No More Excuses: Yes, You Do Like Reading

By Emily A. Solley on April 28, 2016

Listen, I hear it all the time: “I wish I liked reading.”

I can’t relate. I came to Italy with three books, and just six weeks later, there are 20 stacked up on my bedside table. It’s as if they crawl through the crack under the door while I’m asleep to tempt me. I have this unfortunate habit of collecting books. I give away boxes of them every year, but somehow, within months there are skyscrapers climbing all over my room, shelves spilling over, bookcases bending beneath the weight. My mother begs me to stop being a hoarder and invest in an e-reader (or a social life). But I like the look of them.

I would like to apologize on behalf of whoever has convinced an entire generation that reading is for people more intelligent than them. Maybe it was the obsession with standardized testing that taught us to view reading as an assessment technique rather than a pastime. As children, most of our reading was accompanied by “helpful” multiple choice quizzes. We knew it was practice for the real deal at the end of the year. Perhaps we’ve developed low-self esteem.

Allow me to let you in on a secret: reading is actually fun when you do it in your free time. There are worlds of knowledge to be opened up, and more to the point, reading can make you a better communicator, a better friend, and more employable.

And to those of you who still doubt, here are my responses to the three most common excuses for not reading:

1. I don’t have time to read.

Courtesy of fivethirtyeight.com.

The answer: read for twenty minutes before bed. 

You already kind of do this. The average American checks their social media accounts 17 times a day. While the reading done on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram certainly isn’t academic, it’s reading. So rather than flipping through Facebook or refreshing your email, pick up a book. At average reading speed, this will have you finishing a 300 page book every 15-17 days. At this rate, you could finish an astonishing 22 books a year! Of course, this might equal out to three or four of the A Song of Ice and Fire novels (HBO’s Game of Thrones), but you get the picture.

If you can up that reading time to 40 minutes a day by reading in the bathroom or while waiting for an appointment, you could be reading almost 50 books a year. Nothing to sneeze at.

2. I don’t like books.

In 2010, Google declared that over 129 million books have been published in the history of the world. That’s a lot of books.

More to the point, publishing is a business. There is an entire industry directed towards producing books for every interest group. If you like sports, here are 50 histories, biographies, and investigations. If you prefer romance, here are 13 stories you can’t miss. There are books about art, music, politics, history, crimes, and movies.  And if none of that sounds interesting, check out some of the best fiction novels of 2015, the past decade, and all time.

One of the traits of a life-long reader is being confident in selecting reading material. It can be daunting, but there are plenty of resources out there to help. Including the author of this article, and your other nerdy friends, who are always ready to offer book suggestions.

3. Reading is boring; I can’t focus on books; I’m just not good at it.

Courtesy of AP.

Let me say, if you made it this far, I doubt this is a problem.

However, if you find it hard to focus on books, the problem might be that you aren’t reading the right ones. There are very few people in this world who could end a lifetime of hating books with A Tale of Two Cities or Hamlet. However, there are many books that will change your mind (and maybe even your life). Check out my short list.

And if you are a slow reader, or have difficulty completing them, my suggestion is that plenty of practice is likely to help. It can help with short stories or essays: the shorter page count might relieve some pressure.

With the amount of time we collectively spend bingeing Netflix, we have become more accustomed to swallowing large amounts of information at a time. You might be surprised how much longer you are capable of sitting and doing nothing, and even more surprised at how entertaining a good book can be.

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format