does that count?;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbie Posted January 3, 2009 Author Share Posted January 3, 2009 Currently, dh and I are reading the same amount: zilch. :o Typically, I will read 3-4 books per month while dh will do 1 book every 3-4 months. He doesn't really seem to have as much spare time set aside for leisure activities so it's more difficult for him find time to read. To be fair, dh never watches TV either. He does read a lot of magazines and newspapers though, likely because they are easier for him to finish in the limited time he does have. I tend to talk a lot and narrate most of what I read to him during supper or when we're in the car. Does that count?;) LOL, you always crack me up. I guess you are a built in audio book. Think of all the money you are saving. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plain jane Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 LOL, you always crack me up. I guess you are a built in audio book. Think of all the money you are saving. Hmmmm. Think of all the money I could be MAKING! :D :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plain jane Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 I was just glancing at all the books clubs and wondering do our spouses think we are batty, or do yours read as avidly as you? I will start, mine is a big whopping NO:tongue_smilie:! He looks at me like I am from Mars. Both my dd's and I eat books like they are chocolate and he just cant fathom, why. He will not touch a book, and I have bought him all kinds of genres. I would love to sit in a house where everyone is reading, that would be idyllic. Thats okay, I guess our differences make us stronger.:001_huh: I should say that dh is really supportive of my love of books and tolerates me spending copious amounts of money to fill our bookshelves. He doesn't even complain when I buy books and then don't read them.:lol: Every now and again we sit and read a book aloud together at night. We've had great success with this over the course of our marriage but in recent years it's backfiring on us. The one who does the reading (we alternate chapters) inevitably ends up putting the other to sleep.:lol: We each end up with an understanding of 1/2 the book.:001_huh::D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbie Posted January 3, 2009 Author Share Posted January 3, 2009 You have a keeper. Mine always says, okay now you're done w/it where do we put it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAR120C Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 I tend to re-read old favorites, or serieses (series?) that I'm attached to, but I'm not very adventurous in my reading. DH is adventurous. Anytime he knows I'm headed to the library he has a list! LOL And on the plus side for me, once he's recommended it I might pick it up myself. :D We both have reading parents... My mom is a retired librarian and is always picking up something new, my dad reads more like I do I think (favorite authors and genres). MIL reads a lot, but not a lot of what the rest of us read - more NYT bestseller stuff, and FIL reads like his life depends on it. I swear he goes through about 300 paperbacks a year! And again with a plus side for me, when they come to visit he brings a couple grocery bags full! Woohoo!! There was one time when DH had heard of a new author (not really new -- just new to us!), read the first book in the series and liked it, got me hooked, and then when we wanted another it dawned on me that it sounded familiar.... and I dug out a couple more from the latest bag from FIL! Keeping them all in the family you know! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 No, besides daily Bible reading, dh usually only reads 5 books a year, if that. He does not understand my great love of books, nor why my solution to having overflowing bookcases is to buy more bookcases. Still, he appreciates that by having our own home library the dc have become voracious readers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newbie Posted January 3, 2009 Author Share Posted January 3, 2009 I tend to re-read old favorites, or serieses (series?) that I'm attached to, but I'm not very adventurous in my reading. DH is adventurous. Anytime he knows I'm headed to the library he has a list! LOL And on the plus side for me, once he's recommended it I might pick it up myself. :D We both have reading parents... My mom is a retired librarian and is always picking up something new, my dad reads more like I do I think (favorite authors and genres). MIL reads a lot, but not a lot of what the rest of us read - more NYT bestseller stuff, and FIL reads like his life depends on it. I swear he goes through about 300 paperbacks a year! And again with a plus side for me, when they come to visit he brings a couple grocery bags full! Woohoo!! There was one time when DH had heard of a new author (not really new -- just new to us!), read the first book in the series and liked it, got me hooked, and then when we wanted another it dawned on me that it sounded familiar.... and I dug out a couple more from the latest bag from FIL! Keeping them all in the family you know! ;) I would love to come from a "reading" family. But my girls and I are the only aliens who read. I mean even extended family do not read. Strange. I think we were dropped here from Venus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Dh appears to read nothing but role playing game books and web comics. Either he's reading web comics that explore deep issues, or he's sneaking a bit more in when I'm not looking. Aside from his role playing books he'll probably read two or three books cover to cover in a year. He prefers to peruse things online. He thinks I choose interesting books and will occasionally read parts of whatever I'm reading if it has been left lying around. Happily, he doesn't mind my book buying habit at all. :) Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 (edited) Everyone in our family enjoys reading. I will never forget one Saturday morning when I looked up from my book to see that the whole family was in the den with me, each reading. It was so quiet that I hadn't realized the kids were in the room. The kids were much younger, and I loved the cozy family scene. Before that, the only time we'd had peace and quiet at our house was the night the boys slept in toddler beds for the first time. They were quiet then because they were busily putting the world's largest jar of Vaseline all over one another, and their walls, bedding and furniture. DH and I were reading and he was marveling that this was the first time we'd been able to just sit and read for a couple of hours in several years. I kept telling DH we should check on the kids because this was not a good sign, but he wouldn't listen and I didn't want to ruin our ambience. It took 21 shampoos x 3 to get the Vaseline out of the boys' hair. We are in the habit of taking the books we are currently reading along with us when we go somewhere. One night, we went to Outback and each of us brought our book into the restaurant and plunged back into it as soon as we sat down. If the waitress hadn't mentioned it, none of us would have noticed that the others were reading, too. She said she had never seen anything like it before, and I told DH she probably thought that we never talk with one another. Hah! If she spent one day at our house, she'd invest in a large stock of ear plugs, it is so noisy. My DH likes reading books and selling them. He decided to sell a few of his books one day to make room on the shelves for incoming, and ended up growing a book business that has 45,000 kids books in its inventory. Unfortunately, his many bookshelves at home are overflowing still ... and it is a bone of contention. RC Edited January 3, 2009 by RoughCollie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PollyOR Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 DH reads more than I do. He reads every night before he goes to bed (Tortoise method of reading). He probably finishes a book every two weeks. I don't read very often, but when I do find a book that I like, I usually stay up all night. Ya know, just one more chapter (Hare method of reading). I finish about 10 books a year. This is the reason I joined the book-a-week club. I'm trying to reform. I always wanted to be a tortoise. ;) As we all know, the tortoise wins the race. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangermom Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 My husband likes to read, but is slower than I am (I'm quite fast) and has a lot less time, what with working full-time and all. I tend to read while I potter around the house and cook and whatnot, so I can get through a lot more than he can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Mom Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Dh reads more than I do. Lately, that would be a much more. Note to self: investigate why he has more free time than I do :glare:. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 In the entire 14+ years since I met Hans, he's read one book. It was Lance Armstrong's It's Not About the Bike, which I gave him before he went on a trans-Atlantic flight. I wasn't there, so I don't know he read the book, but he claims to have done so.;) A week or so after he returned home, I found the book ~ the entire thing! ~ in the recycling. "What the...?" I wondered aloud. "Which one of you boys [addressing my children] put this book in here?" Come to find out it was Hans. Why? He didn't "need" the book any more. No, my husband is not a reader by any stretch of the imagination. I can't think of a single person in his immediate or extended family who reads books. It must be very odd for them to come here and see bookshelves in my livingroom.:tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kris Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 I was just glancing at all the books clubs and wondering do our spouses think we are batty, or do yours read as avidly as you? Nope. I know he knows *how* to read, though. He's asked me to get a book or two for him, but he doesn't have a pile next to every chair he sits in and his nightstand has a box of tissues on it. 'Suppose he might read that when I'm not looking, but . . . :lol: He thinks I'm batty, but it has nothing to do with all the books I read. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 My wife and I are both "readers". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Alfred Academy Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 DH definitely reads more than I do. Might have something to do with the fact that he is working towards his PhD in English. BUT...when he is not reading for classes, he is reading for fun. Our whole family enjoys reading. We couldn't imagine a life without books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 My dh reads, just not like I do. He only has 1-2 books going at a time and he reads much slower than I do. He'll usually makes it through 2-4 good books in a year. He's reads mostly non-fiction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 My DH reads way more than I do. He's got a new book in his hand daily. I probably read 1 book for every 6 books he reads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mazakaal Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Dh doesn't generally read as much as me, though right now I'm not reading as much as I usually do, so we're about even. But dh reads almost exclusively the Bible, Bible study books, and biographies of preachers, in addition to sciency articles on-line. He doesn't have as broad an interest as I do, but he does read a lot and doesn't think I'm crazy for how much I like to read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudoMom Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Nope. He reads and studies the Bible, and he reads chapters of books here and there and occasionally will read a book, and he reads National Geographic and such. He does like that I read, though. Like Plain Jane, I'm a narrator, and he enjoys hearing what I read about. My Mom was a reader, and she took me and my brother to the library quite often. One time as we were checking out my brother (about 6 or so) sadly told the librarian "My Dad can't read." The librarian was trying to figure out what to say and my Mom was trying to figure out what to say when my brother continued "He can only read the newspaper." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 My husband does not read as much as I do, but he admires that I do. So, there is no tension about it. He discovered that he has mild dyslexia when he was in high school. He got some help at that time and now reads well, but he never acquired the reading habit when he was young. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karenciavo Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 No, he's a little bit music, I'm a little bit reading books. :D He usually has a guitar in his hand, I usually have a book in my hand. It's quite possible he has posted to a similar thread over at his musicians forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Dh is not that much of a reader. He has to read so much technical stuff at work that he is just plain tired when he gets home. He is very supportive of the family's reading addiction:) In fact, he coined the word "book coma" to describe the glassy eyed, unresponsive condition that can come from too many hours with a nose in a book. He does not like me reading on vacation because of said condition:). He does enjoy reading, just not as much as I do. I buy him 2 - 3 books a year and he gets to maybe 1 of them. He read the paper and several of the magazines that come into the house, but he does not delve into books much. He does enjoy books on tape in the car when we go on driving vacations. But these selections are mostly children's literature:). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danestress Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 I have a little more time for reading, but both of us read daily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Renee in NC Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Nope - he rarely reads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Nope. I know he knows *how* to read, though. Here, too. When he was in grad school, I saw him read. It was stunning. So stunning, in fact, that it would distract me from my own reading. I think he found it annoying that I kept staring. :D I come from a family of readers, though. If you get my extended family together - either side - there is always lively book discussion. My husband's family, not so much. My mother-in-law reads mysteries, and one of her sisters evidently reads grocery store romance novels, or at least keeps buying them... but nobody else reads at all, from what I gather. :confused: I honestly cannot even begin to understand it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragons in the flower bed Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Both my DDs and I eat books like they are chocolate and he just can't fathom why. My partner understands why we love to read. He also enjoys it an awful lot. He loves literature, particularly drama and poetry, and biography. But he reads relatively little, compared to the rest of my friends. He's dyslexic, prone to migraines, and he has Tourettes tics in his hands that make it hard for him to hold a book still enough long enough to descramble the letters on the page. Reading for more than 15 minutes at a stretch gives him an awful migraine. Because of this, he usually sticks to poetry and reading picture books to the children. He also listens to audiobooks in the car and has gone through Story of the World with us this way. Every once in a while a novel will seem to him to be worth the pain, and he'll read it anyway. My 5yo, 8yo and I were sitting around reading last night. It was kind of dull, to tell the truth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathmom Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 I tend to re-read old favorites, or serieses (series?) that I'm attached to, but I'm not very adventurous in my reading. DH is adventurous. Anytime he knows I'm headed to the library he has a list! LOL And on the plus side for me, once he's recommended it I might pick it up myself. :D This is us, just vice versa. Dh is always rereading his books, and I am always getting new ones from the library. My dh loves to read despite having dyslexia, and all our dc love books and reading too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melinda in VT Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 The kids all love to read (well, not the 3yo yet) and read more than I do. They have more free time--and I don't let them on the internet.:D DH spends a lot of time reading online news sources and reading non-fiction. He has a harder time with fiction these days. The writer in him tends to get distracted by the mechanics of what the author is doing, and he has a hard time staying in the story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Dh reads about the same amount as I do. It is one reason I married him and one thing that has kept the marriage together. When I need some time, I pick up a book and he will read his own and leave me alone. LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plaid Dad Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 My dw reads as much or more than I do, but very different types of things and in some ways more widely. She reads more novels and contemporary non-fiction; in the last month she has read books on the history of the banana, pi, and the period (as in punctuation) and a novel she described as "chick lit." When I read fiction, it's usually stuff written before 1900, with the exception of Tolkien and certain children's novels. I spend more time on history, philosophy, theology, literary criticism, and educational theory. In the last month I've read a book on Tolkien as an ecological writer, Real Education, a kids' steampunk novel, and a devotional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linders Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 DH says he used to read tons when he was in his teens and twenties. He quit reading much because, "Once I start a book, I have to keep going and I'm oblivious to everything else." I've seen this, it is true. And it bugs him to have to stop and start for things like, oh, work, sleep, etc. He still occasionally reads some of the Patrick McManus, Elmore Leonard, etc. And he reads to our DS almost every day for 30-60 minutes, for which I am grateful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MicheleinMN Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Dh is definitely NOT a reader. He built our entire house, plumbing, electric, sheetrock, poured concrete...and he'll read to get the information he needs to do all those things...but read a book, just for pleasure....not gonna happen. He does enjoy our read alouds at night, so he's heard LOTR, Harry Potter, and a lot of children's classics, and I'm glad he's getting to share them with the children and me. Oh, and he builds me bookcases and completely supports my book habit. We found out when our oldest was struggling to learn to read that both he and dh are dyslexic. Dh is always the first one to encourage me and remind me when I worry about ds that the child has read more books (and some that weren't even assigned) than dh ever has. (dh doesn't like football either, but I forgive him for that too! As long as he lets me watch the games in peace!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nukeswife Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Yes he does, and sometimes surpasses me. It's how he unwinds when he can get a few minutes out at sea. He's always got a book going. I try to have one going at all times, but that's not been happening lately which is why I joined the "book a week" club. I need something to motivate me to take that time back for myself. My kids aren't readers really. My youngest is only 3 so he likes to be read to, which we do a lot. My middle child desperately wants to read on her own, but it's slow going, so we read alot to her as well. My oldest will read a book for 20 minutes a night, but that's only because we require it of him. Given the choice he wouldn't pick up a book for fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Dh doesn't read nearly as much as me. He loves National Geographic and fishing magazines but leaves the actual books to me. I must add that he is super supportive of my need to escape into a good book. He even has offered to run to library for me when I've read my latest group. Awww...he really is a good guy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 No. I think he reads a book every year or two. When he does read, it tends to be only nonfiction. The thing that really shocks me is that he's never read any of the Tolkien books. How can someone not read Tolkien? When the movies came out, I bought him the whole set. He found The Hobbit boring and gave up on page 70...2 pages before Bilbo meets Gollum. I'm currently reading it to the kids and asked if he'd like to sit in on our reading (at bedtime) and he declined. Fortunately, my kids inherited my interest in reading rather than his. My daughter actually cried last night when I stopped. She wanted more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 The thing that really shocks me is that he's never read any of the Tolkien books. How can someone not read Tolkien? I'm with your DH on that one. I've tried to read Tolkien twice, and I thought the books were boring. I haven't seen the movies, either. The rest of the family loves Tolkien and has seen all the movies multiple times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill- OK Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Thats okay, I guess our differences make us stronger.:001_huh: My husband is not a reader. I've seen him read books...when he was finishing his Bachelor's and had to read. Never seen him pick up a book for pleasure. (Other than Bible reading). Now, to be fair, he was diagnosed as dyslexic as a child, went through the whole 'special' label experience, and I think it affected how he views reading. (It's probably also a little difficult, and therefore not pleasurable). But he's a learner, and a good worker, and a good example in ways that I'm not, to my children. So, I think we present a pretty balanced picture, overall. You don't have to love reading to be smart, or successful, or happy. (It takes a lot for me to even type that out, lol.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joannqn Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 I'm with your DH on that one. I've tried to read Tolkien twice, and I thought the books were boring. I haven't seen the movies, either. The rest of the family loves Tolkien and has seen all the movies multiple times. I reread the books when the movies came out. They did a really good job on the movies. I loved all three of them and can't wait to see The Hobbit. My only problem with the movies is that I found them terrifying. However, they wouldn't be done right any other way. Maybe you'd find the books more interesting is you saw the movie? Narnia is the series I can't get through. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celly B Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 My dh likes to read, but he doesn't read nearly as much as I do. I think he sees it as a leisure activity, when for me, it is a necessity!;) When he does have leisure time, he is more likely to be reading census records rather than a book; he loves doing genealogy. One thing he doesn't understand is my re-reading a book. He can't fathom why you would want to read something again! I can't fathom why you wouldn't want to re-read a good book that you've enjoyed before! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 My DH is an avid reader, sometimes even more so than I am. It's not surprising, given that we met while working in a bookstore. ;) So yes, our house looks like a library! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fractalgal Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 I was just glancing at all the books clubs and wondering do our spouses think we are batty, or do yours read as avidly as you? My husband reads all the time, and he has an amazing book collection. He has accepted my eccentricity of reading mostly math books, and no longer teases me about it. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChristyB in TN Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 My husband reads all the time, and he has an amazing book collection. He has accepted my eccentricity of reading mostly math books, and no longer teases me about it. :001_smile: LOL! I have a friend who reads instruction manuals. I still make fun of him, though. ; ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6packofun Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Yes. It was a requirement of my accepting his marriage proposal. LOL Kidding, sort of, but that's very important to me! We talk about the books we're reading often, make recommendations to one another--can I just say that it's the most romantic thing when dh says, "Hey, I found this book that I think is perfect for you, honey!" or brings home a book for me from the library?? :D We usually read in bed together every night and have an unspoken rule that if something in our book makes us gasp or laugh or snort we have to explain. LOL We made our 888 lists together this past week...*happy sigh* :tongue_smilie: It's one of the few really good things about our relationship and I'm glad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Peregrine Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 Uh, no. DH buys books on very rare occasions with the intention of reading them. I guess? It used to bug me because I wanted DS to enjoy reading and I thought if dad doesn't then it's hopeless but DS loves to read so it's all good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoughCollie Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 Maybe you'd find the books more interesting is you saw the movie? Narnia is the series I can't get through. I don't like Narnia either. I don't like LOTR movies -- everyone here except for me has watched them at least a dozen times each. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacy in NJ Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 Nope. Dh reads stuff related to his work and interests but no fiction whatsoever. He is more highly educated than I am, though. Has as an MBA, I'm a few credits short of a B.A. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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