Well that's silly, why would you be holding a book and reading while fighting a dragon?

Situation-sensitive usage should be situation-sensitive.

Maybe you hold the book in your hand and hear it being narrated, whilst you carry on moving and etc.

Same reason you'd be holding a book and reading while walking around, or doing anything else- because you can? :blink:

Maybe one of the new books added could be "Dragon-Slaying for Dummies."

Yeah, or like if you're using one of the transport systems THEY'LL BETTER IMPLEMENT you can (if you don't want to skip the journey) read a book as you see the landscape outside the window of the wagon or whatever.

There should be a books eries like this in Skyrim to mock all the For Dummies series.

Dragon-Slaying next to Poison-potion making would be top on my list.

They would give you all the wrong tips and what not to do.


Dragon Slaying for Nords. - its a satire series written by a Dunmer writer.

why would you wanna read and walk??
No thanks

Wouldn't work unless the time flow changed... otherwise your character would be taking hours to read 10 page books.

I'd like to see smart elfish children walking around while reading in a large book of some sorts. That'd be super cute.
And then some older Nord kids walk by and laugh at the kid for being a nerd, and I walk up to them and tell them that's not very cute. :/

For myself, I guess I like the idea of using it to pass the time until the NPC I want to meet appears. Or using it to look as if you are reading when you're really tailing an PC or something like that. That would be really neat.
I wouldn't need to be able to walk around though or anything.

And all the guides for "dangerous" activities listed as "By the late [author's name]."

Hm. If not dev-added, I smell "tiny atmosphere-adding mod" potential.

One of my greatest qualms about Oblivion was really the missed opportunity at creating something excellent, enjoyable and immersive - being able to read while you sit, with proper animations, and in real time.

Sure you can sit down on any old chair or log, but why would you? I use to read sitting but it just felt silly and sterile to see my character sitting pointlessly like a stone statue; actually seeing the pages turn or my hands under the book, or having certain pages crumpled or sullied, maybe torn, would just improve the experience tenfold.

Ooow equip book of destruction to one hand equip spell to other, blahmite!!! Read and kill!!! Step it up a notch.

If being able to sit and walk around with the book can't be implemented, I would at least like to have it where reading is in realtime.
EDIT: Maybe it can also be used to, for example, eavesdrop on a conversation by pretending to read.

I want the song "Belle" from Beauty and the Beast to play while I walk around town with my nose in a book.

That's clearly not the point. The point is to increase immersion, sitting down and opening a book in game only to have the entire world stop in its tracks for as long as you are reading is a massive immersion breaker. I want to sit down on a bench and read something while other people stroll past, talk to each other, you can hear background noise. I want my companion to really annoyingly keep talking to me while I am trying to read. Shut up damnit! I'm reading.

How to implement real-time reading:
You can equip a book in one hand, like a weapon.
By drawing the book, you pull it up and open it to the "First" page of readable text (They'll likely give it a number of "Filler" pages before that one just for aesthetics), supporting it with your palm against the spine, thumb between the pages, and fingers supporting the cover. It can be read in 1st-person by looking down at a 45^o angle, and at a mild degree toward the hand (but still readable). Unlike other weapons, the hand/arm position is static.
With one hand, you turn the page by pressing the action button. It animates your thumb flipping the page.
Unfortunately, to turn back a page, you'd have to close the book by "sheathing" it, then drawing it again (Opening it to the first page again), then re-thumbing to the desired page by clicking the action button the desired number of times.

If you have 2 hands to hold the book:
by "Drawing" it, you open it to the first page, but hold it by the bottom of its cover with both hands, thumbs toward the outside of the page. It's held at the same downward angle, but without the awkward angle.
To advance a page, you click the right action button (or pull right action trigger for consoles). You use your left hand to turn the page.
To go back a page, you click teh left action button, and use your right hand to turn the page.
You bring the book up directly in front of your face if you push both action buttons (Instead of blocking) If you're reading a newspaper and sitting on a bench when you do this, there's a chance nobody will recognize you, even if they were pursuing you and saw you sit down and pull out the newspaper (Some might ask "which way did he go?")

Pressing both action buttons when "Sheathing" the book keeps your page.

Then, you can still read, or walk around with a book open, and even fight with the book. You get to choose how much attention you pay to the book (You can look up if something interesting happens.) if you don't like the book cluttering your view, you can put it away. All around, a very fun and realistic-ish system.

I like the idea of time passing by as you read so I like it in that aspect, but It you equip the book and are looking at it on the screen your are going to have the same problem you do in the real world that you will not be able to see what you are about to walk into. I don't think it is necessary or practical but letting time pass by would be nice. How to do that in the menu, I am unsure.

Right. But nothing stops you from reading and walking if you can manage it.
And nothing stops you from sitting to read the book in my given suggestion.

Don't see a need to walk while reading (it would probably complicate the controls anyway), but real time reading would enhance immersion. It could be possible to be interrupted during reading by an NPC or enemy, which is why you would need to find a quiet and secluded place like a library.

Immersion is not something that can be controlled. As soon as you realise "Hey, this game's pretty immersive", all the immersion disappears.

And my idea, if implemented in the code, allows everything to work by working within the same system as everything else.

Reading in real-time would definitely be a major added benefit for roleplaying purposes, if you ask me. If my character was in the town square waiting for a shop to open up for the day, they could just sit down by a tree and flip through one of their books to pass the time.

Daggerfall had a fun bug, the game paused while reading, but the in game clock kept running. This gave you a reason to read; an enemy paralyzed or silenced you, pick up a book and read until the spell effect went away then continue combat.
No it was not immersive just stupid and fun.

I love the heated debate on this! The more debate, the better ideas can emerge, the better our game can be. Lets keep on expressing our ideas

Didn't vote 'cause some of the options don't fit. I wouldn't mind "real time" reading. Reading where the game time still passes by at its normal pace.
I think being able to walk around while reading would present an awkward control scheme challenge. If they find an convenient/ intuitive control setup to make that work, then it might be kinda cool.

As for radiant AI reaction to my choice of reading, I don't really care. The context in which I'm reading any particular book could be many. Like waiting for Ramenus Polus to wake up and make you an apprentice of the Mages Guild. Having nothing better to do, grab a nearby book and read a little to pass the time. I don't need NPCs making comment on my "choice of book" in such situations. I also don't want those kind of comments get annoying like when NPCs praise you for your high level skill(s), "You're a sneaky looking sort."

Voted yes, I would much prefer to be able to read novels in game in some form. Don't get me wrong I did not mind the seperate screen in oblivion but it would be really cool to see more.

I read and walk everyday on my walk home from school. I don't find it hard at all. Reading and walking would be a great addition to skyrim.