Maria: Do you often buy books?

Rory: Not as much as I used to, mostly because I just built up a collection of unread ones and it seems quite wasteful to buy more when I already have that stockpile just sitting there. And if I buy more, then I'll never get through them all, will I?

Maria: Do you often read books?

Rory: I do. I try and get through about two a month, just by reading a chapter from them each day. For one of them, it will be in the middle of the day on my break from work. And for the other, it's in bed before going to sleep. I find it helps me unwind more easily than just scrolling through my phone or scrolling through social media.

Maria: Do you prefer reading books or watching movies?

Rory: I think that depends largely on who I'm with. If it's a group of people, it's a more fun social experience to go to the cinema. But if I'm by myself or just my partner and I are having a quiet day in, then I'd rather chill out with my nose in the book, frankly speaking.

Maria: Have you ever read a novel that has been adapted into a film?

Rory: Not recently, though I did read Jurassic Park as a child. That's about genetically engineered dinosaurs being let loose in a theme park. It's much gorier and more violent than the movie, though. But I think it took me weeks to read, just because of all the vocabulary in it, and I was younger and didn't know so much back then.

Maria: Are your reading habits now different from before?

Rory: Definitely. For example, I used to read until I got bored or tired. But now I try to limit myself to a chapter a day, just to keep my exposure regular and let myself mull over the ideas more effectively. It's harder with some books than others, though. If they are real page turners, then I tend to revert to form.

Maria: So, dear listener, books. At the start of this episode, Rory said, I'm ploughing through at this book at the moment. To plough through is a very nice phrasal verb, which Rory means what?

Rory: To work hard to complete something. Usually something big.

Maria: Finish reading, eating, or dealing with something with difficulty. But it means something difficult that you are doing. For example, it's a book on science, or a difficult book with difficult ideas, or maybe philosophy, or in Japanese pr Chinese language that you don't really know. So you can say, I'm ploughing through this book at the moment. And Rory reads super-challenging books. Science, engineering, medicine.

Rory: Hold on a minute, I don't read any books on engineering.

Maria: Ah, no, not yet. Okay, farming, agriculture, no?

Rory: Yes, I have read books about agriculture.

Maria: Yeah, there you go.

Rory: In fact, it's mentioned in the book I'm reading right now, which is much more interesting than the lessons we had at school.

Maria: I've built up a collection of unread books. So built up, I've collected so many books that I haven't read. So unread books - books that you haven't read yet. So you can say, I don't buy new books because I have built up, I've built up a collection of unread books. Or it's quite wasteful to buy more books when I have a lot of unread ones. Ones, meaning books. And if something is wasteful, you just waste your money or your time. So kind of you use it in a careless way. And I have a stockpile of unread books. So a stockpile is just like a pile of books, like a lot of books.

Rory: Well, it's a lot of anything.

Maria: Yeah, for example, like a stockpile of food, goods, weapons. So I have a stockpile of what? Of chocolate, of cash. I have a stockpile of cash. You know, like in mafia movies, they enter a flat and then everything is in money. Money is everywhere, you know. Ooh, they have a stockpile of cash. And you can say that when I get through them, I'll buy more. Get through books means to read books. So we have one phrasal verb, which means to read something difficult, plough through. Or if you just read books, you get through a book. So I got through this book very quickly. It took me one day to read it. And then kind of a very interesting question, like, do you buy books? Do you read books? Like, no, I just buy books.

Rory: Well, you could borrow books from a library, I suppose.

Maria: Yeah, but some people buy books, but they never read them.

Rory: They're for decoration.

Maria: I try and get through about two books a month. Look at you, Rory. Wow, a super reader, Band 9! So get through, again, I try to read two books a month. So I usually get through two books a month. I read a chapter each day. Oh, you are reading two books at the same time, right?

Rory: Yeah.

Maria: Okay, so Rory reads two books at the same time, right? And he reads a chapter from each book every day. Wow, look at you.

Rory: I try to, it's been difficult recently with everything that's been going on.

Maria: And I usually read before going to sleep. It helps me unwind more easily. Unwind means relax. It helps me to relax. It helps me to unwind. Actually, a very good sentence. Reading helps me to unwind. C2, dear listener, unwind. Proficiency level, Иand 9. So reading helps me to unwind.

Rory: Well, it is quite relaxing to read, isn't it?

Maria: Yeah, but if you are reading a book on, I don't know, agriculture, and you understand maybe two words from a sentence, is it relaxing? Does it help you to unwind?

Rory: Well, for me, generally, I understand more than a few things. Like, I usually don't have that problem. So it's not really a big deal for me.

Maria: Reading helps me to unwind more easily than scrolling through my phone. Because usually we scroll through our phones and then we go to sleep. But Rory reads.

Rory: Well, do we? That's the thing. The blue light interferes with your natural body rhythms.

Maria: Reading books or watching movies or films, and Rory tells us that it's a more fun social experience to go to the cinema. So watching movies is a more fun social experience. And if I'm by myself, if I'm alone, if I'm having a quiet day, or if I have a day in, which means if I stay at home, I'd rather chill out with my book. So I would rather relax with my book. So chill out, like relax. I'd rather, I would prefer. So I'd rather chill out with my nose in a book. Rory, what did you mean when you said chill out with my nose in a book? Like you put your nose in your book?

Rory: Just relax by reading, but ignoring everything else that's happening around.

Maria: To have your nose in a book, a book, is an idiom which means to be reading. For example, she always has her nose in a book. She's always reading. And Rory always has his nose in a book. So you can say like, well, I prefer to chill out with my nose in a book. Bend 9!. Super nice. And by the way, dear listener, our Rory has written 25 books. No, 8 books.

Rory: I've not written 25. I've only written

Maria: 5.

Rory: 5?

Maria: 4.

Rory: I think.

Maria: 5?

Rory: 5.

Maria: Wow, look at you. So Rory has written, he has written 5 books. Can you imagine? He's been so productive. And you can buy his books on Amazon, right, Rory? You sell your books on Amazon.

Rory: I do, but we've already had a podcast episode on advertising.

Maria: Then a very strange question like, have you ever read a novel that has been adapted into a film? So there is a novel, The Lord of the Rings, and they made a movie based on a novel. And maybe you've read Sherlock Holmes, or you've read Harry Potter. There you go. Or you can just lie and say, I've read Harry Potter, the first book. And then it is...

Rory: Oh my God, yeah, I have read Harry Potter, haven't I?

Maria: Oh, I've listened to all Harry Potter books, audiobooks. Beautiful.

Rory: Ooh, yes, that would work.

Maria: Yeah. So you can say like, not recently, but a long time ago, I read da-da-da as a child. When I was a child, as a child, I read blah-blah-blah about dinosaurs. And then they made a violent movie.

Rory: A violent and gory movie. That means there's lots of blood and guts. Not very nice things to see.

Maria: When dinosaurs just eat people. Jurassic Park. And Rory, what are popular novels that have been adapted into films?

Rory: I don't know. I'm not very good at this. Starship Troopers was a movie that was adapted from a book. And that's quite violent as well, actually, thinking about it now. Contact is also adapted from a book. Those are both examples from science fiction. We already mentioned Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter. What else, Maria?

Maria: Forrest Gump, for example.

Rory: Oh, Solaris. If we want a Russian example or a Soviet example, I don't know which era that comes from.

Maria: Dracula. Fight Club. All right? Oh, The Devil Wears Prada. Rory, your favourite book. Come on.

Rory: Oh, yeah, I read that book, didn't I? I forgot about that.

Maria: Yeah, well, the Harry Potter series. Is this... Yeah, amazing. The Silence of the Lambs. Anthony Hopkins film. Amazing. The Talented Mr. Ripley. Yeah, just, you know, go for it. Reading habits. My reading habits have changed since I was a child, you can say.

Rory: I like these questions. It's a good chance to use used to.

Maria: Exactly! So, when the questions are about your childhood, what has changed now and before, you said, I used to read course books at school, but now I read fiction or science fiction. You can listen to our previous episodes about reading and books where we discuss different genres and we give you more vocabulary, which you can use in all speaking parts and essays. So, yeah… I used to read until I got bored or I used to read until I got tired. But now I limit myself to a chapter a day. See, so I keep my reading regular. I keep my exposure to books regular. So, I read regularly every day, but I limit myself to a chapter a day, which is a very nice strategy, Rory. Well done. And I let myself mull over the ideas. A Band 9 phrasal verb for you. If you mull over something, yeah, you think carefully about the ideas for a long time. So, not just like you read a book and you forget the book. You kind of mull things over. You mull over the ideas. See, you are processing a book. You are digesting a book. You kind of think about the ideas. And some books are real page turners. So, a page turner is a book that you can't put down. So, you can't stop reading it, right? It's so interesting, so exciting that you want to read it quickly. And for example, you could say, his latest novel is a real page turner. I kind of read it, I turn the pages, and I can't stop.

Rory: And if that's a new thing for you, you could say it's a novel experience. Oh, it's a joke. Do you get the pun?

Maria: No, you should explain it.

Rory: Oh, well, a novel experience is a new experience, but also the word novel is a kind of book. We're talking about books and reading. It just occurred to me there. Oh, don't say that in your exam, though. Oh, my God.

Maria: We're gonna wrap this episode up with a joke. Rory, but you should teach our listener one word. Rory, who is a bookworm? A bookworm.

Rory: Oh, a bookworm is someone that likes to read.

Maria: So, if I say I'm a real bookworm, I enjoy reading. For example, Rory is a bookworm. Is this positive or negative? Is it like something cruel and rude? Like, oh, you're a bookworm.

Rory: It depends on how you say it rather than just the word itself.

Maria: Right, dear listener. So, the joke goes: what should we take when we go fishing? Bookworms. Funny, huh? So, we go fishing. We go and kind of fish the fish out of water. OK, go fishing. And what should we take? Bookworms. So, pretty much like people who enjoy reading books, but when we go fishing, we take worms. Worms, like these little thingies that the fish usually eats.

Rory: I feel like a fish out of water in this explanation.

Maria: Thank you very much for listening. We'll get back to you with more stupid jokes in our next episode, OK? Bye.

Rory: Bye!

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