Disclaimer: This is an article that will resonate the most with the book lovers but I hope will help the ones not reading to understand why.
This is not a manifesto on the benefits of reading (even if I truly believe that there are plenty), is more a sum of possible causes why some people, including me, read so much.
source:pixabay.com
It's a habit
I've started to read when I was 6 years old. My first "real" book was "Sans famille" by Hector Malot. It become one of the books I read again and again for the next 10-15 years. At around 20, I could not read it anymore.
Reading was for me something I could do with no limits, neither to eat and do my homework. If other kids hated it and their parents would have done anything to convince them, my mother would have done anything to stop me from reading so much.
Power of example
My parents read a lot, both of them. And we had a lot of books they bought before I was born (around 300 when I first started to count and arrange them in the bookshelves). They were not very picky and we had Tolstoi and Dostoievski near Sandra Brown. So I read everything, I resonated more with some of them and less with others but I think all contributes to the way I developed.
After I finished everything at home I had a yearly subscription to the biggest public library in Constanta and each week I read the maximum allowed to take home, 5 books.
Curiosity
I had a lot of whys in my childhood so I read a lot to understand the world around me. Most of my ways were around people and why do they act as they act. I found in books an infinity of cases, behaviors and scenarios that explained me more the human nature and learned how to approach it.
Brain pause
I think a lot, on multiple frequencies, in a very short amount of time. As example, in a 7 minutes walk from home to the subway I though about the next trip and what is left to organize it, what I have to do today at work, this article and other small things. This is quite exhausting and there are only 2 ways I know of that work for me to put my brain and own thought at rest: meditation and reading.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able yet to recreate a habit from meditating (had it when I was 10-12 years old) so I am left with reading only.
When I read, all my internal resources are engaged in understanding and imagining what I read and this is quite relaxing for my multiprocessor brain.
Specific know-how needed
Maybe this should have been the first one. It's not, in my case. I've started to read very specific non-fictional books later. I enjoy them but the previous point is not met here so this books are not helping when I want to relax. Usually, after a "hard" book I need a fictional one to take the necessary pause and process the non-fictional in the background.
Love the article! I'm aiming to read 50 books in a year (just started last week - and I started posting book summaries on my blog). Keep them coming!
I tried this also for some time but wasn't able to keep up. Good luck and hope you will!
I dont, actually. Well i like to read short articles but i dont like reading entire books. Im very visually oriented, hence my love for documentaries
Thank you for the comment. I observed that very visual oriented people don't find usually a great pleasure in reading.
You'd think they would, cause they can then imagine the images to the text themselves...but thats apparently not the case
HA just wanted to write something about that too.
big minds think alike (at least on the reading side, with this I have experience, with trading not yet :)) )
Reading books it's a good habit, BUT be careful what you read because what you read is changing your mind.
In my case, I only read non-fictional books and tehnical books ( IT, biology, medicine, healthcare ...).
I still remember the question I asked when I was little: Why should I learn to read?
I don't mind having my mind changed. Why should I? It's a good thing, I see each book as an add-on on what I already have there as core values and principles. Thank you for the comment.
You should worry when you read a book that brings the wrong ideas. Otherwise no problem.
Hmm...for me this are the best ones. Training for myself to be able to choose between ideas and to make sure I have others perspective also. Staying in a box and accepting around just what I see as good idea now is not helping me grow. But I see your point.
Reasons I read:
Primarily, for fun! It's one of my favourite hobbies.
I enjoy getting pulled into a world of different characters, diverse situations, humour, adventure, etc.
I also like the intellectual and creative stimulation I get from it.
And it helps me in my own writing.
Oh, yes! I forgot the one with my own writing. I am more aware now that the easiness I have in writing has as main trigger the amount of books I've read and I'm still reading.
Obviously there are many, many things someone needs to do in order to make a go at becoming a successful writer, but perhaps number one on the list is to read as much as they can. That's hailed as essential by practically every writer who is asked for advice.
I love to read, I feel like it calms me. I'm also improving my imagination when I read.
I love to read. I started when I was about 4 years ago and since then it is my favourite way to spend free time. It is really hard to understand why most of people dislike it that much.
I remember the exact moment I started to love reading. I was in 10th grade and I started reading "Agony and Extasy" by Irving Stone. Till this day it's still my favorite book. Until that I considered reading just something that was getting in the way of my freedom. Later on I discovered that it helps me on so many levels and I am always searching for different treasure books :)
Like you, I read because it turns my brain off. I am able to focus reading in a way I can't doing anything else, so it quits doing 500 things at once. Also I have chronic health issues and distraction is the most effective pain killer. If I can lose myself in a book, I stop obsessing about my pain levels and can put it out of my mind as much as I can maintain a comfortable position reading. And I read to learn. I learn stuff even from light fiction in various ways.
Well done! As I read your article I kept thinking... Same here. I can really relate to your story, from the childhood experiences to the brain pause tactic :)
Great post!