Why Read A Book?


Brilliant Why start reading a book?
Brilliant Why stop reading a book?
Brilliant Why not start reading a book?

See also the pages on the project to write a 50,000-word novel in November - National Novel Writing Month:

Why start reading a book?

  1. You've loved (or at least appreciated) some other book by the author of the book in your hand. e.g. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro or Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood or The Body Artist by Don DeLillo or anything by Terry Pratchett.

  2. It's a book by recommended or admired by one of your favorite authors.

  3. It's recommended by someone (perhaps a friend, perhaps a professional critic) in a way that makes it sound as if it would be worthwhile for you to read.

  4. It's on a topic or in a style or genre of immense interest to you. [Sometimes the interest does not actually have to be immense. We are indebted to social critic Robert Holbrook, Esq., for bringing this to our attention.]

  5. For its craft: for example, you want to see how they develop tragedy or humor or how the author reworked a known story (like John Steinbeck with biblical stories).

Why stop reading any book?

The book is:

  1. Boring.
    However, social critic Robert Holbrook, Esq., finds us a little harsh in this area and comments: "A wrinkle on boring. More than once I have put down a book by Dostoevsky for being boring. And on these occasions, when I came back to the book, I found that the plot shot forward on the next page. The point is that when you're reading a classic, you can have a bit more faith that the current boring patch will not be sustained."

  2. Badly written.
    However, we acknowledge that in the heat of irritation, we sometimes apply this term to a book that is not badly written by current conventions, but whose style simply does not suit us. We are indebted to social critic Robert Holbrook, Esq., for bringing this to our attention.

  3. Pretentious.

  4. Clichéd.

  5. Another book has captivated you.
    This point was raised by social critic Robert Holbrook, Esq. And he is right! I, for example, have currently 92 abandoned-but-eventually-to-be-finished-I-hope books on my 'incomplete' shelf.

  6. Did I mention boring?

Why never to start spending your precious time reading some book:

  1. Someone tells you that you should read this book. Especially if their reason is religious or political.

  2. The enthusiast is unable to tell why they like the book.

  3. The enthusiast is unable to tell why you might like the book.