What does reading a book mean to you

[Beccles]

Do you read for pleasure, thrills, to be scared, find the killer, learn, become well read, to be in with the crowd ie read the top ten books?

 

I read a lot for thrills or to be scared sometimes to learn sometimes to make me laugh or make me cry. More than anything else due to the vast amount of great literature around you can go to space, ancient Egypt or many of the wars just by reading, that is what really gets me reading

[lexiepiper]

Hmm, to be honest I mainly read just because I enjoy it, I find a comfort in reading and it helps me take my mind off the pain I'm often in, but of course when I am reading I do love trying to guess who the killer is

[NightOwl]

Interesting question. Not sure I can answer it fully, but here goes...

 

I don't believe I read for escapism, as some people tell me they do: I read to be transported to other times and places, to find out how others live or lived, and to find out about so many different things. Reading makes life so much richer, somehow.

 

I also think the physical act of leafing through a book gives so much pleasure. I don't enjoy reading e-books, they're too impersonal, but good quality paper and print is SO satisfying!

[Stephanie2008]

I read because I enjoy it. I much prefer reading books to watching the tv so most of the time I just go to bed, have a bath, or get cosy on the sofa. I don't read to become well read either, I read what I want to read and I don't like being told what to read. I don't mind getting recommendations from places (mainly on here ) but I don't like being told that I don't read the "right" books or should read more classics etc. Ok now I'm waffling

[funrun]

I read to relax ,to get more information ,to switch of the really world and have my mind relaxed;)

[Morbid Hermit]

All of the above! Also, although I like to watch television and films, reading a book tends to be a more intimate experience. One's own imagination is part of the creativity, in a sense. Everyone on this forum could read the same description of a character, yet would also imagine him or her in their own personal way.

[Ben]

I mostly read for the enjoyment and at the same time, learn from what I am reading. The discovery of new authors, and the re-reading of familiar ones, both of which bring an escape from real life and allow me to delve into a world of words. This is where I can go on my own journey into literature..

[kikee]

I seem to get lost in books. I tune out everything around me.

 

I read for pleasure and I love to be scared, but a little romance helps too

[Kell]

For me it's the pure enjoyment of reading and being entertained by books. That's how I can end up rating a book that has great writing as 1/5 (if the story hasn't entertained) and a book that I found wildly entertaining but isn't exactly high literature as much higher. Of course, I love great writing too and the combination of both excellent writing and high entertainment value would equal top marks every time! I have managed to rate books thought of as being total pulp highly simply because I found them such fun to read - LOL!

[BigWords]

Four answers for the price of one - because I'm generous like that.

 

1. Research. I'm constantly trying to find out little bits of "business" for my own stories, so knowing that a certain problem can be handwaved by a piece of information is incredibly useful. There's some areas where I'm probably ten years behind eveyone else, so catching up to current thinking on a technology is important - I've lost count of the number of times I've tried to write something wonderfully clever and stumbled at the implementation of the underpinning physics limitations of what I am writing about. I've got the basics covered, it's the finer points which often slip my grasp.

 

2. Immersion. Sometimes I want to shut the world out and lose myself in a world cut from whole cloth, ignoring the **** I really should be dealing with - even if I know, brain whirring away with a thousand thoughts per second, that I should be getting on with the day-to-day stuff. It isn't too hard to lose time while I'm reading, but doing the same with games or television leaves me checking my watch every five minutes, or chain-smoking. Having my hands full (literally) with a book is one of the few ways I can completely relax.

 

3. The Lists. I have a dozen different things bubbling away at the moment, but one of the main non-work time-suckers is my lists. Even though I joined Listverse to take up that particular slack, I've noticed my list-fix isn't being met by the bitty nature of the lists there. I need lists to be big, and all-encompassing. I'm putting together lists of every book based on computer games, television shows, etc. (and my complete list of every book featuring Sherlock Holmes has stalled, before anyone asks). It's part and parcel of the OCD, so I don't expect I'll ever stop making lists. And there's no point in making the lists if I haven't read the books, so... Yeah.

 

4. Curiousity. Oooh, look, someone has a copy of [insert title here], I wonder if it is any good? Yes, all it takes for me to want a book is to see someone else with a copy. 'Course, this is a Very Bad Thing, because sooner or later I will hit up the internet and happen across a site which has photographs of people bookshelves, and I'll obviously take a peek at the Neil Gaiman bookshelf (again), and see a dozen titles which sound interesting. I spend more money trying to get books other people have just because other people have them than I would if I managed to ignore the urge to find out what they are reading. The last book I bought (Richard Laymon's Friday Night In Beast House) was precisely because a friend had a copy sitting on her dining table. For three days in a row. Tempting me to go out and buy a copy. I swear she did that deliberately to see if I would get my own copy.

[Kell]

The last book I bought (Richard Laymon's Friday Night In Beast House) was precisely because a friend had a copy sitting on her dining table. For three days in a row. Tempting me to go out and buy a copy. I swear she did that deliberately to see if I would get my own copy.

Why didn't you just ask if you could borrow hers?

[BigWords]

Why didn't you just ask if you could borrow hers?

 

The need to own a book is overpowering. I also re-read books two or three times, and bugging people to have a book from them more than once is (apparently) considered bad form. Social conventions ain't exactly high on my list when I need to have a book in my hands immediately.

[BookJumper]

I've been putting off replying to this thread because I was afraid of the stream of words that might deluge you all should I attempt to answer such a question still, here goes (the extremely condensed version):

 

Reading is soothing: it hasn't happened properly in a while because the stuff nagging at the back of my brain is that persistent, but once upon a time a good story was able to swallow all my problems whole. It says a lot for the strength of that soothing power that I keep hunting for it, though these days it takes me forever to get through a book because mere flies going about their business are able to distract my attention onto bleaker things.

 

Reading is inspiring: books help writers in two major ways. First of all and most obviously, they help fine-tune one's vocabulary, style, and voice through the confrontation with another creative mind. Second of all and most important, good writing makes one want to write. There's books I've closed thinking, 'Man, I wanted to write that'; those are the kind of books that get the juices flowing - because after the wantingtowritethat feeling, comes the feeling that actually, no, one still has more to say that has not yet been said by someone else.

 

Reading is taking pleasure in language: a fine phrase, an insightful simile, a beautiful passage can stir me in the way no piece of music (for instance) can. Not many books affect me in such a way, yet though they are few and far between, they are worth the wait and pursuit.

[Vladd]

I just love the whole reading experience. With old books there is that aroma of the pages, holding a book in my hands just feels comfortable. Then we have losing yourself in the story, a good author can draw you in make you forget where you are and ignore whats going on around you. I love finding a good turn of phrase, good word play, trying to guess whats going to happen next. One of my favourite style of books were the Ellery Queen mysteries were towards the end the author stops and say "OK you have all the information I have, who do you think did it?" With Scifi and fantasy I love to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where.. er hang on that sounds familiar. I read to escape, to entertain, to inform, I just love reading.

[Scarlette]

Bookjumper said what I wanted to say, only so much better.

 

Besides that, reading gives me the kind of nourishing entertainment that television, films, video games never, ever will. I love living in a different world - a world of my own making, just as much as the writer's - for a while and getting to meet characters someone else brought into existence. Also, when you read a book, you get a most intimate glimpse of a stranger's thoughts and ideas. I've read quite a few books I had to literally close and put down for a while, because it I felt like I was peeking into someone's private world and seeing things that weren't meant for me. That's the kind of reading experience I'm constantly seeking.

[Anika]

Since I read predominantly biographies and history, reading for me means a chance to go back in time and get aquainted with people from every walk of life. It's a way to understand the daily joys and problems of eras in past centuries. Finding out what were the trivial concerns and the popular fads of everyday people or even the Royalty, for that matter. It's time-travel observation from all angles and perspectives. Breaking down major events to learn what led up to them and how they were dealt with in the aftermath.

Being a writer I feel it's important to read all the time. It helps with improving my own style and learning about the varied styles of the writers I enjoy reading. Also improves vocabulary, sentence structure, character development, descriptive skills and dialogue.

But of course, it's a pleasant past-time for me as well. Ever since I can remember I have loved books and reading. There's just nothing more satisfying than a good story (or series of stories ) and getting involved in the lives of the characters; the tension, laughing at the humorous aspects, crying when it becomes sad. It triggers all the emotions, helps me contemplate different aspects of life, and allows the ultimate gratification of dissapearing out of my own world, even just for a little while. A huge stress reliever at times, and one I employ daily.

[sirinrob]

BookJumper has expressed how I feel beautifully. All I can add is reading alerts me on how not to express myself as well, cliches to avoid, clumsy sentence structure etc

[Univerze]

Oh, this is a tough question. I love reading, the feeling of sitting somewhere with a book, just escaping the world for a while.. I do read for escapism, sometimes I dislike the world around me so much I need to be somewhere else.

But also reading is comfort. Takes me back to those days when I was a kid and a book was a whole new world for me, absorbed me totally, unfortunately I rarely have those reads anymore, always something getting in the way.

 

I love getting to know new places, new people. I often feel I have made new friends when reading a new book, and in real life I can't travel much due to funds and time, so I love getting around in my books... plus since I read fantasy, there's no way I could go to those places in real life.

 

But for me mostly, reading is getting away from it all. Many bad things have happened in my life the last few years.. and books help me with that.

 

Sometimes I do read to learn more, but generally my "fun" books tempt me to read more.

[joe]

I read for escapism, I get totally lost in a book and find myself ;iving the life of the characters within it.

[miltenburg]

It's 'me' time, it helps me to relax, escape and unwind totally for a while.

[Capture]

Great question. I think the reason changes depending on where you are in life. When i was young, reading was more about novelty, fantastic experiences, and taking an adventure with one's imagination but with a wide-eyed bushy tailed sort of zeal. As a student, reading was a necessity, to know and understand the various literatures which reflect and shape our culture and the world. At this point, reading is relaxing. I read because i want to escape and because i like to see the creative worlds writers can pull me in. I can get lost in these worlds and feel fulfilled. And i learn something along the way, but the learning is not the goal, but the indirect result of a good story told. And to echo BookJumper's thoughts, reading is inspiring, spurring creative juices in a unknown direction. That's the ticket.

[Bettyboop33]

I read for a sense of adventure and because books are like a mini world of there own and when we read them we explore them

[Nicola Booth]

Picking up a new book for me is like starting a new adventure.

[Janet]

To be entertained and to learn. And also to experience the wonderful imagery that comes with a book.

 

I know we've discussed this before, elsewhere, but I'm always totally astounded by my brain's ability to make up very detailed pictures when I read.

 

No two houses (for example) have ever looked remotely the same in my head. I picture houses/rooms/locations/people/pets that I've never seen in real life - where these pictures come from I don't know but they always amaze me!

[BookJumper]

I, too, am amazed Janet, not to mention quite jealous - I can't picture anything, not even the words I write so let alone anyone else's. That's why if I don't understand a single word in a book I reach an impasse, I think; for me reading is 100% decoding.

 

Caption makes a good point when he says that 'learning is the indirect result of a good story told' - I've learnt more from fiction than from any other knowledge outlet, and then it was from the fiction I enjoyed as opposed to the preachy, instructive type.