Why Reading For Pleasure Is Important

Ali V Brown
Jul 26, 2017 · 2 min read

As I sit in my bed, about to pick up my recent read, the thought of why I have grown to enjoy reading stretches across my mind. I’ve thought about this situation a lot.

In high school, being “forced” to read a book was an obvious part of any teacher’s curriculum and a dreaded part of any student’s homework. Personally, I always went into a new required book promising myself that I would finish and read all of it — as you can guess, that rarely/never happened.

Recently, I have thought to myself why can I read book after book now, but couldn’t stand to get through a chapter in The Great Gatsby in high school? The answer is clear, the simple fact that I was forced to do something.

There comes little to no joy out of reading when you’re assigned a grade on a chapter quiz and forced to read chapter 5&6 on a Wednesday night.

Now, one of the best parts of my days is when I climb into bed with my book. It is so relaxing being enriched in a storyline and a whole other world. I get an itch of anxiety if I can’t read before I go to sleep.

I simply love to read now because I CHOOSE what books I want to read and because I CHOOSE when I want to read. The satisfaction from finishing a book, sometimes even a tear if it was ah-mazing, is unlike no other. I could not say the same in high school because rarely/never did that happen.

A book is something a person is suppose to enjoy and want to read. All the books in high school that I was forced to read were classics and I probably would’ve eventually ended up reading them all anyways.

In the end, I have grown to really appreciate books and reading because it’s under my control and power, not someone else’s. I truly encourage you to pick up any book and read away. Even if it’s ten pages or twenty, it’s a whole new feeling when it’s YOU who wants to read.

And of course — if you need any recommendations, I definitely have one or two…or twenty.

https://pixabay.com/en/stack-of-books-vintage-books-book-1001655/

Curiosity is key.

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