My family has never, ever understood why I buy and keep books.
A relative of mine was shocked that Mr. Right Except For That One Thing wasn’t a reader, and hadn’t read (or even heard of) her favorite books.
But on their next date, he said “I read your favorite book. I really like it, but I have some questions…” After he’d worked his way through her bookcase, they got married.
Neither my Mom nor my Aunt read. My Aunt is probably dyslexic and finds it unpleasant. My Mom was an engineer and her thinking is so concrete that she doesn’t understand the point of a story if it’s not true. Made for an interesting dynamic as I write fiction. The one book she was ever interested in was Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. She thought it was hilarious. Kinda surprised me.
I get the animus. There are no small numbers of readers that are quite full of themselves because they read. One well known author, I can’t remember his name, said in a television interview (Real Time I think): “Ladies, if you go to a guy’s house, and you don’t see any books laying around; for god’s sake, don’t fuck him”!
With comments such as these (granted most aren’t as vulgar as the above mentioned) I think it’s less “Proud I don’t read” and more of a middle finger to those who see themselves as superior beings because they read.
I don’t know anyone who is proud that they don’t read books - but I know plenty of people who just don’t read books. And I mean they don’t read books - some of them read newspapers and magazines, just not books.
“I just thought you’d like to know I can read. You got anything needs readin’ I can do it.”
I had a coworker who said she didn’t read because she had an “abusive childhood.” I only put that in quotes, because I’m not sure if it was true or exaggeration. She said she reacted to the abuse by going to her room and doing her homework. And doing homework was like reading books and reading books would bring up that bad childhood. So, she didn’t read. I socialized with her and her husband a lot, and he and I would always talk up our latest favorite books. I can’t believe I missed Terry Pratchett until he introduced me to his books (wow, like 40 years ago).
I come from a family of readers --everybody except my brother. He took six months to get through Dune, so I wonder if he might have some form of dyslexia. He enjoyed the book, but it took him sooooo long.
A lot posting on Goodreads, I think.
John Waters, according to Google.
I mean, it’s one thing to be not unreasonably irritated at people smugly boasting of their achievements. But it’s another thing entirely to deprive yourself of the benefits of achievement just because you’re irritated by occasional smug boasting. That’s classic cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Personally, I find it a bit tiresome to hear people bragging of their dental-health conscientiousness and how often they use their WaterPik or whatever and how they’ve never had a cavity. (Unless they’re under ten years old or thereabouts; those people get a pass on dental self-righteousness.)
But I don’t give up brushing my own teeth as “a middle finger to those who see themselves as superior beings” on account of their perfectly detailed choppers. That would be a catastrophic self-own, and ISTM that anti-reading disdain is in a similar category.
To be clear, I am not judging people who read little. One could argue there has never been more quality television, or there are many ways one can educate or entertain oneself. I read voraciously, but save my recommendations for those who ask or are very close.
But I can count on one hand people I have heard state they are proud they read little. I don’t know how common this is; I don’t swim in those waters. I agree avid readers can sometimes take themselves and their opinions too seriously, as can some authors.
Not reading books, or even making a point of saying you don’t read them, does not in my opinion translate to a “deficiency of character”. Someone could confine themselves to published articles (online and in print), blog posts etc. and otherwise read only the stuff required for their job and be a decent and even well-informed human being, Thomas Chatterton Williams’ examples of sleazy non-book-reading humanoids not withstanding.
I especially enjoyed his bleat about how “Writing a book is an extraordinarily disproportionate act: What can be consumed in a matter of hours takes years to bring to fruition.”
Oh dear, we’re personally offended that all our mighty labors are taken so casually and even treated with disdain. 
I read books semi-voraciously, though mostly in the realm of history and mystery novels, not Great Literature or current affairs. I’m not “proud” of my choices, but suppose that to some they would indicate a character deficiency anyway. 
If you like history and mystery, have you looked at Alan Gordon’s Fools’ Guild series?
Well, read what you enjoy. Unless you are steeped in ideas of negation. I won’t judge the lack of content in your character by the lack of colour in your writing. 
And to be fair, anybody who imagines that the disproportion between the long labor of creators and the ephemeral attention of consumers is somehow unique to book-writing has never built a bridge. Or even cooked a really fancy dinner.
I go out a bit on a limb … I read a lot, but I hardly read any books anymore
main reasons:
- spending many hours of my time to read the (more often than not) skewed opinion of a single author (but no counter-arguments…) - seems like a poor usage of my limited time - and it does not allow me to argue with the author
- most books are very low-information-density (I find that most books are like 30 pages worth of content inflated to 300 pages, which make a commercial “book”
- implicit urge to finish a mediocre book (b/c that’s what you are supposed to do) - huge time-sink due to sunk-cost-fallacy
- books are intrinsically outdated - just look at the huge amount of books on Putin that came out since the russian war in ukr. There is easily a 3 months lag between “I am done writing it” — it now hit the shelves. For any somewhat current matter, a book is a crappy vehicle
- those reasons are also the reasons I read a lot of SD (etc.) … normally very high info-density, lots of reasoning-counter arguments-“buts” …
I mostly read books that come recommended, stuff like:
- Stiff - about dying and corpses (very worthwhile and entertaining read)
- Ignition! - history about rocket-fuel
- Keith Richards autobiography … very entertaining … the phrase “for many years I slept on average twice a week”, stuck with me
tldr; I get way better mileage out of topics on the SD that interest me (or peak my curiosity) than behind half a kg of dead tree
Really?
but this is a frequent ocurrence:
just skim your life-improvement or management literature section in your local book-store … the par for the course there is those are all very selectively cherry-picking data from some statistics or studies (that fit their line of reasoning) and leave aside data from the same studies that contradict their spin.
Especially in those 2 sectors you get extremely “massaged into place” type of information, which allows for a new-flavour-of-the-month type of bestest-yet-methodology to improve life or business.
(same is true for those pesky TED and general key-note-speakers that travel the circuit)
so in a way you are being spoon-fed info that fits the author’s believe system (or story he needs to sell to feed his family) … just like those pesky friends on FB that selectively forward statistics/memes/information that helps to make America great again. ;o)
English is my 3rd language and I just don’t care too much to spell check shit (might be age related)
… most readers will figure it out
First I’ll point out that your points aren’t relevant to fiction, where you don’t necessarily want to learn anything, you just want a good story.
When I read a memoir, I know it’s skewed. But that’s the point: I want to know this person’s perspective.
Your phrase ‘peak my curiosity’ is correct. Not sure what the “Really?” comment was about.