I have been an avid reader in the past. I started I childhood and it carried through to my teens and most of my twenties. Early in my career, I had a long commute so would read 10-15 books a week. I read so many books that I read almost anything so I could keep having new books to read.
Books aren’t necessarily better than films and TV. In general, they can go deeper than TV or films can and allow you to build a world. Sometimes with a film, you can’t get crucial detail in and it makes a lot of things confusing. For example with Harry Potter, the first 3 Harry Potter films follow the books quite closely. However, by book 4 the book is so big and has so much detail that a lot of context is missed in the film. So for me, the book versions of 4, 5, 6 and 7 are a lot better than the film versions. Watching the HP films from Goblet of Fire onwards leaves massive chunks were you’re wondering what is going on and why they are doing it. You can get very good adaptions of the book and Shutter Island was one of those for me. Sometimes though I don’t want to delve into all the lore, so sometimes a film is better. I’m not really interested in fantasy so the world building in Lord of the Rings doesn’t hold my attention. I can’t finish the books but I can watch the films. Books aren’t always better and I think it largely depends on the adaption and the interest of the person.
I’ve fallen out of love with reading a bit at the minute. I read a lot for my job. I try books every so often but nothing really grabs my attention and I rarely finish a book now. If I’m honest, it’s been a few years since I’ve even made it past chapter 3. If I do read, I tend to gravitate towards, what many readers turn their noses up at, chick lit and fluff.
You can’t force reading as a hobby. If you find a book you love, you will not put it down. It’ll be all you can think about. You’ll see things like washing up, sleeping and working as pointless endeavours that are stopping you from finishing your book. You’ll feel a mix of emotions when you finish and you’ll feel them all at once. You’ll feel bereft because you can’t read it again for the first time and that it is no longer in your life. You’ll feed sad/happy depending on the outcome of the book. You may want to reread the book immediately to see clues and hints of the ending you’ve missed throughout. You can’t force it flooding your brain and if you try to, you won’t get that same rush of emotions, you’ll just feel relieved that you’ve got to the end of the book.
There is a snobbery around reading and anyone pretending otherwise is probably driving that snobbery. My husband games (I’ve dipped in and out of gaming as a hobby) and he reads. People (especially posters on here) like to call him a man child for gaming but a man that reads is intelligent. Getting lost in a good book is a worthy excuse not to have done the washing up but getting lost in a game is just pathetic. The reactions you get are very different. Reading can be just as time consuming as any other hobby, I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve stayed up until 2-3am because my book was so good. If I’d have stayed up to 3am binge watching a show or gaming it would be irresponsible.
There’s also a snobbery within reading that people who read horror or chick-lit aren’t reading anything worthy. People sometimes don’t want to admit what they are reading but why does it matter because we all have different interests.
Don’t force it. There are other ways to keep your brain active, there are other hobbies and interests. Life is too short (and there are too many shit books) to force yourself to read when you just aren’t interested.