‘How do you read’, often ‘so much?’, maybe ‘whilst doing a PhD’ or ‘with a puppy’. Whatever the ending, the beginning of 90% of questions I receive is the same. The answer is also very similar; a shrug with a quiet ‘ha’ and then some vague practical advice.
Here’s an actual answer which has been provided by looking back at my week.
Okay, Monday.
On Monday I was doing data cleaning which is a dull and repetitive task of my PhD. One positive of data work is that it’s audiobook time.
A lot of my reading comes from audiobooks. In fact, probably the majority. I was pretty lucky for this because I get gifted a shit load of credits to listen to books for Graham Norton’s Book Club Podcast which runs on Audible. (Yes, I’m on this. Yes, he’s SO nice and exactly how he seems.) Without gifting, this is a spenny platform and if you’re an avid audiobook listener I recommend 1. Libby or other library audiobook apps for FREE. 2. Scrib’d is one I know my pal Brooke loves. It’s a smol business and a tenner for unlimited titles instead of £7 a month for one on Audible. 3. Stick with Audible if you’re a creature of habit but go into plan options and do the annual payment of £100 for 24 credits. This is the most cost-effective if you can afford the one off payment.
Back to Monday.
I Listened to If I Had Your Face on Audible whilst doing data. After work I finished the last 100 pages of Vladimir. That’s a lot of pages in one go for me, but oh my god, I was hooked.
Tuesday.
I listened to more of If I Had Your Face whilst doing data work. In the evening I started reading my advanced copy of Young Mungo.
Typically, I read in person for about half an hour stints, once a day. This might differ on a weekend, but as a whole I don’t read for over an hour and have never finished a book in one sitting. I knew Young Mungo would need my whole attention and also be heavy as fuck, so I allocated an hour before bed to read 50 pages per evening.
Wednesday.
I finished If I Had Your Face and read another 50 pages of Young Mungo. This time YM was straight after work because oh my god I was invested in this book. I listen to Audibooks to fall asleep.
There’s a sleep setting on Audible (lol this is not at all an ad, I just don’t know about others) so you can set it to the end of a chapter or for a specific amount of time. I will listen for about half an hour and then tend to remember the chapter ending as I drift off.
I decided to listen to some of Beautiful World, Where Are You for this.
I woke up in the night a lot which happens quite a bit. I’m not an awful sleeper but I do tend to have a couple of days a month which are rough. I listened to more of BWWAY to chill my brain and drift back off. This probably meant I’d listened to about 3 hours by the morning.
Thursday.
I felt like shit because of the lack of sleep. I’m absolutely not a person who can function on little sleep. I managed to sleep until 8:30 though, and then I read for an hour from 9 in bed. Young Mungo, of course. Doing a PhD is very self-employed feels and I’m lucky enough to be able to do this. I then did work slowly and at 1pm I tried to have a nap. This didn’t happen so I actually just listened to BWWAY for another couple of hours.
Friday.
No audiobooks today because I was back to writing research paper sections work that I need my full attention for. I did read Young Mungo again as soon as work was finished, but with Dobby next to me. If I’m reading in the living room, it’s a leisurely pace with my hound. Then, no more reading because we got Five Guys and settled in for the final episode of Severance (WHICH YOU HAVE TO WATCH).
Saturday.
I think it’s expected that I do most of my reading on a weekend, but that’s rarely the case. Sometimes I do have nothing on and savour every moment of reading, but often we’ve got people over or we’re in the hills. At this point, you’re just reading a diary of my weekend. Enjoy.
On Saturday we had a lie in and a bed cuddle with Dobby. Brunch is a must in this household and we went out this time. If you’ve got a Dishoom near you, I demand you go. This and Severance, seriously, write them down. Then we went on a long-ish hound walk. It was such nice weather and we had no plans so boy and I grabbed a couple of pints at our favourite dog friendly pub and just chatted away while time passed.
We then came home tipsy after two whole pints because lockdown really punched our tolerance. Our friends from outside of Manchester came round, as well as some local pals, and we went back to the pub for another pint. Then teatime, then a proposed night out for some, then a really bad headache for myself who forgot to take her meds, so a bath and some more Young Mungo. You know the drill by now, a bit of BWWAY then off we go to sleep.
Sunday.
Sunday was a blessing. Boy and I had more Dobby bed cuddles and then got ready for a short wander in the peaks. He’s still young so his limit is about an hour meaning woods walks are spot on. The weather was glorious, Dobby was a golden boy who behaved SO GOOD and boy and I were generally smitten. After a brew, a drive home, an eat and a chill, I finished off Young Mungo. We tend to have life admin Sunday’s but had shopped earlier in the week so enjoyed a sofa melt. I then began Severance which I read 70 pages of. Time passed, a bath was had, tea was consumed, and then I chose my next audiobook to sleep with. I went for Cleopatra and Frankenstein.
Monday.
Hello, it’s now Monday lunch time. I listened to some Cleo and Frank on my way to town centre but started it from the beginning because I realised that I didn’t remember a lot. I’m about to go back to PhD work, but suspect I’ll get another half hour of listening in on my way back and then I’ll tuck into Severance (sadly not what the TV series is based on, but the name is definitely why I chose it as my next read) in the evening.
Gabby x
thank u for this!! would love to hear your thoughts on vladimir, ive just finished it :)