Despite news of a snowstorm threatening to hit this weekend, it was still warm and sunny enough this morning to make me believe spring is well and truly on the way. This also means that reading outside is a thing I can start to do again with regularity. The summer I interned for DGLM, I would often meet up with another literary friend in Washington Square Park after work and we’d get iced coffee, claim a sunny patch of grass, spread out a blanket (or sweater), and unpack our reading. There were few things I enjoyed more that summer than reading in the park amid all the other background noise—the sound of the fountain, conversational chatter, music being played, and dogs barking.

However, I know that for some people, they have to have absolute silence in order to read and concentrate. It’s always interesting to me to see where people can (and cannot) read. My favorite is watching people stand in line and fish out a small paperback while they wait or get out of the subway, their nose still in the book, trying to get to the end of the chapter.

Where are your favorite spots to read? Do you need quiet or do you enjoy background noise? Where’s the weirdest spot you’ve ever caught yourself (or others) reading? Do you enjoy reading outside?

Now that I finally have a NYPL card (it only took me seven months to activate it, to the open disapproval of the librarian who finally gave it to me), I’m ready for summer Fridays, some good “must-read” lists, and the park.