Why do I Read?

If you’re a fellow bookworm I’m sure you’ve met people who don’t read who have asked you why. Out of my friends I’m known as the reader, and a lot of them have mentioned that they just don’t understand why people enjoy reading. Or they ask why don’t I just watch the movie or TV show instead.

The thing is, I really love reading and have done from a young age. As I moved into my teen years I actually started getting told off for sitting in the corner and reading at family events instead of socialising, which is what I was doing as a small child. As a child it always activated my imagination, and helped me learn. Both of which has passed over to my adult as I’m avidly trying to keep a hold of that imagination.

I’m a constant learner. I loved school and I love being able to teach myself new things. The internet is an amazing place, but sometimes it’s so much easier to focus on a really good book. Whether it’s learning from a non-fiction history book or just learning about how hard adult life can be in a contemporary, there’s always a lesson that can be learnt.

Reading also relaxes me and calms me down. After a long day at work staring at yet another screen just isn’t what I want to do (unless of course my blog is calling me to actually work on it!). So I often sit down with a physical book which helps to de-stress me. I’m also a keen kindle reader, and this is fantastic as I can always read before bed (and often fall asleep reading!) without worrying about ruining the book or losing my page.

Plus, to a certain degree, reading can be an escape from my reality, even just for a 20 minute sprint of a read. Some days it’s nice to just leave all of my problems and stresses in one little section of my mind and to focus on the great journey of a heroic adventurer. Plus I can carry my books around, it’s much harder to carry my TV or PS4 around and sometimes phone signal sucks for Netflix. This means I have a handy little stress buster on me at all times for when I have a break.

Are my reasons the same as any of yours? Do you read for any other reasons?