Why Do We Read?
This is a question I always seem to wonder at some point every school year when I run into students who only read for school…if even that. Books seem to be these drab, boring things to be avoided at all costs rather than the magical tomes they really are. Want to escape into another world? Read a book. Want to figure out how to do something. Again read a book. Want to contemplate the meaning of the Universe (spoiler: the answer is 42)? Read a book. Every possible topic under the sun can be found in books. They encapsulate the thoughts of people who lived hundreds and sometimes thousands of years in the past. They create far off imaginary worlds. They tell the highlights of someone’s life (before the invention of Social Media highlight reels). They also used to convey wealth as only the elite were able to afford them at one time. They were the ultimate status symbols before the invention of the printing press. So why write a blog on reading? Well I’ve always wanted to write a blog (even long before I read the book Julie and Julia and yes the BOOK not the movie even though the movie is good and Meryl Streep AND Stanley Tucci are in it; the book contained an element that the movie just lacked), and I’ve always kept my reading life private. The thing about readers is the minute they find out that you also are a reader all they want to do is talk about their favorite author (which I have a tendency not to have because it’s too confining), their favorite series (again why pick just one), or they only read one specific genre of book which usually leaves me smiling and nodding along while listening to their enthusiasm, and saying I’ll think about reading what they were discussing (and sometimes do and sometimes not). So this is my chance to talk about books in the way I usually am afraid to because well I don’t read the way most people seem to read. For one I rarely only read one book at a time (too limiting) and for the other I don’t just stick with one genre. So each post isn’t going to be focused on book recommendations (of which there will be a plethora and eventually I’ll include affiliate links when I can figure out how to do that so I can potentially generate income if people seem to like this and if not I’m planning on doing this for all of 2025 with a weekly post and we will see what happens. I just want to and that’s good enough for me). All I know is I want to talk about books the way I like to talk about them. Basically I treat each book as a conversation that I am having with the author. Why did they write this book? What are they trying to convey? How does it make me feel? Because I don’t just read things I’ll enjoy, I also read to challenge my world view. This means sometimes a book will completely gut me and leave me sobbing. And sometimes it’s expected and other times it’s completely out of the blue (I still remember reading the end of the 3rd book in the Hunger Games trilogy and wailing for several minutes, and I hated the first book in the trilogy I almost threw it at the wall). It also sometimes means I change my thinking about a topic. Or sometimes I’ll reread a book and go from hating it to loving it (Ethan Frome being the book that so solidly did this to me and pisses me off to this day). And in case this isn’t convincing enough. Science says reading improves our sleep. It makes us better conversationalists (which a lot of people out there need help with, no offense). It also is an act of rebellion in a world that’s constantly trying to steal our attention. Reading lets us slow down and contemplate. It’s where magic happens. It’s also a stress reliever and guess what you don’t have to read for more than 20 minutes a day to gain the benefit so maybe make a commitment to read 20 mins a day (I usually try to do way more then this but at least as a minimum). Those are just the obvious benefits. Because this is the first post and because I am very new to the idea of blogging the form it will take will likely become apparent after a few posts but my intention is to talk about the things that reading is making me think about so there might be mentions of books I’m currently reading and there might be mentions of books I need to reread (like Albert Camus’ The Stranger) as well as books I’m still thinking about and referencing decades later. And of course the books I think everyone on the planet should read at least once in their lifetime (more on that later). Reading is not a linear process to me. It’s something that stays with me and lingers and surprises me at odd times. And also when you read books (like what your current age is or what you are experiencing in your life matters which means you NEED to read Catcher in the Rye as a teenager in order for Holden to not come across as so whiny) is important. So hopefully in my way I’ve given a clear outline of what kind of reading blog this is going to be. Oh and ebooks and audiobooks count and will talk about that later.
Top 3 Books that Have My Attention:
An Emancipation of the Mind: Radical Philosophy, the War over Slavery and the Refounding of America by Matthew Stewart (have been coming back to this over the last 3+ months and each section is more amazing than the last)
Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood (have read others by this author and enjoyed this one)
The Rural Diaries by Hilarie Burton (which I finished quickly)
There’s more, but I’ve been dabbling with them. Will try to keep the list short and relevant to what I’ve read this week or what’s grabbed my attention.
So welcome to the blog and welcome to the New Year. To start off I’ll post every Wednesday before the end of the day (so time may vary in the beginning) so hopefully you’ll continue to join me on the journey and maybe you’ll start a reading journey of your own.
Happy Reading!
