Until I was 16 years old, I absolutely HATED reading. Opening a book was like taking a sleeping pill. But one day everything changed. A friend of mine, who is completely obsessed with books, came to me and asked “Why the hell do you hate reading books???”, and at that moment I didn’t know the answer, so she told me to read “Legend”, one of her favorite books. And to my surprise… I really enjoyed reading it.
So here I am today, giving you guys three tips to get started in the magical world of reading books.
Start with something light
This may sound obvious, but it is a great tip. If you are not used to reading, and not familiar with some of the famous titles, you probably don’t know what to expect. Some incredible books have a hard reading with a hard vocabulary and loads of descriptions, that if you aren’t familiar with, you will get stuck and will give up reading before even enjoying any of that.
“Game of Thrones” and “Lord of the Rings” are popular fantasy books that I love, however, sometimes people say they are “too hard to read”, because of the long descriptions and length, so maybe you won’t be able to enjoy it as much (at least for the first read.) So start with some lighter and short books like “The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy”, and slowly create the habit of reading before going to bigger challenges.
Consistency
As I said in the previous tip, creating the habit of reading is the key to becoming a reader. You need to try reading every day! It doesn’t matter if you read 50 pages or 10, reading consistently will improve your capability to absorb the book and you will be able to read faster each day, and when you least expect you will be reading amounts of pages you never thought you would be able to.
Find your genre
I think this is the most important tip. Remember when I said that I couldn’t explain why I hated reading? Well, after reading a few books, I realized that the problem was that I had never read a book that I liked. Just like that. We often come across books in genres that we don't like and that's okay.
I discovered that I love investigative books, and once I started reading them I just couldn't stop. I read the entire “Sherlock Holmes” collection all at once. I also discovered that I really like fantasy when I read “The Hobbit”, and since then, I've always been looking for new worlds with new magic and creatures.
So don't worry if you don't like a book, just keep trying and I'm sure you'll find something you like, and when that happens, you won't be able to give up the reading habit.
That's it for today, folks. If you're just starting out with books, I hope these tips help you find your way through this incredible hobby. And if you're already a natural reader like me, don't forget to encourage your beginner friends and recommend good books to them.
And if you want suggestions and ideas, here are some books that I loved reading:
Fantasy:
“A Song of Ice and Fire” - George R. R. Martin
“The Last Wish” - Andrzej Sapkowski
“The Golden Compass” - Philip Pullman
Investigative :
“The Chalk Man” - C. J. Tudor
“Summit Lake” - Charlie Donlea
See you soon, and keep up with the drama,
Oliver
Comments