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12 Things Readers Really Want Nonreaders to Know
Every reader has friends or family members who just don't get it. "Why do you read so much?" they might ask, staring at your overflowing bookshelves or your Reading Challenge on Goodreads. "I haven't read an entire book in years."
Oh, those poor, unfortunate souls… Haven't they heard about the very real scientific benefits of reading—like stress reduction and improved sleep? We asked our followers on Facebook and Twitter to share one thing about the comfort, joy, and importance of reading they wish nonreaders could understand. Check out some of our favorite responses below!
1. "Best therapy money can buy…or borrow for free with a library card. Reading helps me sleep, helps me forget about the day, and helps me relax in general." -Sarah
2. "Opening a beer when you get home will reward you for an hour. Opening a book when you get home will reward you for life." -Douglass
3. "Reading teaches you empathy, and it really gives you a chance to examine all the grey areas of life. You get to think about and see things from other perspectives—it's awesome!" -Nyeisha
4. "I feel like I have friends all over the world, through space and time, who I can visit whenever I need a break from my own life." -Kat
5. "Books are better than the movie. There is so much going on in the minds of the characters that movies can't show. To really understand the movie characters you love, read the book." -Linda
6. "The smells of books, whether they're new and old, are enjoyable and pair well with tea or coffee. People who are loathe to read are missing out on smell-o-vision." -Ian
7. "It's one of the ultimate escapes. You can forget where you are and who you are. There have been times I've gone to Middle-earth and Hogwarts and Narnia in my head just to survive… Everyone should have that blessed escape." -Ruby
8. "The more I read the easier it is to express what I am thinking or feeling. Thanks to books, I have the words." -Melanie
9. "You will always have friends. Real life doesn't always hand you the right people. But a book is the perfect place to find your people whenever you need them." -Gillian
10. "Don't give up on reading just because you tried one or two books that didn't do it for you. Keep trying, and I'm sure you will find your niche or genre. When you do, you'll be so glad you did!" -Wes
11. "Reading to me is like unconditional love. I always feel like I'm home when I read a book." -Susan
12. "Used correctly, a book can transport the reader on an instant mental vacation with no jet lag, TSA, or dysentery!" -Todd
Tell us how you share your love of books with nonreaders in the comments!
Check out more recent blogs:
7 Great Books Hitting Shelves Today
Published from Prison: The Books That Inspired a Former Bank Robber
20 Hottest Debuts of the Season
Oh, those poor, unfortunate souls… Haven't they heard about the very real scientific benefits of reading—like stress reduction and improved sleep? We asked our followers on Facebook and Twitter to share one thing about the comfort, joy, and importance of reading they wish nonreaders could understand. Check out some of our favorite responses below!
1. "Best therapy money can buy…or borrow for free with a library card. Reading helps me sleep, helps me forget about the day, and helps me relax in general." -Sarah
2. "Opening a beer when you get home will reward you for an hour. Opening a book when you get home will reward you for life." -Douglass
3. "Reading teaches you empathy, and it really gives you a chance to examine all the grey areas of life. You get to think about and see things from other perspectives—it's awesome!" -Nyeisha
4. "I feel like I have friends all over the world, through space and time, who I can visit whenever I need a break from my own life." -Kat
5. "Books are better than the movie. There is so much going on in the minds of the characters that movies can't show. To really understand the movie characters you love, read the book." -Linda
6. "The smells of books, whether they're new and old, are enjoyable and pair well with tea or coffee. People who are loathe to read are missing out on smell-o-vision." -Ian
7. "It's one of the ultimate escapes. You can forget where you are and who you are. There have been times I've gone to Middle-earth and Hogwarts and Narnia in my head just to survive… Everyone should have that blessed escape." -Ruby
8. "The more I read the easier it is to express what I am thinking or feeling. Thanks to books, I have the words." -Melanie
9. "You will always have friends. Real life doesn't always hand you the right people. But a book is the perfect place to find your people whenever you need them." -Gillian
10. "Don't give up on reading just because you tried one or two books that didn't do it for you. Keep trying, and I'm sure you will find your niche or genre. When you do, you'll be so glad you did!" -Wes
11. "Reading to me is like unconditional love. I always feel like I'm home when I read a book." -Susan
12. "Used correctly, a book can transport the reader on an instant mental vacation with no jet lag, TSA, or dysentery!" -Todd
Tell us how you share your love of books with nonreaders in the comments!
Check out more recent blogs:
7 Great Books Hitting Shelves Today
Published from Prison: The Books That Inspired a Former Bank Robber
20 Hottest Debuts of the Season
Comments Showing 1-50 of 208 (208 new)
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Finn
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Aug 10, 2018 07:00AM
My number one for this list would be: "If I'm sitting by myself reading, that is NOT a good time to start a conversation!"
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To experience time travel or a Star Trek "holodeck" adventure, a good book can give the same enjoyment.
"Reading a book is living a life which is worth living. One can experience the inexperienced moments of life."
Reading is a passport to any time or place. It is freedom of creativity and I’ve never heard anyone say that they had too much freedom.
I couldn't have interesting conversations if not for all the bizarre trivia picked up from reading. Plus, if you're surrounded by people who only want to talk about sports and weather, reading gives you a chance to eavesdrop on better dialogue.
Reading is for information and education. Particularly, being black is not an option for misinformation or no information-point blank.
Reading for me is just like travelling. Walk to the bookshelf, hold any book, open it, turn the pages and start. Where to? Well, it doesn't matter, really. The journey is the message!
I read for entertainment but also to learn. I do not read to pass the time, I read to enrich my time. There is bo better feeling than being lost in a book.
Books are real magic. I've visited foreign worlds, underworlds and parallel worlds without ever leaving my sofa. I know how to mix potions, catch dragons, kill vampires and use necromancy. I've shared meals with Kings, criminals and hobgoblins. Where else could you do all that and more without getting out of your pajamas?Without books the world is just grey and mundane. Reading stops you from being a muggle and opens up a world of wizardry! Who can resist that?
Reading is to create memories you'll have with you forever, be it from the sheer pleasure of just reading or from the stories and characters you've encountered in books.
There's a stereotype that readers are geeky and antisocial, but the truth is nonreaders are usually the ones who are kind of boring.
No, I'm not super smart just because I read a lot. I'm not sitting here reading textbooks. I'm reading smut, and lots of it.
Is there anything as alluring as an unread book?
Sarah wrote: "My number one for this list would be: "If I'm sitting by myself reading, that is NOT a good time to start a conversation!""How do you like comments on here
Sarah wrote: "My number one for this list would be: "If I'm sitting by myself reading, that is NOT a good time to start a conversation!""A-fucking-men.
Alexis wrote: "Is there anything as alluring as an unread book?"I definitely agree!!!
"I can be anything I want to be and things I never knew I could be inside the pages of a book!"
Books, cats and coffee - the three things that I require for YOUR protection. :D
I read so that I can take part in an intelligent conversation (with the author).
Reading (novels, in my case) is an escaping act with the beneficial side effects of entertainment and self improvement.
I owe everything I know to reading and books. Have you hugged your book today?
Have you touched your shelf?? LOL
I love reading but some people really need to get off their high horse and realize that they aren’t special just be wise they read. Anyone can read and reading stories does not make you superior dto those who prefer to watch or listen to stories.
The comment about how reading a book is like having friends all over the world, through space, and through time, is likely the most profound one that I relate to. Like the words of an exceptional piece of literature, the characters come alive and jump out of the pages, giving me a warm hug and a bright smile, just like an old friend would. If the author is good, my heart relates to theirs, their struggle my struggle. I feel for them, I root for them. Whether they are in 1920s Moscow sipping brandy, or 1940s France, or a quaint British country village making jam, they are all friends that I know and love. We are simply separated only by the ink and paper between us. Everything awakens and comes alive the moment we meet again.
Katt_goddess wrote: "Books, cats and coffee - the three things that I require for YOUR protection. :D"I'm going to make that my new life motto!
"One must always be careful of books and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us."-Tessa Gray
Cassandra Clare's The Infernal Devices
(read it!!)
Clockwork Angel
I could talk about movies for 10 minutes, but go on about books for hours.
It’s true how they say reading a book in like having a movie in you mind. Reading gives you a great imagination and stays with you much longer than just watching a movie.
#11 is absolutely true! Books and dogs: two things that offer unconditional love. I have to say, if something destroyed my house, the possessions I would miss most would be my books. Lastly, my husband and I are considering a move. The first thing I checked out about the area? To see if there was a library!
I recommend books to my family and also share around my book blog https://www.katherinesbookuniverse.wo.... I'll tell them about the ARCs I review as a NetGalley reviewer and try to get them interested. They often think reading is something they don't "have time for" or that it is something you should only do on vacation. The amount I have learnt from books is amazing and I much prefer audiobooks to physical copies and my iPad's VoiceOver makes my books easy to access. I would recommend books to everyone. Books help me relax and reduce stress as well as just take a break from everything and get lost in the worlds and characters lives within the book. Having one read out is a necesary accessibility tool for those if us with disabilities that make standard format books harder to access and by listening to a book I get through more and get more done.
When my family and I travel, we sometimes end up having to buy an extra suitcase for all the cool books we buy!
Books offer limitless opportunities...for growth, relaxation, adventure, comfort...they are simply Awesome!
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” ― Dr. Seuss, I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!
"She has read too many books and it has addled her brain".-Aunt March commenting on Jo's book obsession in Little Women
A good book is an opportunity to learn about a world that you are not a part of. This is good because you can learn to be more empathetic then with the people that you do encounter because your mind is opened to new and different things.
Books allow me to live to a greater extent when in reality I am mostly bedbound and unable to get out as much as I would like to due to various disabilities and chronic illnesses. Books give me an escape from pain, an escape from my own head and the cage which is my body.Books also give me more things to talk to my very few friends about and conversations I can join in with without feeling like I've missed out on something because I am rarely able to leave the house except for hospital appointments.
Alex wrote: "It’s true how they say reading a book in like having a movie in you mind. Reading gives you a great imagination and stays with you much longer than just watching a movie."
This! This is why the movie versions are so disappointing for book readers. While we were reading the book, we were able to create an amazing movie in our minds, each of us a slightly different version of that movie, and what comes out on film isn’t as rich and complex as what we envisioned.
For instance, To Kill a Mockingbird is considered one of the best movies of all time. For me, it was an okay movie that failed miserably as an adaptation because the book was written from the perspective of a child. It was impossible to translate that while filming, so the movie lost most of that honesty and confusion on adult-themed issues that made me love the book so much.
I agree! I was watching the film 'Needful Things' and all the time during the movie I was re-reading the book in my mind because the movie was so blah!
Reading can let you see into the past, take you to far away places, let you peek into the future and thrill you with places that will never be; all from your armchair.
The big fault in our lives is when we don't reading because the reading is the ocsigin of the mind
I love reading for all the reasons listed. The building of empathy, discovering new perspectives, travelling to new places, escapism and entertainment, there are infinite reasons to love reading. My love for reading started because I realised it was a form of escapism that I find much more intricate than films or TV shows.
#6 - I have a frustrating sense of smell. Old books do not sit well with me as a result. However, nothing goes better with a cup of tea or coffee than a good book.The more you read, the more you want to read.
Okay, #2 made me smile...but it definitely doesn't have to be one or the other! Love having a glass of wine (or bottle of beer) AND curling up with a good book to unwind at the end of a long day!
I can dive into a whole new world or become a brand new person. Anything is possible when I read. I will never give that up.
I honestly think, most of the world's problems can be solved if people are religiously reading.
Lisa wrote: "Alexis wrote: "Is there anything as alluring as an unread book?"I definitely agree!!!"
YES kindred spirits unite!
Books can teach me about the universe or the history of our various civilizations or about the interesting characters that have lived and died here. But they can also take me to worlds that don't exist, where I can meet people that aren't real, but just as interesting as real ones. I can travel to places and times where science doesn't matter and history is false. Depending on my mood, I can go anywhere at any time, meet anyone, do whatever I want, learn anything, have adventures and friendships, and even root for the bad guy without feeling like a bad guy myself. And, often, when I've returned to the normalcy of my own life for a bit, I can't wait for the next adventure. Who wouldn't want that?
Reading is knowledge. Over the years the type of books I read have changed, I want to know more, learn more, I want to know history, politics , anything about the world and the fascinating people we have in it 😁
Katt_goddess wrote: "Books, cats and coffee - the three things that I require for YOUR protection. :D"Are you my evil twin, or the good one?
As a writer I'd like to tell readers that writing a book takes a LONG time, and yeah, it's usually one year per book including editing and copy editing and rewrites and ARCs and cover designs and whatnot. But to non-readers, I'd like to say that reading a book about other people's problems is more enjoyable than. Thinking about your own
