Why do you read books?

Me too. I can't imagine not reading - even when I haven't got a book in my hand, I read packaging labels, signs, ads, I'm just constantly reading.

I’m deaf, so as a child, I felt very isolated. I couldn’t enjoy movies or tv shows properly. I couldn’t join in with my fitness properly as I missed most of the conversation. Reading is the one thing I could do.

I still really enjoy it now

I sometimes wonder if it's a genetic predisposition. As we've got librarians on one's side and both me and my cousins are avid readers. Although most people I know who read a lot tend to have a book collection problem as well 🤣🤣

I'm in my 70s and have loved reading .Library opposite primary school and can remember going and being desperate to take out more than the 3 allowed so pulling books forward on the shelf and hiding a volume in the gap at the back .
Used to walk along the road reading .

English degree at University killed off my love for a few years - all that pulling apart and criticising !

During stressful years caring for mother I would stand at the sink (in her place) and look forward to reading that night .I could literally feel my blood pressure drop .

Sadly I find it virtually impossible to read during the day unless I'm captive travelling ,waiting or unwell. I only read in bed at night which is impossible now as I fall asleep .
What a fool I am

I've had an interest in books since I was a kid. I prefer them to TV sometimes. If I'm enjoying the book it engages my mind and stops me going over real life worries. It also helps me relax before bed. My mum hasn't read a book since she was at school and says she hasn't got the patience for it and to her it's just looking at words on a page. She doesn't understand what pleasure others get from books. I think that's a shame as it can be very enjoyable if it's a good book.

I can still vividly remember my father taking us to the library every week and the pure joy of being allowed to check out anything I wanted. Being free to explore every book and knowing I'd get to snuggle up with a parent to read the books later.

The sound of the library stamp is one of my favourite memories!

I've misplaced my Kindle so I'm back on books atm. The dentist commented on how unusual it was seeing someone reading in the waiting room these days.

When life is hard, reading offers a rest from all the stress.

When I cant read, I listen to audio books.

DH thinks my dependency on my kindle is almost problematic.
It comes everywhere with me. I read at any opportunity throughout the day, read as I walk back from the bus stop etc.

It's escapism for me. If I'm lost in someone else's problems, I don't need to think about my own.

I've been reading since I was 3. Love escaping into worlds very different to my own, as well as about people similar to me.

I really dislike any kind of sci-fi so LOTR and similar, are out for me.

Read a lot as a kid via a mobile library, then didn't live near a library and couldn't afford books.

During the pandemic I discovered library books online and can now afford to buy too. I have to get into a book and then love it and that makes me want to read another but if I read one I can't get into or can't find something I want to read I can happily leave it for a bit, but might then find I fancy getting into it again usually because it is winter or I have some time off.

Books are my escape. Always been a reader, sadly my teens are not, despite me trying to force them to read! I never not have a book on the go. I need to read to fall asleep and relax.

@Namechangeallchange I'm also a librarian so books are my job too 😂

I slot it into the day. So maybe ten minutes before I get up. Sometimes during meals if I'm eating alone or others are watching tv. I'll grab odd five min breaks in day say while tea is cooking but nothing needs doing. I read in the bath and probably a couple of evenings a week I read for a couple hours before bed. I'd say I probably spend about 10 hours a week reading but I'm quite a fast reader so that's about 2 books for me. I also record them on good reads so I know what I've read as I sometimes forget!

I've been a reader since I was a child. I lost the habit when my children were tiny, but got back into it when my youngest turned 3yo. Come and join us on the 50 book thread, OP!

Another childhood library goer. I read to de-stress. For escapism, entertainment, a little packaged happiness when my own life isn't all roses. 😊 It's the best

Because it is like breathing to me.

Pre baby I used to average about 5-6 books a week. I’d read on the bus, lunch breaks, when I got home, on the loo! 😂 The tv was just a prop in the living room.

I could read before I started school and was a proper book worm as a child, teachers would let me read ahead and tell me what page to go to when we had to do outloud reading. My nan and I would swap books.
Having a kindle meant I stopped breaking my back always carrying 2 books in case I finished the 1st one. It also opened up loads of free books too.

Now it’s about a book a week but still love getting lost in a story.

I have loved reading since very early childhood and found it a wonderful place of escapism, especially in my teens when I was bullied at school. I have been studying a work related (and deeply uninteresting) post grad course for the last 2 years and lost my love of reading for pleasure due to having to focus solidly on text books. Now I’ve finished the course I’m slowly getting back into reading for pleasure again. There truly is nothing nicer than a coffee/tea/wine, a comfy chair and a good book.

This is exactly how I feel, being in so many places, worlds, being lost in a book is magic.

Hoping to escape*. If it's a cathartic experience that's a bonus.

*not that I have a bad life or anything though

Reading to me is as essential as breathing ,i read every single day last thing at night and if i wake early i read then too.
I have been a bookworm since about age 5 , the thought of an unread book waiting to be read excites me ,all that potential .
Nothing beats an actual book but i also love my kindle , it gives me such a thrill to find a book i planned to buy for 99p on there and so many classics many free.
There are genres i would never read no1 being chick lit and i cannot stand anything badly written , i can easily abandon a book for that reason or if i have no empathy for the characters.
If you have a good book on the go you will never be bored.

I read for the escapism, a lot of fantasy and sci-fi, so tend to avoid normal fiction, although I like crime, but then there's usually a satisfactory ending. Also read to learn and understand new stuff. Although just finished the Terry Pratchett biography and the ending is heart breaking (possibly not if you're not a fan, but Rob Wilkins writes so well about the loss of someone they love that I'd challenge you not to be moved).