# Why do you read ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 29, 2009, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-read/515585 "2009-10-29T10:39:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-read/515585/1 "2009-10-29T10:39:27Z")
Book lovers , how will you answer this question,without sounding condescending ? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-read/515585/2 "2009-10-29T10:54:43Z")
For me, reading is a lot of fun. Sometimes it’s also very comforting, if I’m reading an old favorite. ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-read/515585/3 "2009-10-29T10:57:54Z")
I’m not quite sure I understand the question. Why does anyone perform any relaxation/entertainment based activity? I read because I find it enjoyable. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-read/515585/4 "2009-10-29T11:07:27Z")
What is condescending about enjoying something? ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 11:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-read/515585/5 "2009-10-29T11:10:28Z")
I read (mainly non fiction) as there can be much more detail in a book than in any documentary. And you can understand at your pace and revisit where you wish. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-read/515585/6 "2009-10-29T11:16:15Z")
It’s the cheapest form of escapism there is, as long as there remain public libraries. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-read/515585/7 "2009-10-29T11:16:50Z")
In no particular order: information, entertainment, and comfort. Sometimes two or more at the same time, depending on the book and the situation. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-read/515585/8 "2009-10-29T11:20:25Z")
Because I don’t want to end up [being a fucking waffle waitress](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvs2g5Nj0NI). ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-read/515585/9 "2009-10-29T11:51:26Z")
> [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](#): > > I’m not quite sure I understand the question. Why does anyone perform any relaxation/entertainment based activity? I read because I find it enjoyable. 🙂 We had this discussion in another message board 3 years ago. There were accusations, about book lovers pretending themselves to be intellectually superior to otherwise perfectly normal people ( waitress joke was a heated topic )! Some book buffs could not defend their position well. ---
**Author:** ![Walpurgis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Walpurgis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walpurgis)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-read/515585/10 "2009-10-29T11:55:45Z")
- To get a breather from the world, which I find exhausting and depressing most of the time. - To explore new worlds, ideas and concepts. - To experience the world through someone else’s eyes. - Because I have a desire to know things, to find things out. - To be a better writer myself. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-read/515585/11 "2009-10-29T12:06:16Z")
Because when I read, I get filled with a sense of superiority that I can wield upon the philistines that surround me. And one day, rule over them. And enslave them. For, whatever other reason could there possibly be? ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-read/515585/12 "2009-10-29T12:13:52Z")
> [@indian](#): > > 🙂 > > We had this discussion in another message board 3 years ago. There were accusations, about book lovers pretending themselves to be intellectually superior to otherwise perfectly normal people ( waitress joke was a heated topic )! > > Some book buffs could not defend their position well. Who’s pretending? Raeders \*are \*intellectually superior to “otherwise perfectly normal people.” Except for people who are reading Twilight. Anyway, I read because no one seems to make TV shows or movies that entertain me. My free time is not structured to allow me the luxury of sitting in from of the television for a few hours every night watching things that do not entertain me. I do not have the personal budget or the interest in figuring out a new gadget to invest in one of those gizmos that allow me to record things that \*might \*interest me so I can watch them by my schedule. I can read in the bathroom. I can pick up a book for the twenty minutes I have free. I can read a book when I need to take a train. What else am I going to do for entertainment? Play video games? (I am of an age that missed the video game era, and have never been able to get myself interested in pushing buttons to make things happen on screen.) Weather permitting I go sailing or fishing, but neither of those will help when I have a free half-hour. Reading keeps me quiet and out of trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Audrey\_Levins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Audrey\_Levins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Audrey_Levins)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-read/515585/13 "2009-10-29T12:58:55Z")
Does anybody ask “Why do you watch TV?” I read because it’s entertaining. I read because IMHO the best stories are told on paper. I read because, honestly, I can’t help it. I’m unhappy and a bit grumpy if I don’t have a book at hand. I remember seeing, as a small child, a poster at the local library that said, “Get lost in a book!” I didn’t get it, and I asked my mother what it meant. She said that books can take you away from where you are and take you someplace you’ve never been before, and that you can get lost there. I thought then, and I still think now, that this is the best idea ever. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-read/515585/14 "2009-10-29T13:02:43Z")
I need it to live. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-read/515585/15 "2009-10-29T13:03:37Z")
I can forcefeed knowledge into my brain at the pace I want. It’s more consistently interesting than many other ways to use my time. And, per \*\*DrF \*\*- it keeps me out of trouble. Good lord - I mean, I went to the World Series last night - I got totally lucky when my good friend offered me a second ticket he got - and so I took the train to Yankee Stadium to connect up with him when he came up from Manhattan. I _had_ to have a book with me if I was going to be standing there for any length of time - done; end of story. But I didn’t have any big pockets and was afraid Security wouldn’t let me bring a big book in (there were Secret Service agents 20 feet from our seats because of Michelle O being there). So I brought my little Oxford Very Short Introduction to Schopenhauer with me. I freakin’ read a book about a German philosopher while waiting for the Fall Classic. And it was cool to learn that our boy Arthur dug reading The Upanishads - who knew? 😉 I read because I am a sick man. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-read/515585/16 "2009-10-29T13:10:36Z")
All of the above. Also, if the book is big, heavy, and requires concentration, it is an excellent aid to falling asleep! 😉 I don’t understand people who don’t read. I know families without a single book in their house other than school related. What do they do with their spare time? Play video games, I guess, or watch reality TV. I’m sorry for them, but if they’re happy, then I’m happy, too, with my boring old books… ---
**Author:** ![Chopper9760](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cdc98d/32.png) [@Chopper9760](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chopper9760)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-read/515585/17 "2009-10-29T13:10:56Z")
I’m an addict. ---
**Author:** ![BleizDu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@BleizDu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BleizDu)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-read/515585/18 "2009-10-29T13:15:15Z")
It relaxes my mind before going to sleep. It gives me something to do while waiting for something. It fills my mind with the wonders of other universes or ancient times or with a creepy feeling when I read horror books. I enjoy the plot and twists and turns of a good police novel. I like reading and repeating in my mind a well crafted sentence. My attention is more focused than in front of tv, when reading about a particular topic. When I read, I don’t have to think about time or stuff I maybe should do instead. I like the look and smell of old books. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-read/515585/19 "2009-10-29T13:17:17Z")
Because it is magic. Almost every thing that ever was, and many things that will never be, are in books. Stephen King says writing is telepathy. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-read/515585/20 "2009-10-29T13:47:54Z")
> [@indian](#): > > 🙂 > > We had this discussion in another message board 3 years ago. There were accusations, about book lovers pretending themselves to be intellectually superior to otherwise perfectly normal people ( waitress joke was a heated topic )! > > Some book buffs could not defend their position well. Liking books is a position to defend? Bwuh? I read because I like to. It’s fun, it’s relaxing, and it can be informative, depending on what I choose. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-you-read/515585.md?page=2)