Retirees: When You Retired did your reading dramatically increase?

seanyyz · 02-10-2026, 11:09 PM

I’m retiring in a few weeks. A lot of my spare time now is spent working rather than reading and doing I other things I would enjoy. I am wondering whether other people who have retired were able to dramatically increase the number of books they read.

BetterRed · 02-10-2026, 11:51 PM

Probably fewer books, but harder/better books. Regret allowing my reading degenerate to airport novels in working years… I read Gibbon cover-to-cover in late teens, I did the same for Macaulay when I 'retired'.

DNSB · 02-11-2026, 12:51 AM

I didn't find my reading either increasing or decreasing much after I retired. But then I read a lot of books each month—my reading speed tends to skew the curve.

I did find myself spending more time on my home computer (rather than working on a work computer for 8 hours a day) since I started spending more time on compiling personalized versions of programs such as Sigil. I had visualized myself spending more of my free time reading but items such as grandkids have interfered with those plans.

slm · 02-11-2026, 09:49 AM

My book reading didn't increase much, initially, but I added a bunch of newspapers to my daily reading.

SteveEisenberg · 02-11-2026, 10:26 AM

Looking at my log going back to 2005, no radical differences. I average maybe sixty books a year.

I used to have an hour-long public transit commute during which I did most of my reading.

There were ups and down due to COVID times when I worked at home. Probably I read a bit less once I had a cell phone and could deal with work issues while commuting.

Going way back, I often took one of our kids to the day care center in my office building. For many years after, people would stop me on the Philadelphia subway and mention that they remember when I used be with a child, reading to him or her.

mrmikey · 02-11-2026, 12:31 PM

I retired 5 years ago. I found after being retired for a year or so my reading increased as did me starting to listen to podcasts.

seanyyz · 02-11-2026, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

Looking at my log going back to 2005, no radical differences. I average maybe sixty books a year.

I used to have an hour-long public transit commute during which I did most of my reading.

There were ups and down due to COVID times when I worked at home. Probably I read a bit less once I had a cell phone and could deal with work issues while commuting.

Funny that you mention COVID. During that time, my reading dropped right off despite having more free time, probably because of the undercurrent of anxiety because of the ongoing health crisis. The steady reporting of the number of dead was rather unnerving and like a lot of people, I was busy baking bread and hoarding toilet paper. I think we all went a little nutty. Maybe it was just me. (Although my partner was convinced at the time that we should get a parrot - ?!?).

BetterRed · 02-11-2026, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seanyyz

Funny that you mention COVID. During that time, my reading dropped right off despite having more free time . . .

Think mine might have gone up.

To get away from politicians doing what they like best… to stand alongside a health bureaucrat (expert) whilst issuing a new diktat every day of the week on who, where, when, and how one can go… I would take a book to a nearby public golf course and find an empty bench under a tree… which was the safest place to be.

Still a novid.

LostHisMarbles · 02-12-2026, 05:38 AM

Declined for me actually

- Less of a need for 'escapism'
- Comes a time where if it was worth it, you've already read it, or read something written even better; ie comes a time where you can waste half an hour or more every day looking for new titles, only to fine none, not one, worthy of your time (i don't read so i can tell myself i read, i don't read just to pass the time, i don't read so i can fall asleep. If it's not of interest and well executed, i just.. don't read)
- the err, latest socio-political norms and the generations aspiring to them, coupled with the accursed self-publishing trend, have resulted in a drastic decrease in quality.
- i will repeat this because it's true, the err, latest socio-political norms and the generations aspiring to them, coupled with the accursed self-publishing trend, have resulted in a drastic decrease in quality.

So for me, it's been mostly music

In between all the chores she finds for me.. ^^

Tarana · 02-12-2026, 02:19 PM

I started off disabled and then moved to retirement. I recommend planning a regular schedule where you typically read for an hour. Then extend from there. I always read an hour in the morning while drinking my coffee. No matter what else I do, I have that hour to chip away at a good story. I have had a lot of caregiving duties especially in the last year which took my concentration away. But I never stopped reading. Sometimes had to reread. In retirement, you could go day after day doing nothing, so it helps to have a scheduled time every day to do certain things like read, exercise and then do more if you feel like it. My neighbors volunteered for Meals on Wheels to have an excuse to get out of the house, and they got into audiobooks because of that.

Finally, it's a good time to start reading those long books that you always put off like Mistborn or classics by Dickens.

02-10-2026, 11:09 PM	#1
seanyyz Connoisseur Posts: 79 Karma: 2068472 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Toronto, Canada Device: Kindle Oasis	Retirees: When You Retired did your reading dramatically increase? I’m retiring in a few weeks. A lot of my spare time now is spent working rather than reading and doing I other things I would enjoy. I am wondering whether other people who have retired were able to dramatically increase the number of books they read.

02-11-2026, 10:26 AM	#5
SteveEisenberg Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,512 Karma: 45060394 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: near Philadelphia USA Device: Kindle Kids Edition, Fire HD 10 (11th generation)	Looking at my log going back to 2005, no radical differences. I average maybe sixty books a year. I used to have an hour-long public transit commute during which I did most of my reading. There were ups and down due to COVID times when I worked at home. Probably I read a bit less once I had a cell phone and could deal with work issues while commuting. Going way back, I often took one of our kids to the day care center in my office building. For many years after, people would stop me on the Philadelphia subway and mention that they remember when I used be with a child, reading to him or her. Last edited by SteveEisenberg; 02-11-2026 at 10:29 AM.

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02-10-2026, 11:51 PM	#2
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 22,342 Karma: 30621608 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	Probably fewer books, but harder/better books. Regret allowing my reading degenerate to airport novels in working years… I read Gibbon cover-to-cover in late teens, I did the same for Macaulay when I 'retired'.

02-11-2026, 12:51 AM	#3
DNSB Bibliophagist Posts: 50,312 Karma: 178402650 Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Vancouver Device: Kobo Sage, Libra Colour, Lenovo M8 FHD, Paperwhite 4, Tolino epos	I didn't find my reading either increasing or decreasing much after I retired. But then I read a lot of books each month—my reading speed tends to skew the curve. I did find myself spending more time on my home computer (rather than working on a work computer for 8 hours a day) since I started spending more time on compiling personalized versions of programs such as Sigil. I had visualized myself spending more of my free time reading but items such as grandkids have interfered with those plans.

02-11-2026, 09:49 AM	#4
slm (who/what) Posts: 536 Karma: 5065098 Join Date: Feb 2003 Device: Kindle: Voyage,PW1,KOA, Kobo: Clara Colour, Nook GLP, Pocketbook verse	My book reading didn't increase much, initially, but I added a bunch of newspapers to my daily reading.

02-11-2026, 12:31 PM	#6
mrmikey Member Posts: 17 Karma: 10 Join Date: Dec 2012 Device: Kobo Clara HD	I retired 5 years ago. I found after being retired for a year or so my reading increased as did me starting to listen to podcasts.

02-12-2026, 05:38 AM	#9
LostHisMarbles Enthusiast Posts: 32 Karma: 556044 Join Date: Nov 2024 Location: European Banana Lands inc. Device: Macbook	Declined for me actually - Less of a need for 'escapism' - Comes a time where if it was worth it, you've already read it, or read something written even better; ie comes a time where you can waste half an hour or more every day looking for new titles, only to fine none, not one, worthy of your time (i don't read so i can tell myself i read, i don't read just to pass the time, i don't read so i can fall asleep. If it's not of interest and well executed, i just.. don't read) - the err, latest socio-political norms and the generations aspiring to them, coupled with the accursed self-publishing trend, have resulted in a drastic decrease in quality. - i will repeat this because it's true, the err, latest socio-political norms and the generations aspiring to them, coupled with the accursed self-publishing trend, have resulted in a drastic decrease in quality. So for me, it's been mostly music In between all the chores she finds for me.. ^^

02-12-2026, 02:19 PM	#10
Tarana Wizard Posts: 4,081 Karma: 38843852 Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Minneapolis Device: PWSE, Voyage, K3, HDX, KBasic 7 & 8, Nook Glo3, Echos, Nanos	I started off disabled and then moved to retirement. I recommend planning a regular schedule where you typically read for an hour. Then extend from there. I always read an hour in the morning while drinking my coffee. No matter what else I do, I have that hour to chip away at a good story. I have had a lot of caregiving duties especially in the last year which took my concentration away. But I never stopped reading. Sometimes had to reread. In retirement, you could go day after day doing nothing, so it helps to have a scheduled time every day to do certain things like read, exercise and then do more if you feel like it. My neighbors volunteered for Meals on Wheels to have an excuse to get out of the house, and they got into audiobooks because of that. Finally, it's a good time to start reading those long books that you always put off like Mistborn or classics by Dickens.