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?

I'm not sure you can persuade someone to enjoy reading. I love reading and so do my daughter's. DH hates reading and says it gives him a headache.
I grew up loving reading though as my parents, grandparents and siblings all loved reading. I think if you grew up hating it then it doesn't change.

Honestly I got into reading as a teen cause I loved chick lit especially when there was a love triangle. I went to an all girls school so it was the ultimate form of fantasy. I then moved onto classic fiction (still for the romance) which in turn introduced more genres. I still need a I’ve story even if it’s not the main plot point

There’s Toni g like that feeling of being desperate to get back to your book.

Something like The Wire, for example. Not only arcs through each series but from the very first episode to the final one five years on, echos of the cycle and the futility.

Add the significant character development and evolving relationships, and it’s every bit as dense, challenging, rewarding and cathartic as a damned good piece of literature.

Loving books doesn’t mean we have to devalue other forms of storytelling.

Read short story collections, then novella, then try a light novel. I hate reading massive books even if they are very good and hate getting locked into anything more than a trilogy, series and collections that require you to read the whole thing can get in the bin. I like short stories and small books that are easy to hold and read. Things you can read on a lunch break.

Books aren't better than films, they are just something that can be excellent in their own right, and they can also be awful, there's a lot more shite books (or not to your taste) than good books, just like with any other media.

Reading is my absolute go to thing to calm and soothe. I read like lightening and can read 10 books a week. I can’t put books down.

I don’t feel this way about audio books or films. I find audiobooks quite hard to concentrate on.

MY favourite place is a bookshop

why is it so much better than watching a film o listening to an audio story?

I don't think it's better or worse, it's just different.

I love watching films, but I find reading before bed more relaxing than watching a film.

I like that it doesn't involve looking at a screen as, like most people, I spend too much time doing that.

I find I can get completely lost in a good book, whereas I'm quite distractable usually and with other hobbies or activities I often find myself thinking about work, kids or making to do lists in my head.

That’s an incredible amount of reading I envy that you can read so easily but not the insomnia which is just awful

Indeed. Even the silly movies based on Dan Brown books were better than the Dan Brown books.

Agree. The previous show made by the same people (Homicide-Life on the Street) was like that as well, or at least the first five seasons were. If you just discount half the episodes of six and seven it's the best show ever made IMO. It's now available from steaming services at long last.

I agree a well written produced and acted series is a fantastic way to tell a story

The Wire is a brilliant example and so is Happy Valley

I can get lost just as much in a good series as I can a book, I can become totally obsessed and an absolute bore to others on the subject

Ok the few fiction books I have read since GCSEs have been Lisa Jewell’s One Hit Wonder and 31 Dream Street. Plus first two books of A Song of Ice and Fire (GoT) series. Plus some Alison Weir’s books

Any ideas for what authors I should try? Not into chick flicks or sci fi.

You've given me an idea, thank you @Sunat45degrees, I might try rereading some of the "easy, chick-lit" books I read in my early 20's, or maybe one of my childhood favourites from Enid Blyton. Perhaps the easier style and shorter length won't feel as daunting and my brain might feel a bit more willing to give it a go. It's got to be worth a try - it's my birthday and I've just had a Waterstones voucher from my MIL!

That could be it. I have a auditory dominant memory myself. I was told it's rare and that we absorb information better when we hear it. Oddly enough though, I do not like audiobooks. I think it's because the voice narrators are usually not very good. It irritates me no end, just like bad acting in a movie does.

The Wire is a great story but thats mostly "all" it has -- it doesnt really have any depth/transcendence beyond that

Many people (me included) would say that Game of Thrones was just as good (if not better) than the Wire. And most people would say the GoT books were better than the GoT show, But noone is really going to claim that the GoT books are better literature than Brothers Karamazov or Steppenwolf or whatever, and thats kind of the issue.

If there was a book of the Wire it would probably be better than the show. Its very, very rare for a movie or film to be better than the underlying book

I agree with that. However, retaining information isn't what I was talking about. It was keeping the brain sharp just by the act of reading. Retaining information is not all there is to boosting your brain. For example, reading fiction, in any form, helps develop your imagination, increases your empathy (the most essential part of emotional intelligence) and builds your vocabulary, just to name a few benefits.

I agree with you for the most part about filns and shows based on books. Game of Thrones is probably my favourite series of all time though, and I thought the books were dreadful.

I love to read. There are so many different type of books so surely there is something for everyone. My DH loves music and cinema. I don't look down on him, nor he on me. We just love different things. I always have 2 books going: one paperback and one audiobook. First one to wind down, second one when I can't keep my eyes open:).

I've been rewatching HLOTS over the past fortnight! I refused to watch Brooklyn 99 for about 5 years because I didn't want to mess with my memories of Pembleton. (I did give in and it was worth it)

I absolutely loved it and was so frustrated with Channel 4 when they originally screened it because it got yanked all over the schedule. Amazing series.

Have you read the books, Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets and The Corner? They are very heavy going at times but so worth it. A full year embedded in a homicide shift by a former crime reporter from the Baltimore Sun.

@BeDeepKoala - I disagree, The Wire is like a Russian novel! It has so much more than plot.
Game of Thrones (except the final season) was superb and far, far better than the books, which were mostly nonsense.

@BeaAndBen
Yes, I have read the books.
I never did get around to watching Brooklyn 99 and didn't have the heart to try it after Andre Braugher died. I want to remember him as Frank.
If you're interested, Kyle Secor and Reed Diamond have a podcast where they went through the episodes in season one, telling behind the scenes stories. I enjoyed it.

www.homicidelor.com/

Reading increases vocabulary, makes you cleverer, more literate in general and for me personally sends me to sleep and helps me unwind.

I thinknre reading childhood favourites also will help as you know what's happening and your brain will do less work!! Anne mccaffrey! I reread those in those years too! 🤣

Libraries do 'quick reads' - it's a series of really short books, written by popular authors. I think they're designed for people who might find a bigger book a bit offputting. I think you can probably get them in bookshops/online as well, but I love libraries because there's no risk if you don't like a book - you've not had to pay for it.

I love reading fiction because you get to know what someone else is thinking. It helps me to have more of an idea about other people's perspectives. And most of my historical knowledge comes from fiction (so I always have to hope it's historically accurate).

I hope you give it a go and find you enjoy it - it's always good to enjoy more things!

I must have read hundreds of thousands books. The first books I remember reading were Enid Blyton. My Mum kept a list of the books I had in her purse so we didn't buy what I already had. I loved getting a WHSmith voucher for Christmas and birthdays so I could buy more books. I moved on to Sweet valley high and then Virginia Andrews. Now I read crime, chick lit, historical and true stories.

There are things that can be written or spoken that are not conveyed in pictures / film and vice versa.

Eg the start of the poem 'The Highway man' by Alfred Noyes

The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees.
The moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas.
The road was a ribbon of moonlight over the purple moor,
And the highwayman came riding—
Riding—riding—
The highwayman came riding, up to the old inn-door.

You can show a beautiful or atmospheric view, but you don't get the mood without the words. Well IMHO.