Books, tv or....

mystiquemalaika

Well-Known Member
Jan 7, 2013
4,293
1,998
113
I love watching a good tv series and im terrible for binge watching till the wee hours! I'm currently enjoying Code Black, but only have a few episodes left, after enjoying Greys anatomy but i find once darker nights set in and winter i prefer to start reading of an evening.

Mum and I have just finished swapping bedrooms which while not an easy task has allowed a good sort out at the same time. I've got all my books out again into a kallax and I'm currently deciding between a good thriller or my trusted Cecelia Aherns new book. I may flip a coin!

I'm not sure if its partly because I fall asleep earlier in winter which ties in with the clock changes thread and i subconciously know i cant binge watch (im terrible for it)or if its because I prefer reading all cosy with it dark outside and my little lamp on and a few candles wrapped up.

How do you guys differ in what you do etc throughout the seasons for yourselves?
 
  • Like
Reactions: newforest
I'm the opposite, I love to read, but tend to do it more in summer, because I can take a book with me camping or down the field and I don't like staying in when the sun is out. I am more likely to binge watch or watch movies in the winter, especially when it's wet or dark out.
 
Well it's a no brainer for me as I don't have a telly any more. I much prefer books anyways. I used to like things like Midsomer Murders, but that's not worth buying a tv for lol
To be honest, by the time we both get finished with work it's around seven in the evening. Then we go do the horses so don't sit down until nine and then just have dinner a nice cold Fosters and off to bed lol
With working mainly for Californian clients it means we get to start work later - so it's good because horse time is great in the morning with no pressure. (Sorry I've rambled a bit there). I do like a good thriller. Currently reading a Harlan Coben one. Trouble is, I'm mostly so tired that I can only manage a page or two in bed. I just love my sleep.........................zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Edited to add: bit like jessey, I read more in summer because I take a book and watch Storm in her paddock on hot days.
 
I have a book in my shed at the field all year and will read that in the lighter months but i can't switch off at home the same when its light and I need to be really relaxed to get into my books. I usually get home around 9-9.30pm in the summer then turn the tv on when I'm home.

I actually also eat far better in winter and take care of myself better with moisturizers etc as I'm home earlier and not out and about outside so tend to enjoy cooking more.

@Trewsers so lovely that you get nice relaxing horse time in the mornings, that's a great way to start and set you up for the day!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Huggy and Trewsers
I think I read more in the winter too, have just started a new Stephen king - think I've got all his books! I've got into a very bad habit of watching programmes in my iPad in bed. At the moment I'm hooked on the White Queen, I didn't really do that in the summer. In the winter I also tend to get more done around the house - just painted the kitchen and glossing all the doors - just can't find time in the summer, with all the gardening to do. Saying that, I still haven't out the garden to bed, and it's looking terrible. :rolleyes: .
 
  • Like
Reactions: mystiquemalaika
I watch dvds in the winter. I am rewatching Silent witness with Amanda Burton.
@Trewsers get a portable dvd player, you don't need a tv licence for those.
To be honest I could probably not bother with the tv. I maybe watch an hour a day. Tonight The Accident is on and some dramas get put on dvd which end up on ebay. I am from the hiring a video on a weekend era. ;) :p

I was studying last winter so didn't really watching anything.
But I've done the box sets of The Big Bang, Chips, Grange Hill and I forget what the other one was. Then I pick random ones I spot to watch.

My routine is a quiet half hour read before bed, not in bed. I do that all year probably.
One thing I have tried and failed at is reading at the yard. I have plenty of spots that are quiet, but I can't sit still outside, but I can sit still inside.
 
I dont read much as I'm a slow reader and find it quite frustrating. As I'm getting older my brain also doesnt retain what I read. I have loads of books on my bookcase that were given to me but I've never read them. I get sent a monthly running magazine for free. Something I'm interested in but I have four currently unopened sitting on the side. I only read a couple of pages of those and I will be asleep. I do watch some TV, but quite honestly I could manage without one. In summer I dont watch as much as I'm usually out riding in the evening.
 
I used to read a lot but these days I'm more of a TV person. I don't watch the actual TV though as it's all a load of crap! I binge watch things on Amazon Prime and get very easily addicted. I just finished Mr. Robot.
 
TV has the upper hand as one has usually paid a subscription or licence fee - to read a book one must buy it or go to the library. My OH goes to the library the whole time. He reads a lot.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mystiquemalaika
@joosie i am an Amazon prime and Netflix girl and if I see a series i like that is on neither ill buy the dvd as they are always cheap enough 2nd hand. I don't have an actual aerial to my tv, you can get most channels on catch up on the fire stick anyway.

@Skib I love books, proper books, cant read on a kindle i like the feel of an actual book. We have a large Barter Books in Alnwick and I love going in there. The open fire is brilliant in winter with one of their cookies flicking through books I like the look of.

@chunky monkey I can't read books with absolutely tiny writing, it sends my eyes west. I'm not the quickest reader but not slow but i do get very frustrated if the writing is tiny. Eyes fine just dont like it.

@Huggy I do not envy you glossing! Gloss is my nemesis!

@newforest I wish I had your patience and determination to do a course, I often see some i like the look of but just know i would never finish it!
 
Oh I am envious of those days when I would sit in the field reading a book, when my time was my own.

Now, no chance since I had a family there is always something else to do or the inevitable taxi service that is required elsewhere.

Even if I go to the yard now, if a child comes with me after 10 mins it's 'When are we leaving?' :rolleyes:

But back to the main question, I tend to watch crap TV in the evenings, but I am approaching a few tight deadlines for some things so must turn the TV off and get on with them :oops:
 
I have always loved reading, though I swallow fewer whole books now than I used to, as my reading time is divided between online browsing and news as well as books.

I like to listen to audiobooks at bedtime but tend to pick fairly unchallenging ones or classics that I know and love, because I often drop off to sleep mid-chapter, which makes following a complicated plot rather difficult! I have recently listened to The Making of a Marchioness by Frances Hodgson-Burnett, Jamaica Inn by Daphne DuMaurier, and Summer Half by Angela Thirkell. I’m part-way through The Time Traveller’s Guide to Elizabethan England, as a change from pure fiction, but while I find the content very interesting the narrators voice is particularly soothing so I keep missing bits when I drop off!

My partner likes to watch tv shows and box sets, so there is often something on in the background in the evenings, at the moment mostly NCIS and Elementary. I think both are quite good, but I dip in and out of paying attention because I’m often reading while the tv’s on or pottering around the house or doing my yoga practice.

@mystiquemalaika Barter Books is one of my favourite places. My Mum's family were from Northumberland and we used to visit the area every year when I was a child. A visit to Barter Books was the highlight of my trip :).
 
newrider.com