I am seeing that now most people treat reading as a task. A person who only reads 5 books a year is not even considered a reader. Most people now challenge themselves to read 100 books in a year. They compare Goodreads profiles, and no matter how bad the book is, they will still read it just to increase their numbers.
Nowadays, people don’t feel sad when a book is about to end. Instead, they feel happy and try to read faster so they can finish it—as if it’s a chore. And if I ask those people what experience they had while reading book number 57, they’ll say, “What experience? I just read it and finished it. Don’t compare me with yourself—you only read 10 books a year. I’m more disciplined than you.”
When you get older and sit alone on a rainy day in your room—or if you're in jail, in a hospital, or anywhere alone 20 years later—those 1000 books you read won’t come to your mind. But that one book you read with pleasure, imagining every scene, not missing a single word, reading slowly—not at 350 words per minute—will come back to you. The one you read like a movie, building the characters’ faces in your mind, building the places, imagining how the characters’ houses looked, how the action played out, how the characters talked, how they betrayed, died, or loved—that’s the one you’ll remember.
You can still smell the novel you read 30 years ago. You can still feel the characters’ emotions. You can still quote the lines that were written in that book. That’s what real reading is.
Would you ever, ever think of that academic book you read in high school? Absolutely not—because it was read forcefully. You didn’t read it with pleasure. Books are like memories. Just like the memories you made with your friends, the adventures you went on—those are what come to mind. Not the chores.
Yes, you can absolutely read 100 books a year. I’m not saying you shouldn’t. I’m just saying—if you have to force yourself to read those 100 books, then, boy, you’re doing something wrong.
Life is about the journey, not the destination. If I ask you a simple question: “What would you achieve by forcefully reading 100 books?” Sure, your friends might say, “Wow, that’s a real reader.” You’ll feel happy that you read 100 books and were consistent. But what about 20 years later?
READING IS NOT JUST READING—IT’S A LIFE TO BE LIVED.
You can downvote this post or leave hate comments, but take 5 minutes to reflect on what you’re really doing.
by Book_Lover_fiction
9 Comments
I didn’t feel sad when this post was about to end. Instead, I felt happy and tried to read faster so I could finish it—as if it was a chore.
I feel this post so much.
Don’t dictate what memories I have. I don’t even have that right. My brain just takes whatever sticks to the wall like spaghetti.
Also, I might not remember every scene or word or whatever, but I might remember the good vibes of just the act of reading, regardless of if that “one” book was what I read or the hundred. Sometimes reading is just a vibe in itself.
Read more.
Who are ‘these people?” Why do they affect your life?
Aren’t you more likely to find the one book if you read 100
And isnt 100 probably more about how much time a person had than how rushed they are taking it
Or just let people read however much they want? Lol
“most people” = a very teeny, tiny minority of readers who happen to publicise their reading habits on the internet.
In the real world, “most people” don’t care what others are reading, how fast they are reading or how many books they are reading.
The internet is one big fat lie, don’t get sucked in.
Who are these people? Are these people real?
I read a lot. I don’t compare my stats to anyone and no one cares. Literally no one. Not even me. I read because I prefer it to doom scrolling or half paying attention to a TV show while I doom scroll. As a result, I read a lot of books. Do I remember all of them? No. Are they all worth remembering? No. But I remember the ones that made an impact and they hold a special place in my heart.
I think making reading into some sacrosanct, ceremonious task where you have to like imbue every word into your soul is kind of weird. But hey, you do you and I’ll do me. Enjoy your books!
I generally agree with the spirit of this post but both dynamics are important to me as a reader (at least to some degree.) I certainly want to enjoy and digest what I’m reading. But I also want to read a decent volume (to me that means 10-12 thousand pages/year), so that I cover more ground as there’s so much I want to read!