Reading: When, What, How?

The older I get, and the more responsibilities I seem to take on, the more I am realizing how precious time is. I don't just want to "spend" time, but live in it fully and wisely, which includes careful choosing of how I use it.

And my reading pile just seems to grow larger. Has anyone else discovered that as they get older, their desire to learn new things and let old things sink in more deeply just grows and grows? Something tells me I'm not alone in that!

So I'm genuinely curious, not just asking idle questions, when I ask: when you do find time to read? what do you find yourself reading? and how do you read the various types of things you read?

I'm discovering my reading life, like everything else, needs more of a sense of purpose and direction. Not that I don't still read just for sheer pleasure and pure enjoyment, or that I don't ever just pick up a book on a pure whim and begin reading for the joy of reading something new (I love having the freedom to do that, which is yet another reason why I want to conserve and use my time wisely in other areas).

But I'm discovering more and more that I read different things for different purposes and in different ways. It helps me to think through the when, what, how.

Most of my reading falls into a handful of categories right now. I'd put them this way:

Devotional reading (or reading for spiritual formation...not usually quickly paced, more a kind of "soaking up" of words)

Scholarly reading (particuarly preparation and background reading for the classes I teach; sometimes I have to discipline myself to give this certain amounts of minutes per day or hours per week)

Family reading (which includes any and all reading I do with the sweet girl, for "school" or just for pleasure)

Educational reading (reading I partake of because I want to learn new things, often centered around history, biography or literary scholarship, and sometimes connected to...


Pleasure reading (reading I read for the sheer joy of reading, or because I need "escape" in the Tolkien sense of the word)

Educational reading can be moderately paced or downright slow, depending on whether or not I decide to note-take or journal. Pleasure reading is usually much speedier, especially if I'm reading fiction.

The categories seem neat, but they're not. Most of the time they feel like organic blends. I may think I am reading poetry for pleasure, but find it forming habits of listening and attentiveness in me that are so good for my soul that I know it's really reading for spiritual formation. I think I am reading a Dorothy Sayers detective novel for pure pleasure and escape, only to discover myself turning to volumes of biography and literary criticism to better analyze the novel, thus blurring the lines between pleasure and education (and isn't that a lovely thought?). I may think I am surfing homeschool blogs for the purpose of coming up with new ideas and ways to teach my daughter, only to discover that the entries I'm reading feed my mind and heart in all kinds of ways or bring me terrific pleasure (to the point where I feel a bit guilty to be spending so much time "pleasure reading" instead of lesson planning). I think I am reading for my "own" spiritual formation, only to discover that I get to lead book discussions for others and hopefully help them in their own formation, which almost morphs into a whole other category I thought about putting on the list: communal reading.

And on and on, in similar vein.

Most of me is pleased that the lines blur so much; the more integrated I am and the more single-minded I am about pursuing a deeper life centered in God (no matter what subjects I'm supposedly tackling) the more I think I can see how all those lines can weave together into a beautiful tapestry.

But part of me feels challenged right now to know where precious time needs to be most spent when it comes to reading. I'm actually attempting some reading patterns/plans, and will likely blog more about them in coming days.

What about you? What do you find yourself reading, and when and how?