Distributed to Books

If You Don’t Enjoy Reading, You Are Doing It Wrong

Now is the perfect time to become a bookworm

I adore books and the act of reading. So when I signed on to Medium and saw a section called ‘Reading’, I hurried on over and was disappointed by some of the articles I saw there. In particular treating reading as something to be achieved as opposed to enjoyed and techniques to condense the whole reading experience. Articles that show how to read a couple of hundred pages in a few hours are missing the point of reading, especially when it comes to literature. This is obviously a highly subjective matter.

There are obviously exceptions to this

There are plenty of pieces written about how to read a book in a day, speed read or just generally shorten the process. There are also websites and apps that summarize books for you. I am not against them per se. If you need knowledge quickly, I suppose this is a decent option. I understand there are reasons why this might be tempting:

1. The book is poorly written and full of filler with the odd nugget of insight.
2. It is non-fiction and some it can be unimportant or opinions that have nothing to do with the facts you are seeking.
3. If fiction, then it is something you dislike but have to read and have run out of time — for example a school report or to impress someone.
4. Something is too complicated or lexically dense and you just want an overview.
5. It is part of a series and you read the previous one a year or two ago and just need a recap.

So I admit there are times when all you want are the briefest versions of the book. But for all other circumstances, read the book. It is so much better.

Why reading the whole book at a comfortable pace is the ideal

When you read, be it fiction or factual, it is meant to be absorbed that way.

Non-fiction

With non-fiction, the author will have led up to the key points with details, backgrounds, anecdotes, examples and analogies. You understand the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ of the points they are making, or indeed, the ‘what’, ‘when’ or ‘who’ they are trying to explain, in much greater depth than could ever be achieved with just reading the bullet-point conclusions alone. There is a reason why, for example, school classes are structured the way they are and not just a teacher handing out lists of facts and figures.

Fiction

When it comes to fiction, the need for reading at a comfortable speed is even stronger. Stories aren’t just a list of events that happened to the characters. The act of reading is also part of the journey. Consuming the story at the pace it was intended is how tension and excitement arises. The story arcs and their conclusions are made more satisfying if you were there for the whole ride.

There is also the simple enjoyment of a well written phrase, sentence or scene. I have a degree in literature, so may obsess over this sort of thing more than most. But really good writing is a joy in itself and if you summarize it, that is lost. As are most of the allegories, analogies, metaphors and so on.

How to get more into reading and even achieve bookworm status

I have had numerous friends over the years who ‘just aren’t that into reading’. I’ve found it has been possible to change many of their minds and in quite a few cases, turn them into voracious readers.

Why some don’t enjoy it

I am going to generalize a lot here but the following seems to be true in quite few cases. Nearly everyone has the capacity to love reading. The problem frequently begins at a younger age when they are first introduced to the activity. People frequently start reading things they don’t enjoy. This continues and eventually results in books being seen as something you have get through to extract the information.

For some jobs or people, it is still necessary to read but it is a chore. For most working adults, this means non-fiction and for them a summary of the info is fine, even if a lot of the understanding is lost. This is a shame but understandable.

How to become a lover of the written word

I can confidently predict that there is a book and genre of books that you will love.

My parents love to read and instilled that in me from a young age. When I was a child of single digits, I was a big Enid Blyton fan. When I turned 9 or 10, my dad gave me a Conan the Barbarian book and The Hobbit. I was immediately hooked on Fantasy. Six months later, he gave me The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and The Stainless Steel Rat. I was then a huge science fiction fan. At 12, I started to read James Bond and Wilbur Smith. At 14, I got into Historical Fiction thanks to Bernard Cornwell. That got me into History. And so on.

Of my friends who grew up hating reading, it was generally because up until that point, they hadn’t read what they enjoyed. Reading should be a joy and yet the idea of curling up on the couch to read a good book was anathema to them. With friends, you can guess what they would like and it is often similar to TV or movie tastes.

A couple of examples: I gave one action-loving friend a Wilbur Smith and a Clive Cussler and to a more philosophical and artistic friend, I gave Philip K. Dick and J.G. Ballard. Both were surprised at how much they liked them. Reading for pleasure wasn’t something they had ever really done. After that, myself and other friends gradually expanded their reading repertoire with other suggestions. As they read more, they found more that they liked.

I guess this is fairly obvious, yet it is surprising how often you will come across someone who isn’t really into reading and after a bit of prodding find that they just occasionally read a bit of non-fiction but that’s all. Even then, it is not the reading they enjoy, it’s about getting the bare facts. Reading has become fixed in their psyche as a chore and that can be hard to budge.

They just haven’t read the right books. Think about your go-to genre on Netflix and then do the same at the bookstore. Look at the bestsellers. Look up the ‘must reads’ from that genre.

The more you read, the more you enjoy it and as your interests diversify, you may even find yourself enjoying things you previously found dull. In these current times, where everyone is increasingly staying inside yet has access to millions of books, it is a hobby that is not only educational, it is a lot of fun.