I spent over 10 years in prisons, over two stretches. My first bit was 2.5 years long and I wasn't much into books during that. My second one got me thinking

I spent over 10 years in prisons, over two stretches. My first bit was 2.5 years long and I wasn't much into books during that. My second one got me thinking about what I really wanted for my life, and so I started educating myself and devoured hundreds of books. Also, books let you "escape", if only briefly, the stark reality of prison. Quite a few guys I knew loved to read romance novels. What Imaginenore said, about having one TV for a group is very true for every prison I was in (6 state and 3 federal). That makes it difficult to find a program you like. Usually, an ethnic group or gang takes over the TV and everyone else does their own thing. I DM'd D&D games for 4 different groups each week, and played in one. Two things that disbelief stated above were absolutely untrue about things prisoners do: stare at walls and walk in circles. I believe he is trying to suggest boredom-coping mechanisms caused by a lack of activities. In prison, there is always something to do. People can exercise with weight equipment. there is a yard you can walk a track in, play tennis in, play basketball in the courts, play soccer or touch football. There is an indoor rec center with treadmills (usually), musical instruments, art room (for painting, drawing), and lots of tables for card (or D&D) playing. As for book access, I found I could get any book I knew about. The library services in the prison education department allowed us to get inter-library loan books to read. Also, I purchased a lot of books by mail-order. I subscribed to 20 different magazines of varying interest. I did that to keep abreast of my interests, and also to pass them on to others after I finished. I felt it important for the other inmates to expand their knowledge of subjects. There are inmate magazine subscription services where I could get magazines at $4 to $10 per year per subscription. I had internet prior to my incarceration, high speed internet at a university. I thought I would die of boredom in prison, but it turned out to be far from the truth.