So, last night ... wait, let me be more accurate ...
So, in the wee hours of this morning, I started wondering if I am in control of my reading. I know that I have a kid that gets up at a certain time and yet, there I was, finishing a book when I should have been sleeping. Of course I've been doing this even before he was born. When I read a compelling book, I just can't set it down. This happens a lot with youth fiction -- probably because they are always moving forward the narrative and you feel like you are stopping right before they serve up some juicy tidbit. More than once I have decided to read before bed only to find myself many hours later watching Harry walk back into the house at Privet Drive for the summer holidays. Sometimes I will close the book at a late but acceptable hour and then lie awake in bed, wondering about the story, until I sneak out to the couch and flick on the light and dive back in.
Is this a common problem? Do you also find yourself at four in the morning, closing the book after the last page and falling asleep exhausted but satisfied? Or am I not in control?
Suffering from my nocturnal habits,
K
I've completely ruined my sleeping schedule because of my book-addiction. If a book is particularly interesting to me, I won't let it go until I've finished it.
ReplyDeleteYou aren't alone.
I completely understand how you feel! My nocturnal reading habits have gotten a bit more controlled now that I'm out of school and working full-time. But all the rest of my free time - wow. I can spend an entire day saying "one more chapter and then I'll go do the dishes" and never get the dishes done. When reading and housework are pitted against each other, I have no self control.
ReplyDeleteOh yes . . . I've had many a night just this week where I've stayed up late reading a book and Harry is the one person I can guarantee I stayed up late with each year at Hogwarts!! I've even discovered lately that I've been staying up into the wee hours of the morning to write reviews about books these days too! Yep, I'm Tif and I'm a readaholic and blogaholic. You'd have thought that I would have learned my lesson years ago when my son decided he was a morning person, rising at 5:30 am! But alas, no!! :)
ReplyDeleteMy mother and sisters have this problem but I don't. I need a good night's sleep like nothing else so I make myself put the book down until tomorrow. I tell myself that I have it to look forward to on the morrow. Somehow that sounds like a special treat I can savor until I pick up that riveting book the next day.
ReplyDeleteI have this problem at times (especially when I'm at the end of a good book), but lately I'm so tired (having a newborn and all) that I even fall asleep reading interesting books. Booklogged's comment reminded me of something my husband asked me when the last HP book came out. He wondered why I would want to read it so quickly (it did take me a few days since I had other responsibilities and couldn't read straight through), because then it would just be over. He wondered why I wouldn't want to stretch out reading it and "enjoy" it longer. I responded that I had to find out what happened and couldn't wait!
ReplyDeleteOphelia - It really becomes a habit, doesn't it? I stay up past my bedtime far too often!
ReplyDeleteDeck - I think it's even worse now that I'm blogging because I have book "deadlines" that are really not concrete but they always seem more important than housework!
Tif - When I got through that last HP book, I was sad that there wouldn't be the experience again of my getting a special HP box from Amazon, waiting impatiently for a few hours and then heading off into the other room for a marathon reading session. I also do most of my blogging late at night and then I go and read afterward. Blah!
Booklogged - It's good that you have boundaries! And you probably retain a lot more of the stories than I do at 3 am. :)
Corbetts - I hardly read anything until Z was two or three. I agree that you don't even have energy for the most interesting books when there's an infant around. And I was the same way with HP. I would try and close the book after a chapter and then I just had to know what was there and eventually I was nearing the end and I just had to finish!
I used to be more out of control with my reading but since the kid came, I've had to rein it in or I'll just be miserable the next day and that just isn't fair to him!
ReplyDeleteOh ... if only I'd appreciated the time I had pre-kid!
I couldn't wait for the HP books, so I hit the midnight release parties for the last three! And, yep . . . took 'em home and immediately starting reading them! Sometimes I wonder if there will ever be a book or series that I will be that excited about again.
ReplyDeleteI'm the same way . . . put the kids down, blog (if my hubby is not on the computer), then read! Thank goodness I'm a night owl, but unfortunately, I have to pay for it the next morning almost every time!!
Jenners - Luckily I have a kid who behaves while I take a nap. ;)
ReplyDeleteTif - I'm a night owl too. Too bad we start kindergarten this year ... 8:45am! Ack! I think my reading habits are going to have to change or Z is going to miss school.
Yep, with my new job, I have to get up at 5:30!!! I'm really hurting that early!! :)
ReplyDelete