Where do you read yours?

In bed? On the beach? In a bar? When it comes to a bibliophile’s favourite pastime, sometimes location really does matter. Inspire’s Michelle Dunstan takes a look at the varied places we choose to delve into a good book. . .

“The main word is ‘free’.  I read a lot in the bath.  I lock the kids out and sit there with a book and just top up the hot water when needed and I can read a whole book.” Illustration © Carol Adlam

As avid book lovers, the places where we choose to read can be as varied as our bookish tastes. While some of us are happy to take the chance to read just about anywhere, others have a go-to place that’s our own personally perfect spot for a good read.  

For me (much like my reading preferences) it’s a mixed bag. The place I like to read most regularly, has to be curled up in bed. In fact, when I’m in the grip of a real page turner, you’ll find me heading upstairs earlier and earlier, given half a chance. When I asked colleagues about their own go-to places for habitual reading, one summed up the allure of bedtime reading perfectly:

“I love to read at night, to enter another world for that time before sleep. I also reach for my book to escape the whirlwind of ridiculous thoughts that enter my head if I wake in the middle of the night. I can’t be without a book, not even for one night – it’s as unthinkable as being without a cup of tea, a toothbrush or a bed!”

Unthinkable indeed.

And for some of us ‘book at bedtime’ lovers, we’re not always alone under the duvet with a good read; “My absolute favourite is snuggled in bed with a child, reading together.”

For others I asked, a specific seat in the house was de rigueur for the regular read, including an “old Parker Knolls armchair, with red velvet upholstery,” (don’t you just love the image that conjures?), and “in the backroom, in the comfy armchair with my music on in the background.”

But for some, it seems that variety is the spice of life when it comes to where they turn the pages at home; “In bed, in the bath, in the kitchen.” Maybe it’s just that need to squeeze in some much-needed book time wherever an opportunity arises, which is echoed in another colleague’s response: “I read while drying my hair in the bedroom… the hair doesn’t always look perfect but means I sneak in a chapter or two before breakfast.” And another; “I think the last grown-up book I read was the latest in a series, and I ended up sneaking five minutes here and there throughout the day or night so I could finish it.  I like to read in silence, so each time someone found me (usually a child) I ended up wandering to another room.  I must have read it everywhere in the house!”

Of course, our choice of reading location doesn’t have to be confined to our own four walls, after all ‘have book, will travel’. I for one, adore reading a chapter or two alone in a café or a bar, while a colleague aptly loves the combination of “food, coffee, book and library!” And like many, I’m always accompanied by a book when travelling; be it on buses, trains or planes. There’s just something so appealing about the idea of being transported to another world by a book while on a physical journey at the same time.

For the more outdoorsy types, al fresco reading is a firm favourite. One colleague loves nothing better than to be; “out walking, with an audio book in my ears.” And as the weather gets warmer over the next few weeks (fingers crossed), readers will no doubt be heading to parks and other open spaces - book in hand - for a spot of page time in the sunshine.

But let’s not forget those rare, often ‘one-time’, reading locations, which we look back on with fondness. Mine has to be while on holiday in Portugal, where I loved to escape to read in a hammock in the beautiful garden, shaded by trees (bliss!).

And the perfect combination of book and location can be especially nostalgic. As one colleague reminisced: “When I was 16, me and my friend had our first trip abroad alone and we went to Paris because she was obsessed with a book called Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. She made me read it while we were there and then we went to all the places mentioned in the book.”

Another told me of reading The Salt Path while in Cornwall (the book tells the inspiring true story of a couple who walk the 630 miles of the South-West Coast Path, from Somerset to Dorset, via Devon and Cornwall); “This book actually set me off on my own long-distance walking adventure. I have done quite a few sections of coastal path over the years, so knew many of the places it was describing.”

So, it seems that while many of us book lovers are happy to read just about anywhere, sometimes location really does matter, and the where can be just as important as the what we’re reading. And should you be fortunate enough to pick both the perfect place and the perfect book, the results can be inspiring. . .