School taught me to HATE reading… and how I learned to love it again

When I was in high school I hated reading.  It’s funny how school can ruin something like reading.  With all the tasks and chores associated with reading in school, it’s no wonder that most people don’t develop an appreciation for reading.  Even when reading books that were really good books, we are tasked with keeping track of characters, plot, and all the other literary elements.  It can really take the fun out of reading.   This almost destroyed John Steinbeck for me, as we slowly hashed through all the literary elements in “Of Mice and Men.”  As kids, we also have the time trade off, in that we would rather be playing than reading.  This time trade off was painfully obvious during summer break when we had “summer reading” assignments.  Is there any better way to crush the summertime fun than to force a kid to read as an assignment?  Then throw in all the assigned reading in text books.  I’m not sure if you’ve flipped through a text book lately, but it’s not what I would call “fun” reading.

Now, as an adult, I really enjoy reading, but it took me a long time to come around.  I really got back into reading about ten years after high school.  I had done some reading in between, but it was very limited.  One year, I just made a conscious decision to start reading some good books.  I started with the classics by authors like Ernest Hemmingway, Jules Vern, and John Steinbeck.  This was a great way for me to get reacquainted with reading, as these books are called classics for a reason.  They were all fantastic books and wildly entertaining.  I’ve been reading ever since, and always try to keep one or two books on my reading list at a time.

Now that I’ve had time to figure it out on my own, I am a full fledged believer in the importance of reading.  How many times have you heard “It’s important to read,” or “you should read more books,” or “the book was so much better than the movie?”   I’ve heard people speak of the importance of reading a lot through my years, and I’ve probably said it near as many times.  With everyone saying it, you must ask yourself.  Why is reading so important?

To learn

This is my number one reason for reading.  I like to learn.  My favorite books are ones that I can take bits of knowledge from.  That makes most of my reading non-fiction (true stories.)  I can think of no better way to learn about specific topics within my realms of interest.

There are other methods of learning, some of which are preferred by non-readers.  These other methods are usually TV or movies.  While it’s true, you can also learn from these forms, they are significantly more limited in scope.  With the expense of making a TV program or movie, the list of available topics is much more limited.  To demonstrate, just head on over to Amazon.com.  Compare a book search to a TV & Movie search on any topic.  As a sample I picked a random topic of “Sharks.”  Check out the following table illustrating the number of books available on “Sharks” as compared to the number of TV and Movies on the same topic.

As you can see, books give you a lot more choices with more than 200 times the available TV or Movie titles.  Even more so when you are looking for a more specific topic, like the above “nurse shark” example.  As your topics of interest become more narrowed and focused, books are the only real choice for learning.

To expand your horizons, open your mind to new possibilities

I like to read a lot of books under the topics of Health, Mind & Body, and Religion & Spirituality.  I like to expand my knowledge and my views on the power of the mind, human ability, spirituality, new age, and occult.  Topics not often covered in main stream media.   Reading can open your mind to a whole world of possibilities that you may have never considered on your own.

For entertainment

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say, “The book was so much better than the movie.”  I believe the reason for this is twofold.  One, you can fit so much more detail into a book.  You are not limited by the two hour timeslot of the typical movie.  Two, you use your own imagination to piece together the story.  When paired with a good book, your own imagination is much better than any movie ever could be.  In addition, you can read a book anytime.  Whenever you have a spare couple minutes, where as a movie or TV show you have to set aside a larger block of time.  I’ve read many whole books in five minute intervals.  (I’ll leave it to you to guess where that reading may have taken place.)

To exercise your imagination and spark your creativity

Joseph Addison, a 17^th century poet once said “Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.”  I think that says it nicely.  We must exercise our mind like we exercise our body.  To keep our minds healthy as we keep our bodies healthy.  Reading keeps your mind active, thinking, and figuring.  Try to read without using your imagination.  I don’t think it can be done.  Reading can also spark your creativity.  Kick start your imagination with a good book, and let your creativity take over.

To better your grammar and spelling

A byproduct of reading will be improved grammar and spelling.  Simply by reading books, you will pick up on the grammar, semantics, syntax, and composition.  The reason this works is the repetition.  You repeatedly read items formed in proper grammar, and it gradually sinks in.

I’ll wrap it up with the following quote.

“There is more treasure in books than all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.”  –Walt Disney

PS. I added a couple of new lists on the side of the page. One showing the books I am currently reading or have queued up, and the other shows my favorite books. I’ll be adding some reviews of these books at a later date.

Do you have any more reasons on why reading is important? Do you agree or disagree? Did school ruin your love of reading? I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

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Tagged as: Books, Happiness, Reading, School