Why do we read so much?

[Colin Jacobs]

I began reading cos I was good at it and no good at any other subjects in school. I would read to the other children in my class and help those as I do now to read. Then I became a victim of school bullies cos I spent all my time in the school library reading anything from encyclopedias to Shakespeare to Dr Who. I found books was a solitary pursuit I could take any where when I was a child. In adult hood I read to escape and because of my MS and IBs I often spend a lot of time resting so read alot now.

 

Some folks say that reading is a waste of time but I learn from newspapers and the Readers digest magazines and enjoy escaping to another world

 

why do you read books?

[checkoe]

Hi Colin,

 

A bit like you I was good at reading as a child at school & also enjoyed creative writing. I was lured into the other worlds that existed inside the pages!! I think escapism was part of it & still is. I love to throw off my worldly worries & be transported elsewhere.

 

Heather

[Colin Jacobs]

I agree I turned my skills around and have written short stories but mainly write factual natural history articles and will read anything I always keep a readers digest with me if caught in a queue etc.

 

I must have a pint of milk and a big choccy bar with me too and prefer to read in bed but my belly plays up with this mixture of food and drink but reading takes some of the pain away

[Mia]

For me, it is definitely escapism, as I read a lot of fantasy and never read non-fiction. I learned to read at a very early age, was good at it and always enjoyed reading. I think my mum passed on her love of reading to me - thanks Mum!

 

Some folks say that reading is a waste of time

 

Only idiotic people.

[Colin Jacobs]

The best present my mum got me was a library membership. then I met this wonderful librarian who let me chose books from the adult library. they both helped me learn to read better and chose for me some great books, The librarian introduced me to both Shakespere and Dickens and I enjoy both today. my nephew is like me and is an eclectic reader like me.

 

he loves the times book section too he is only 12

[checkoe]

Hi,

 

Good on your Mum Mia. I remember curling up on my Dad's lap reading Uncommon Law with my Dad... he was also never without a book & read the National Geographic every month... so I guess I kind of inherited it too. I don't much like non-fiction either. I do love learning though so my ideal is a book that is fictional to some extent but based around real events. That way I can learn factually but in a way that is more palatable to me. Lots of good examples ... recently finished Half of a Yellow Sun which was set around the Biafra war in Nigeria. I felt I learned a lot but it didn't give me brain ache!!

 

Colin.. my favourite place to read has always been the bathroom with a big mug of tea!! Run the bath so slowly it almost drips!! I get up early in the morning to give me that time! As a child I used to volunteer to run a bath for everyone else in the family just so I could hide away with my books!!

 

Heather

[Colin Jacobs]

Due to my illness and insomnia by best time is during the long nights with rain drummimg on the window, my favourite season is winter with a good Henry James ghost story. I do not have a bath but when I go into the oxygen capsule I read then. showers makes the books too wet to read

[checkoe]

Hi Colin

 

Sorry you are having such a difficult time with your health. Thanks goodness for books. They keep us going even when life is throwing it's worst at us.

 

Heather

[Angel]

I've read since I was a tiny child following in mother's and grandmother's footsteps, so I guess it's in my genes (and has been passed onto Tiger). Very often I would be begging for a new book by Enid Blyton instead of a bag of sweets!!

 

For me it's escapism and pure relaxation. I have a very stressful and demanding job and I find that a read helps to unwind and I'm sure it makes me a nicer person. If I don't get a read in each day then the family tend to notice!!!

 

Reading helps me to understand people. relationships, the world and history. It is, apart from sewing, my indulgence (I'm not a woman who needs loads of shoes handbags, makeup etc).

[happyanddandy]

It is an interesting question and I have been thinking about this a bit over the last week or so having watched a programme recently about some adults learning to read and listening to their stories of bluff and struggle. I have always read and I tend to assume other people do as well and I am always amazed when I discover people who never read like Victoria Beckham. How do they live their lives without a good book? Also I found out that some cultures tend not to read fiction. I had a long an interesting discussion with a Ghanaian colleague who informed me that the norm in his country was for adults to read non fiction in order to learn, and it is unusual to find a book store that sells fiction.

So why do I read? For escapism and pleasure I think. Maybe nosiness about other people's lives and what is possible in this life.

[Ruth]

I have always been a bookworm, right from when I was a child. My parents both love to read, and so do both of my brothers, so I guess it was inevitable that I would too. I don't know why I still love to read so much - for me, it is the best way to de-stress after a rough day at work, or to relax when I'm at home.

[Talisman]

Perhaps I will try selling my book in Ghana then - ha ha

 

Seriously though, I read for a number of different reasons. As a non fiction writer, I read an awful lot of other non fiction books, looking for ideas for my own writing, for research purposes to check my own facts, and also as others have said, because it helps me to learn. I am not talking cook books and gardening books here, which is what a lot of poeple think non fiction is, but about different aspects of history, religion and science, in particular what some would call forbidden archaeology or alternative history, these are the two subjects that fascinate me the most, since there is so much of our history that we do not know about. I also read a lot about human origins and our evolution, and actually studied this subject for a year via Birkbeck College. It is important after all to look at all the angles and explore differing points of view.

 

I also have a sizeable collection of spiritual books, some of which I dip into time and time again, the Conversations of God books and the works of Eckhart Tolle probably being my favourites. I have learnt a lot about myself through such books, and have been pleased to discover that I am not alone in problems and insecurites. This has been a great comfort at times. Lately I have had several 'dark nights of the soul' on which to ponder such things.

 

I do read fiction as well, although not as much. I find that I particualrly enjoy novels about different places and cultures (The Kite Runner, The Shadow of the Wind etc). I enjoy getting to know the different characters and thinking about their motivations, and sometimes comparing them to people I have met in real life.

 

Reading for me though fulfills several needs - yes the need for escapism, but most of all for learning and experiencing about different aspects of life and for finding out more about myself and where I fit into this wonderful thing we call life.

[Guest Tiresias]

Unlike most of you, I did not real at all when I was a child. In my teens I began to read a little poetry, but did not pick up my first novel until I was 19. That novel was A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. It was quite an experience, like suddenly discovering another dimension to my world; seeing spheres for the first after a lifetime of circles.

 

Though I am aware of the power of good books to ameliorate the mind intellectually and morally, I don't have any grand reason for reading. I don't care for symbolism or allegory or Big Ideas. I read because I enjoy being told stories.

[Kell]

A love of books was instilled in me from day one. My Mam is a big bookworm ad read to me every day from me being born. I was able to read before I went to school and got very frustrated when the teachers kept giving me "Peter and Jane" type books, because I was already way past them (it was estimated that at age 4 I had a reading ability age of an 8-y-o!)*. By the time I got to middle school (aged 9-almost-10), they had to bring in books from the local high school to keep me going. We then moved to Scotland and because of my age I was put into Primary 7 (I was 11-y-o). By that time, I was reading books that were being studied for A Levels/Highers.

 

I guess I just kept on reading - there was always something interesting to move onto next and I can't remember a time wen I didn't love turning the pages of a book and disappearing into an adventure!

 

* When I was in Class 4 (I'd be about 7-y-o) I decided I was going to re-write Frankenstein by Mary Shelley so that other kids could understand it. I spent weeks and weeks re-writing that story and filling a school jotter! That just shows the kind of stuf I was reading at an absurdly early age - yet I was encouraged all the way by both family and teachers alike!

[Nellie]

I have also read since I was a small child, which thinking about it now is odd as none of my family read at all. I wonder how I was introduced to a love of books??

 

I read now to escape and de-stress. I also have MS and find reading very threaputic, because, just for a while I can escape into a good story and forget random bits of me don't work properly!

[Tiger]

I got my reading habits from Angel

[supergran71]

I have always read right from a young child. I was an only child, so I think this was one reason why I got into books. I remember being given books at Christmas and also belonged to the public library. My dad was an avid reader and used to take me with him to the library. I dont really remember being read to but I am sure my dad would have done.

[Colin Jacobs]

Peter and Jane books were boring but I remember small blue hardback books for "Older children" which I read at the age of 6 (these were 9to11 age books) I read alot of historical novels at a young age and was often "Not allowed" to have them from the school library cos "They were too hard" they said.

 

Now I read not only because of my illness but to relieve boredom on long journies or as many have said to escape from normal stresses of life. and of course because I enjoy it.

[Ruth]

A love of books was instilled in me from day one. My Mam is a big bookworm ad read to me every day from me being born. I was able to read before I went to school and got very frustrated when the teachers kept giving me "Peter and Jane" type books, because I was already way past them (it was estimated that at age 4 I had a reading ability age of an 8-y-o!)*. By the time I got to middle school (aged 9-almost-10), they had to bring in books from the local high school to keep me going. We then moved to Scotland and because of my age I was put into Primary 7 (I was 11-y-o). By that time, I was reading books that were being studied for A Levels/Highers.

 

I guess I just kept on reading - there was always something interesting to move onto next and I can't remember a time wen I didn't love turning the pages of a book and disappearing into an adventure!

 

* When I was in Class 4 (I'd be about 7-y-o) I decided I was going to re-write Frankenstein by Mary Shelley so that other kids could understand it. I spent weeks and weeks re-writing that story and filling a school jotter! That just shows the kind of stuf I was reading at an absurdly early age - yet I was encouraged all the way by both family and teachers alike!

 

I could read before I went to school as well. My dad taught me (and my brothers), and my mom would buy me a new book every week. My claimed that I was reading from memory, rather than ability - not sure how she came up with that idea. My mom and dad disagreed with her, and later on the teacher did actually apologise and admit she was wrong.

 

My parents never tried to make me read - they just encouraged me, and it's something I have always loved to do. Lucky really, as at the secondary school I went to, the teachers - all bar a couple - were not interested in encouraging us to read.

[madcow]

I remember chosing a book (The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe) instead of having fireworks when I was 7 and I've been an avid reader since. No matter where I have lived I have always been a member of a library as have my children although Kat (Lilywhite) seems to be the only one who still reads.

[Loopyloo100]

I too was reading well before starting school. I was very sad not to have a library close by though and had to make do with re-reading books many times as I never quite knew when I was going to see a new book.

[Colin Jacobs]

On a book buying mission I often come back with 20 or so It is great feeling when you get home to browse through your finds and decide in what order you are going to read them. I was surprised to see on this thread someone who did not start reading until they were 19 Oh what a shame I do hope you are catching up now. my favorite children's books were Enid Blyton especially her Short stories. The one about the little boy who had his fishing rod broken really hit a nerve with me as I was called the "Quiet Little Boy" by childhood bullies. but by reading as I said before I was safe and could have my own adventures without fear of anyone getting in the way.

[Loopyloo100]

The one about the little boy who had his fishing rod broken really hit a nerve with me as I was called the "Quiet Little Boy" by childhood bullies.

 

Was that story in Stories for you?

I seem to remember it. I was a great Enid Blyton fan and still love the thought of Moonface and Saucepanman.

[Colin Jacobs]

Yes that is the one I still have my copy. of course The Enchanted wood trilogy was good. my favorite was when the cousin came to stay. In the reprint the names Dick and Fanny are removed and they are given more politically correct names, was not Enid Blyton pc'd in all re prints?

[Loopyloo100]

I've no idea what's happened in the updated versions as all the Enid Blyton copies I still have are all from the early 70's. I still have Stories For You too- Just got it off the book shelf - it's a 1966 copy. I thought Brer Rabbit was great too!