I used to read many business books but now hardly have time to do it. Do you read books related to your field of work?

I don't read books about editing, but I read a lot of articles online about better writing skills, grammar and how to stuff to get ideas for how to make my work more efficient and interesting. I keep a blog for posting links to interesting stuff related to my job (http://www.redpensforever.blogspot.com)

Download a (free, legal) copy of Brad Neely from http://www.illegal-art.org/video/wizard.html
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"Wizard People, Dear Reader is an unauthorized re-envisioning of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, by Brad Neely. To experience it, viewers need to get a copy of the first Harry Potter movie (known as Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in Europe) and watch it with the sound off, replacing Neely's narration with the original soundtrack."

Beware: he says the F-word frequently.

Read a review of it in the NEw York Times http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0 CE1DD1E31F934A35755C0A9629C8B63

I usually read articles related to work, rarely books... not enough time to really focus on the whole book!

Yes, but ONLY at work!

Never! When I was in museums, I'd look at books about museum careers and think "Hmm, excellent. Must read this...and this...and -- OOH, look at this one. Etc." But somehow never got around to following through. I do animal rescue and I like browsing books on the topic at Borders, but never actually purchase any. Off and on I have been involved in pet-sitting (a real growth industry, by the way!) and a friend with a very successful pet-sitting business here in FL lent me a bunch of books which -- guess what? -- I never got around to reading. I recently returned them to her feeling VERY sheepish and PRAYING she would not ask me what I thought of them. (Whew. She didn't.) It's not that I don't have time. It's that when I do have time to read I want to chill out and read something easy and fun and completely escapist.

it's right up there with not eating french fries..I know I should but...besides, they're all nice and neat in my bookcase..why mess them up?

I do read professional books. It's a necessity in my field (teaching). Research keeps growing, adding new methods to our repertoire and analyzing and refining those we already use. I read professional journals, too, and I have an article coming out in a state reading council journal this month.
But I make time to read fun books for pleasure!

I do a lot of reading to study for my flight classes, and they are pretty dry. If I'm going to sit back and read, I prefer a good novel. I like all sorts of genres, and have many, MANY waiting patiently to be read!

Ok, I feel a lot better now - I have a really tall stack of books here about everything from entrepreneurship to how technology companies grow, but I just can't bring myself to read them. I also find that I can read a lot of useful information online instead of having to read through lots of books.

That's an interesting point, Nataly. I also find that these days by the time a book goes to print and finds its way to the store or local library, it's not so "of-the-moment" anymore.

I have all kinds of books I skim... is that still considered cheating? I found that so many "professional" books are all the same. Take the good stuff out and trash the rest. I like to use the internet and locate shorter, easier to digest articles that might help in my line of work. This is much easier to find the time for than reading a dry, 400 page book about office professionalism. ;)

Yes, I often read chapters of books at work when learning a new programming/software tool. I almost never read the entire book, and never on my own time.

I would love to read more books in general, but I do try to skim the professional books that I have. I am a special education teacher so there is a lot I need to learn for my students. I wish I had more time and energy!

I put books everywhere in my home and then I could fetch them whenever I walk by. Good thing is I read different books in the same time in different places of my home. Bad thing is I rarely finish one whole book in a short period of time.