Reading on the go

Authors Note: Apologies about this post, it has been written for a couple of months and I forgot to schedule it so it sort got lost in the abyss that is my computer, and is unfortunately a little less relevant now as it was at the time of writing (as I will share soon) but is still equally important to me so I thought I would post it anyway :) xo


I am one of those people, you know the ones, sitting in the waiting room reading a book, riding the bus reading a book, waiting for a coffee reading a book. I never go anywhere without some form of reading material (be it paper, glossy magazine, or on my phone) and even last year while my reading took a bit of a hiatus I still carried something to read just in case I felt like it.

The matter of the type of book you can read on the go however is tricky, if like me you are fond of grabbing your book at any opportunity it needs to fit a certain set of criteria. It must be physically light and flexible (for easy one handed reading) and also light to read, something that you can easily remember the plot of in the two hour gap between sittings. It must withstand a battering from being pulled in and out of your bag frequently (I have a rule that library books must have dust covers purely because of this, I can't abide by scuffing up library books). It must not break your shoulder when stored in a handbag, or cause those awful strap burns on your hands when stored in a little tote bag, and it must not also require you to sacrifice other bag essentials either (Game of Thrones, I'm looking at you!) I tend to limit myself to works of no more than about 300 pages, and that is pushing it. I prefer shorter novels for carrying around with me and save the larger tomes for dedicated at home reading. This obviously excludes most hardbacks, and you will find that there aren't very many of those on my shelves to reflect that, I simply do not need the knotted shoulders that accompany them!

Now what about these books that I can't take with me? Well of course those are for when I know I have more time, often I plan to sit and have a coffee and read while I am out and about, or maybe use my lunch break at work to crack through a couple of chapters. Those chunky books are OK to come with me then, or they stay at home and get read in my reading nook during a lazy evening.

It may seem like a restrictive way to manage my reading, and if you aren't a constant reader it really does seem odd, but it is often quite the opposite. It baffles me when people only have one book on the go as I currently have five, allowing me to pick from several that suit different needs. I am a firm believer that restricting your reading is one of the big things that puts people off the hobby in general, and simply being half way through a big fat russian novel is no reason to stop yourself from reading on the go, just pick up a different one.

My current picks for reading on the go are:
Heidi, which is an old hardback and is really little, perfect for slotting in the back pocket of my saddle bag.
If on a winter's night a traveller, which is slightly larger, but fits in most bags and is quite a fun little read that is endlessly interesting so I never forget where I am or what has happened.
Good Omens, this as you can see is a bit bigger, and it is pushing my limits for what I will carry around, but I like this one enough to put it in a little tote.
And of course there is always my phone which has several ebook apps on it. I don't like reading from it too often because it hurts my eyes, but it is handy in a pinch!

How do you manage reading on the go?