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Every Monday, I take an old post and I recover it with new thoughts and ideas. Today, it’s all about why we read, rather than why we write. You can read the original post here, but this week, it’s more or less the same since my reasons haven’t changed, but I did expand on those reasons in the second half. I read and I write because I love them, but that love stems from two different life experiences.
I always write about why I write, but I never write about why I read, even though I read more than I write.
At first, the reason seems simple. I read, because I like to; it’s entertainment. But then it gets more complicated. Why reading? Why do I prefer to be entertained by reading rather than by listening to music, watching movies, or something else entirely?
When I really started thinking about it, I realized I started seriously reading at a very young age, and it was generally on the road. My family moved around a lot, especially when I was a kid. As of now, I’ve already moved twelve times, including six states. Between moving, we traveled a lot—mainly because my family was spread across the country, and we drove to make visits. This meant hours–sometimes days–spent in the car with nothing to do…until I started bringing books with me.
To this day, I’m pretty blessed to be able to say I don’t get nauseous when I read in cars or airplanes, and I believe I fell in love with books somewhere along those roads. I was traveling in novels while I was traveling the country, and the new characters became my friends as I did so. After that, I would say my reasoning for reading changed, but it depended on what I was picking up. If it were fiction, it might have been to visit a new world. If it were a memoir, it was to understand another, to learn about someone else’s life. If it were poetry, it might be to challenge myself or even to learn about my own life.
I could expand and say I read because I grew up in a reading household. While my brother and father definitely don’t read, my mother was an avid reader, and I wasn’t allowed to watch TV. On rainy days, reading was practically my only option, and my mother always encouraged us to pick out whatever we wanted at the bookstore. I found independence in it. I found exploration and admiration in it. I found myself in it.
Today, I read when I’m relaxing, when I’m happy, when I’m sad, when I’m sleepy, when I want to learn something, when I want to be around someone but have no one to see, when I want to be challenged.
Reading has fit into so many aspects of my life it’s impossible to name all of the reasons, but the main reason comes down to love.
I love words.
I love reading.
So why do you read? Has your reasoning changed from when you first started to now?
~SAT
Come get your books signed on February 13, from 1-3 PM during the Barnes & Noble Valentine’s Day Romance Author Event in Wichita, Kansas at Bradley Fair. Come meet Tamara Grantham, Candice Gilmer, Theresa Romain, Jan Schliesman, and Angi Morgan! If you haven’t started The Timely Death Trilogy, don’t worry. Minutes Before Sunset, book 1, is free!
Minutes Before Sunset, book 1:
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Seconds Before Sunrise: book 2:
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Death Before Daylight: book 3:
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Shannon A. Thompson 
So envious of people who can read in cars. I’m not a big reader these days because I’m always writing. Somewhere along the line, I became the type of reader who would skim back to check information in a book or just sit and think after a chapter. I’m just so slow that it could take me a year to read a 300-400 pager. Then I have these weird bursts of devouring books like I’m starving. This isn’t answering the question. It’s just escapism for me. As a kid, I used to collect a pile of books and sit there reading them for a day. As a teen, I’d read at night until I had just enough energy to turn off the stereo and light. Never really considered the why beyond escapism.
It’s an interesting question, isn’t it? I mean, we know why we write, but we don’t think about the foundation of writing that often. You read in spurts like I write in spurts. lol I mainly read all of the time, but work devours my writing time, so I’m always writing 10,000 words at once, but then not writing for two weeks after that due to a busy schedule. I didn’t used to be that way. My current job just affects that. Funny how it changes over time.
~SAT
I think I’d go crazy if I couldn’t write for two weeks. In fact, that probably explains most of my early twenties after I graduated. I’m sure things are going to get tighter when schedules change. Next week will be tough because the kid will be home and my wife might have a temp job. So I won’t be able to hand him off to get a day of editing. We have to roll with the punches.
Oh, trust me, I do go crazy. It’s the worst! One day I’ll have more writing time. Like you said, we roll with the punches. 🙂
~SAT
Reading is my absolute favourite hobby in the whole wide world and has been since I learned to put letters together to make words. I read anywhere and everywhere, and although real books are the best, I also have a tablet that I carry with me everywhere so I am never without hundreds of books :). I read because I love it, but nowadays with the way the world is, I read a great deal to de-stress. There is nothing like coming home from a long, hard day at work and sitting down and losing myself in a good story. It brings me peace :).
Peace! What a great emotion to bring up in regards to reading. I feel the same way. After working all day, there is nothing better than reading a great book.
~SAT
My only problem is that I wish I could stay awake longer at night to read. I always fall asleep on the couch :).
I read, therefore I am.
Hm, perhaps a bit too clever.
As a bullied kid in junior high, I started spending lunch hours in the library because people had to be quiet. Guess I never looked back.
I love how short but personal your comment is. It’s like a story in itself. 😀 I also spent a lot of my lunch hours in the library. I found a lot of peace in there.
~SAT
Thanks, Shannon.