#2 The Joy of Reading
Ever since I was a little kid, one of my favourite things to do was read. I love reading, immersing myself into new worlds, meeting new characters, and going on exciting adventures — ah there might not be anything I enjoy more. I might not always spend my free time with my nose in a book, be up-to-date on all the newest releases or upcoming bestsellers, or participate in online discussions on why this book is better than that one, but that is not the definition of reading. Reading is a very individual hobby. Even if you meet up with a friend for a reading date, you most likely are both reading your own individual book at your own individual pace. Reading requires no proof and no expertise and no matter what you are reading, you are allowed to enjoy it.
Now, this statement does juxtapose my blog, since I will be writing about what I have read and want to read in here. But I am not doing this because I want to prove to the world that I love to read. Rather, I would like to use my blog to capture my impressions and thoughts on certain books or topics and also share any books, that I believe to be worth anyone’s time. So, please keep in mind, that as this is my blog, all opinions and critique are my own. You may have other opinions or arguments which you can gladly share in the comments if you feel compelled to do so.
Why do I like to read?
Well, first off, I am a visual thinker. While reading I imagine everything that is being described in my head very vividly and detailed, so that reading a book turns into an long movie — and once I start I really don’t want to stop. Because of my vivid imagination, it is easy for me to fully immerse myself into whatever world or character I am reading about, making it an emotional phenomenon. I often cry while reading, sometimes out of happiness, often out of sadness, and on the rare occasion due to anger towards the abominable actions of some lunatic character. Despite this, I deem it to be a relaxing hobby. I can temporarily transport myself out of my daily life into whatever kind of character and world I would like. On top of all the fun stuff, there are often little life lessons I learn while reading. Like when a character changes over the course of a story, in a way that I might want to change, as well. For example: becoming more independent or more confident or learning to let go of past difficulties to focus on the road ahead.
One of my favourite book series (I have several)
The Graceling Realm series by Kristin Cashore: Graceling, Fire, Bitterblue, Winterkeep, and Seasparrow. A friend introduced me to Graceling when I was in high school and to this day I adore this series with its interesting magic system and independent main characters.
Why do some people not like to read?
Well, this is a big question which I cannot answer for each and every person. What I can offer are some assumptions, based on my own observations:
Visual thinkers and non-visual thinkers: I believe, that depending on how you think, you might be inclined to like certain genres more than others. For me, I love fantasy and sci-fi books that have a compelling story and interesting characters. It is easy for me to read these kinds of books. But once you put a more theoretical text in front of me, such as a thesis or even a self-help book, I am done for. It is difficult for me to get started and get invested, even if it is an interesting topic, because I can’t imagine what the words are describing. It takes more effort to understand the words I am reading. My partner, on the other hand, loves self-help books and has no trouble reading them whatsoever — perhaps because he is not a visual thinker.
It’s just not your thing: we all have hobbies we like and don’t like. I like quiet, calm, and relaxing hobbies (I like to call them grandma-hobbies) whereas my partner prefers more active hobbies like biking, hiking, climbing, and swimming. Sitting down and reading for four hours with only maybe a bathroom break is not his thing, just like going for a three hour bike ride is not mine. And that is perfectly alright. He does like to read on occasion and does so in shorter time periods than me, but it is not his go-to-hobby.
If you align with my partners personality, but still want to take up reading as a hobby or do it more often, you do not have to torture your way through long reading sessions — there are alternatives!
Let’s say you often have to commute for long hours in your car, or you have to often be hands-on in certain brainless tasks (like cleaning) but still want to “read” The Lord of the Rings and just can’t find enough downtime: download it as an audio book to listen to while you use your hands and eyes for other tasks.
Now, if you have already read the first book of a trilogy years ago and you want to continue with the second book, but can’t quite remember how the first book ended, you can also look up summaries online. YouTube generally has a video for anything you are looking for. Otherwise fan-sites (like The One Wiki to Rule Them All) often have summaries and lore built like Wikipedia pages to look through.
If you are like me, and you just can’t think about reading without having the book (or E-Book) in your hands, maybe plan out ten to fifteen minutes a day to read. You can also decide to read just a chapter a day. I generally have at least 20 minutes in a day that I spend on social media; I can easily use some of that time to do some reading instead.
I hope some of these suggestions resonate with you, maybe you can use them if you are interested in reading more or taking up reading as a hobby. I’d love to hear your suggestions for exploring books and stories or how to make time for reading during your every-day-life.