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Does your reading...

18 years ago

follow the weather? It's a beautiful snowy day here, perfect for curling up in front of the fire with a book and cup of cocoa. Would you be more likely to choose a book with a winter setting (Snow Falling on Cedars, for example) or summer setting (Carl Hiaason's Skinny Dip)? Hot Latin writers or the Russians?

Comments (17)

  • 18 years ago

    Sometimes the weather will affect my reading mood. For example, I can't think of anything more soothing on a cold, damp rainy day than curling up in bed with a good gothic and a cup of hot whatever. We don't get a lot of snow where I live, so around the holidays it can be fun to pick up a book where snow is a prominent and atmospheric feature.

  • 18 years ago

    Mine does in a fashion. From December through March I move into a heated house and so I read in bed before I turn out the lights. The other months I live in my back house which is unheated (not a big deal during those months in CA). During those months I usually read in the bathtub (while bathing of course in case you thought I laid in the bathtub with my clothes on and read. I do have some strange habits, but that ain't one of them).
    But subjectwise, the weather has no bearing on what I read.

  • 18 years ago

    There are a couple of books that I like to read every winter, such as Smilla's Sense of Snow and Ethan Frome. I'm also glad that I read The Terror by Dan Simmons during the winter because it very much enhanced my enjoyment of the story and my appreciation of what the characters faced when confronted with the Arctic winter.

    I admit that during colder months, I naturally gravitate to books where snow or frigid temperatures are characters in and of themselves, and I'm especially a sucker for choosing books that feature snow on the cover when I'm going through my TBR stack during the winter, like The People's Act of Love by James Meek.

  • 18 years ago

    I am afraid I am an escapist as far as the weather and reading goes. The temps here have been below zero on many mornings lately, and we have at least 6 inches of snow on the ground, but I have just finished reading 'Molokai' and two Amelia Peabody (they take place primarily in Egypt) mysteries. Also am finishing 'Thirteen Moons', which is about the southern part of the U.S. I try to like winter, but so far no luck.

  • 18 years ago

    In the summer, I tend to read cool-weather books (i.e. books that feature cool weather in them somehow), but during the winter, I don't seem to have that tendency at all. I do read a book every December on Christmas Eve, but that is more due to the season more than the weather.

    I think my summer reading choices are so affected by the weather because it gets so very hot here during those months, and I am not such a hot-weather fan. I really enjoy reading about cold weather when it's over 100 degrees outside.

  • 18 years ago

    My reading choices are not affected by the weather but rather by the seasons. My tendency for depression gets worse in the winter and so I try not to read sad or depressing books during the darkest months and go for uplifting or funny instead.

    I have noticed that the weather can affect my reading experience. For example, I read Endurance, the story of the disastrous Shackleton polar expedition, in mid-winter and the winter weather, while not nearly as bad as what those sailors had to endure, made me understand better the hardships they suffered.

    Funny enough, the opposite is also the case: my perception of the weather is sometimes affected by my reading, so that if I'm reading a book where, e.g. there is a good description of hot weather, a moderately warm Icelandic summer's day can seem as hot as a Mediterranean beach in mid-July.

  • 18 years ago

    Is cold cumulative? I can cope at first, then after a few weeks of it I start getting chilled to the bone. When that happens I will eventually give in, neglect the chores, grab something like "The Enchanted April," and curl up with cocoa and an electric blanket for a few hours of just being warm.

  • 18 years ago

    I have no reason for it, but i notice I tend toward historical fiction in the winter months.

  • 18 years ago

    I tend to reverse the normal reading trend of light during the summer and heavy during the winter...I read "beach books" and cozy mysteries during the winter when I am teaching and need easy and escapist, and biographies and such in the summer, when my brain can rest and absorb without the diestractions of papers to be graded and curriculum to be learned and developed.

  • 18 years ago

    Well, I follow the weather in that I tend to read more when it's snowing like crazy outside! (I just found out that they're forecasting a foot of snow for tomorrow. Sigh.)

    What I have found is that I tend to read heavier tomes in the winter and light, fluffy works in the summer. I guess it fits, especially since I find winter (and snowy days) to be more conducive to heavy reading, heavy thinking, and introspection. Summer's for light, airy reading, sitting on patios watching life pass by, and sangria or zinfandels. Winter's for thick red wine, martinis, and single malt Scotch.

    colormeconfused -- I've read that book by James Meeks. It's actually quite good.

  • 18 years ago

    I liked it, too, Dynomutt, and you're the first person I know other than me who has read it. I read it last winter, but I'll probably pick it up to read again one of these days. I thought it was very engrossing even though it was a bit odd, for want of a better word.

  • 18 years ago

    Ok, now that you've mentioned that book (The People's Act of Love), I feel like I'm living part of it. I can't see anything outside as it's a wall of blowing snow. Methinks it's a blizzard out there. I've been through a typhoon, an earthquake, and now a blizzard. I wonder if I should move to a desert locale so I can experience a sandstorm? ;-)

    The book was quite interesting if a bit disturbing. It's not as disturbing as Perfume but it made darned good use of the physical circumstances of the setting.

  • 18 years ago

    The only real affect that seasons/holidays have on my reading is my tradition of reading a holiday-themed book at the end of Nov/beginning of December. I actually did not find an appealing holiday book this year, thus I'm reading a few cozy mysteries, which are perfect for curling up with a hot chocolate and a feline.

    I do find it a bit disconcerting sometimes to read a book set in June when it is winter outside, but once I'm into the plot, I tend to be able to get past the difference in weather in the book and in reality.

  • 18 years ago

    I have the Peoples Act of Love on my TBR shelf-it's blizzard conditions here too-guess perhaps I should pull it out.

  • 18 years ago

    I always read something with a polar theme to it in the winter, and got myself Dan Simmons' The Terror for that purpose! Many years I will re-read my tattered copy of The Last place on Earth by Huntford (race to the South Pole).

  • 18 years ago

    I remember reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Long Winter on a cold night before wrapping it to give my daughter for Christmas one year. I nearly froze to death!

  • 18 years ago

    Ive never chosen books based on the season (and here, our winter is so short that I wouldn't get much 'winter' reading done anyway!) I chose books on my mood more than anything.

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