To think reading is overrated. Persuade me to become a reader pls

[Croissantsfordinner]

Something I would never admit IRL. I just never saw the point of reading if not for a bit of entertainment, which is nice, but why is it so much better than watching a film o listening to an audio story?

The detail that a film just can’t capture, the storylines you’ll never know about because they are cut out of the film, the ability to lose yourself for hours/ days not just a couple of hours

Snobs?

It is not overrated. Its okay to not like it, but it doesn't make it less amazing.

For a 'reader', reading is not only about the story - it's about the words the author chooses, the scenes they create using words and connecting with that. I like to read slowly to appreciate and absorb the nuances of language.

It's not necessarily 'better' than other forms of entertainment, it's about what you engage with. Film enthusiasts will notice and appreciate strategies film directors and production teams employ like camera angles, scenery or location, colours, costumes etc. It's just as much of an art form, but visual.

I’ve always loved reading since I was a child and I always have a book on the go. If you don’t like reading then don’t?

I love reading the longer the book the better. I am picky I don't like romance, but as long as it is well written most other genre.
A book firstly last longer and goes into more detail, also find that you can often learn new things whilst enjoying the plot.
Reading you don't have to like an actor or worry about how they have been cast, it is left to your imagination.
I have always been an avid reader, but do watch TV and films.
My youngest son 21 doesn't read anymore as he says he no longer has the concentration due to films and scrolling on his phone more immediate gratification.
I am definitely NOT a snob, very ordinary everyday , bogstandard Mum.

I read a lot for work, so the last thing I want to do to unwind is read more. I love audiobooks and have listened to 12 books already this year. I roll my eyes at anyone who gets sniffy about audiobooks.

I adore reading. It is my escape into whatever magical place I choose.

I do almost exclusively read romance, but there's SO many genres. Fantasy, high fantasy, western, contemporary, kinky, dystopian, alien etc.

Romance novels and even smut isn't what it used to be. The quality and world building is often exquisite.

I can't read non fiction or genres I find boring, but that is why I encourage people to try loads of different things and one will capture you.

You never, ever forget the first novel that makes your heart race, the one that absorbs you so completely you don't even see the words you are reading, just the images describes in your mind.
The ones that makes you cry when it's over and then you spend ages chasing the high until another one captures you and tickles the itch.

Reading is a precious gift, you just need to find the key to unlock your love for it.

I love reading. I find it very absorbing and it always gives you something interesting to talk about. I've just read Fourth Wing a fantasy/romance. A bit like Hsrry Potter but more dragons. Try it out :)

I've loved reading since I was a child.

I'm now 31 and it's my way of shutting the door on daily stresses for example bills, constant dreary headlines on the news, COL crisis etc.

It's always been a great release for my anxiety, I get lost in a book, I also love a good series on TV but there is something about reading that makes me relax.

I now read on a kindle as I can read in bed without the light on so DH isn't disturbed. I love psychological thrillers, the twists and turns etc.

I have got to be in the mood for reading. Used to read loads as a kid. Then GCSE English killed it off - Lord (aka Bored) of the Flies. Thank you William Golding. You can tell that my love for fiction dive-bombed as got D in English Literature!

99% of books on my Kindle are non fiction. Biographies, History and Real Crime books. Think I paid £2 at most for a Kindle book.

I love reading. I cannot imagine life without a good book on the go. I’ve been a passionate reader since I was 8 and able to read chapter books. My dad died at 89 and he was an avid reader.
My mum wasn’t and neither is my DH.
Some people don’t read and that’s fine.

I'm an avid reader. I read books on Kindle, in physical formats and on audio. I like nothing more than a good book and I've been like it since I was about 6, when reading fell into place for me - I remember standing near my teacher reading aloud to her and realising I'd got it. I've got a few academic credentials backing up the tons of narrative I've consumed in one form or another, but if I had to single out a favourite genre, it would be crime fiction. This can be very high-minded (eg, Bleak House, The Secret History ) but it also encompasses gleefully low-brow penny dreadfuls, full of 'orrible murders. Having a literature degree or two doesn't oblige you to only imbibe highbrow fare and many keen readers stress the pleasure to be had from a mixed diet of classics, literary fiction, romance, crime, spy, psychological thriller, historical, Westerns, science fiction, fantasy. . .another thing to be aware of is when people insist that reading improves your character and makes you a better person. Apart from the fact that a great many of the nastiest people on earth are and were big readers, many of us aren't at our best when someone interrupts our reading - especially when it's really good. Some years ago, I discovered Carlos Ruiz Zafon's Shadow of the Wind and turned into a hungover wolverine when anything or anyone tried to get between me and it. Writers (mostly) want to entertain us rather than improve our characters, so I wouldn't take assertions of moral improvement through the written word too seriously.

I wouldn't want to suggest that any form of activity was better than others, but there is one caveat: our increasing screen time and the mountain of evidence warning us about it. But reading isn't the only way get us to put our phones down; if you preferred, you could garden, bake bread, coach five-a-side, play chess, or buy every puzzle book you could find and spend your free time having fun with word searches. They all offer your mental and physical health benefits that doomscrolling won't.

I’m an author, blogger and used to work in book shops. If you’re not into reading don’t worry about it. Also audiobooks are books- you are getting the same story as a paperback or ebook.

Same here

I saw a sign once that said reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body - l like that idea

I read, listen to audiobooks and watch films.

Audiobooks are for driving, when I find music a distraction. Many of my audiobooks are ones I have in print too. One thing I find about audio is that because I cannot skim or miss a bit as happens in all reading, I pick up on words, phrase and language use in a way I don't always with a book - I hear new things in a familiar text. The reader becomes important too; a poor reader will have the audiobook sent straight back.

With an actual book it's easier to go back and find a part to re-read, or stick post-it note in.

On re-reading book I find that the world it creates is exactly the one I made in my head when I first read it even years ago.

The effect of being immersed in another world holds for me whether audiobook or hard copy. It's whether the format suits you - I don't like electronic books, just not for me.

I'm completely baffled by the idea that's been put forward by some posters here that films wash over the passive viewer. Where do people think all that media studies malarkey comes from? - paying attention to what you see and hear, seeing how the film's meanings are made.
For me, paying that kind of attention is the enjoyment, not one I can turn off or on.

Love that series. Just read the 3rd book!

Films leave out so much compared to the book. I've only seen two films that I thought were better than the book, and that's because in both cases I hated the book endings and the films changed them.

Especially very psychological books where a lot of the action takes place in the main character's head. Just can't portray that in a film like a book.

Audio books are not worse than reading imo. Good for listening to when driving etc.

It's OK to prefer films though.

Actually the difference between a book in your mind and a movie is some one else’s vision of the book. If the book is great, you most likely won’t want to stop reading it. But the vision is yours, not someone else’s.

Finding good books to read when you’re depressed can lift you over a bad spot bc you can just forget and get lost in the book. It’s hard to explain

I love reading. Fiction, non-fiction whatever.

I also love films and TV.

The key - for me - is to sort the good from the bad. (Which is why I don’t watch a lot of telly now: it’s mostly shite.)

The world has billions of people who can’t read - not don’t want to, can’t. I’d guess virtually all of them would love the chance to learn to read. I don’t think I’m a speck better than any of them.

Years ago I found i couldn't read like i used to - j had a very cerebral job, very high pressure etc. I became a voracious reader of fairly shitty urban fantasy - werewolves and vampires etc! I just didn't have it in me to read anything more "substantial". Even supposedly "light" fiction was too much. Over time, my reading g has broadened out again but I don't feel bad or regret the years of crap! 🤣

Oh I completely agree OP.

I hate reading (well, fiction/novels etc.. anyway).

I think it's such a waste of time!

It annoyed me in school when there was a definite prejudice towards those who were 'avid readers' (I hate that phrase) who were seen as the clever ones! I still think there is a kind of strange snobbery about it now, with people thinking it's some kind of achievement to enjoy reading a fiction book!

I can and do read a lot as part of my job, but I read academic papers and I read what I need. I don't read for pleasure and I don't read fictional stories. I just don't care enough about the stories other people have made up, to have to spend days/hours reading these stories.

Not being an 'avid reader' hasn't held me back in life! I'm educated to PhD level and have an academically demanding job! I also write copious amounts as part of my job role.
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I absolutely love getting lost in a book but so rarely happens now as I just can’t concentrate in the same way

closest I have felt is with TV series but not so much with a film

I really really miss getting totally absorbed in a novel. I do really enjoy audio books if the story interests me and the narrator is good but still miss reading the way I used to be able to