Reading takes me to a world I can immerse myself in with people I like being with. I find when I read a good book it stays with me when I’m not reading and wonder what will happen next or think about how a character was acting foolishly last night. Unlike TV or movies it doesn’t end in an hour or two even with short books I need a least a day to read them so I get to experience the world for a much longer time that I can any other way.
I can just hear it! I HAVE heard it! “Take your head out of that book and go out and PLAY!” And there you are, sitting outside on a smothering hot day, to do…what? If I was a popular kid, I’d already BE outside, “playing”. Not in this heat, I’m not! I’d have rather sat inside in front of the fan, reading. Something I do to this very day, thanks.
I wouldn’t die…life just would be a lot more colorless for lack of a better word. I could go without TV or films, I guess, but no books? That just feels odd. Mostly because for me TV can be more passive. I can have TV on in the background and indulge in a good book. A world without books would be empty for me. I mean, I could stop reading. But it would be like saying good bye to this huge part of my life that I’ve had since I was very small.
I remember Oprah Winfrey saying she got that a lot, too. Also, “Why are you reading, you’re so stuck up.” I guess the reading=condescending attitude espoused by the OP is more common than I thought. Maybe some people see it as a threat. I’m also reminded of the wife character in “Time Enough At Last” defacing her husband’s book. Maybe because she felt threatened.
The lamentations of their women?
+1
It 's a form of entertainment, with the benefit of actually learning something you didn’t know before.
The special effects in books are better than anything Hollywood can come up with. 
Because I can’t live without books.
This. My mother did it to me - she was an addict also. And, I’ve got this pusher supplying me with free stuff, and another bunch supplying me with low cost stuff.
I decided in high school that I wanted to learn at least a little bit about everything (except football. ) Once a topic comes to light I don’t know much about I raid the library for books about it. When I’m not doing that, I’ve got my 1,000 book backlog to work on. That is fiction, and that is for fun.
I also got to achieve a childhood goal of becoming a book reviewer, so twice a year I get to impose my opinion about some technical book upon the world.
I read mostly to entertain myself. Occasionally I’m trying to learn something.
I would describe myself as addicted, too, and it’s not a completely benign habit. There is a reason people become annoyed with someone who “always has her nose in a book”.
I read to learn about things. TV only gives generalities and not much detail.
For entertainment…the same. A movie or TV just cannot be as deep as many books because…well…that is the way it works 
A good novel gives much more detail/fleshed out than a good TV show.
There was a time when I’d have answered this with an essay or a sermon, but I’ve gotten to the age that when people ask me “Why do you _____?” where ____ is most anything I do that they don’t- read, go to battlefields, spend hours at a time, researching genealogy, own a copy of PORKY’S 2, sing showtunes in the shower, etc., I just say “because I like to”.
Sometimes I’ll quote, or rather paraphrase, Jeremy Bentham when asked why he occasionally hopped when he walked. His response were something to the effect (can’t find the exact quote) “Because it brings me pleasure and it hurts no one”.
I think that’s the only justification you need for doing anything at all.
I get irked when I’m asked this by people who I’ve never once asked “Why do you care about college football?” or “Why on earth did you buy that baboons-ass ugly lamp in the corner?” since my guess is that it’s the exact same answer as mine.
It’s the same thing with people who dress up in costumes and go to sci-fi conventions. I don’t, but it’s mainly because my SO is not into it and I can’t be arsed to get into it on my own. But they get made fun of, a lot. If they are spending their own money and having a good time, then who cares what they are doing?
I am spending my own money (or not, I generally go to the library every two weeks) so why not?
Seconded.
Because I gotta.
If I have nothing to read I start to go nuckin’ futs.
I’m attracted by ANY written word. I don’t know why.
Perhaps, as Pink says, it’s genetic.
salinqmind said:
Freudian Slit said:
I can think of one legitimate reason to say “put down that book and go outside and play” that does not come from reading aversion, and that’s the need for the kid to get up and do something physical and not just sit around all day. That said, there is a cultural undercurrent to the idea that if you read, you must think you’re better than other people.
I wasn’t a popular kid, and I still found ways to play outside. Not some sports game, but imagination games. I could ride my bike, or play with my sister and/or a friend in make believe games. But regarding the heat, I certainly understand avoiding that.
Reading is relaxing. Plus, books are really portable, they’re not noisy and they’re an easy escape.