Book Snails Book Group discussion

I started a new folder to be eventually filled with various topics related to books and reading. In this thread, let's talk about how books have impacted our lives.

10 Things Reading Has Done For Me:

1) It has kept me relatively sane and mostly un-bored.
2) It allows me to travel (mentally) on the cheap.
3) Being an avid reader made college a bit less painful: long reading assignments and even word problems didn't always totally suck.
4) It allows me to perplex non-readers, who don't understand the need for dozens hundreds of books in a home.
5) It keeps me out of bars, mostly. I keep hoping for a bookstore with a bar, though.
6) Reading makes rainy/stormy days even more awesome.
7) Reading is a great companion for insomnia... and sometimes the cause.
8) It has inspired me to do some writing of my own (nanowrimo.org, etc.)
9) It allows for those fun "book vs. movie" conversations.
10) Reading helps me meet interesting people, both fictional and real-life.

StarMan took all of my good points (or was I going to steal them from him! Muahhhhh!!!!).

Reading allows me to have "ME TIME". I can not begin to explain how busy my day is every single day of the week. I am a stay at home mom and unschooling teacher to our 11 year old. Plus I have an 18 year old step-daughter who is in week 4 of her military training. I usually get down time for myself between 1am and 3am and I use that to either be on goodreads.com or reading my current selection. It makes it hard with the sleep being an issue, but if I didn't have that time for myself, I would go insane. Reading allows me to go someplace that I might never be able to go in real life whether because it's fictional or no money to travel there. It helps me to calm down if it's been a stressful day. Of course, not if it's a scary book. haha! It's an inexpensive treat to go to book sales and increase my inventory. I don't have a ton right now as I just got back into reading. I have about 50-75 books. However, if we ever get into a bigger place, one room would be dedicated to having a library and I would allow friends and family to come and "checkout" books.

StarMan, that's an excellent list, and I agree with all of those things, especially the book store with a bar - that would be great!

Julie, I definitely agree about "me time," and reading helping you to calm down after a stressful day. I hope you can start getting more sleep. :( It sounds like you have a very full plate.

I don't think I've ever appreciated books as much as when I've desperately needed to "escape" (not that I don't appreciate them the rest of the time, of course). Whether it's escaping something in my own mind, like a stressful situation that I'm trying to take my mind off of; or something external, like a raving lunatic (ex-)boyfriend I'm trying to block out, nothing beats a good book. (Tip: I learned from experience, by pure chance, that if one happens to encounter a particularly hilarious scene in a book which makes one laugh until she has tears running down her face, while previously mentioned lunatic boyfriend is fuming at one, then one gets the added bonus of sending said boyfriend storming out of the room to brood - Yay!) There are times that a book soothes the soul in ways that nothing else can. :)

Way to go, Elise! Lunatic bf defeated by book :)

Julie, hope you get some more "me" time...

Isn't it nice how having a book open in front of you discourages most people from disturbing you? Especially in public; with family, results may vary.

StarMan wrote: "Way to go, Elise! Lunatic bf defeated by book :)

Julie, hope you get some more "me" time...

Isn't it nice how having a book open in front of you discourages most people from disturbing you? Espec..."

Public yes, my son and hubby, Heck No! LOL

StarMan, I'm sure that incident contributed to the fact that the author went shooting up my favorites list. ;)

My kitties don't interrupt me too much when I'm reading, but people always seem to know if I've decided to have a nice, quiet, curl-up-with-a-book evening, and I start getting flooded with texts. And people are very inconsiderate when I try to read at work - they just won't leave me alone. ;(‎
‎

I agree with all the points made here. I'm an only child and I don't remember a time that I didn't love books. They were always my best friends. I always had to have a stack of Golden books with me and a couple of coloring books too.
I still always have to carry my book with me every where I go. A few free minutes can be put to good use. BTW I don't carry coloring books anymore and no I haven't tried the adult one's yet, because I'm afraid I'll get hooked and cut into my reading time.

Reading has always been a part of my life. As far back as I can remember, which is about the age of 2, my grandmother would read to me constantly. It got to the point where I would ask her to read me my favorite book at the time (The Baby Unicorn) three times in a row, and she got fed up and taught me to read! So I've been reading on my own since I was about 3.

I remember being 7 years old, having a friend over, and making them choose a book off my shelf to read so I could read, too. One time the same friend told me that I was super boring and tried to use "book worm" as an insult, but I didn't care. There were all these magical worlds they were missing out on!

My love of reading is actually what helped me choose my college major. I went in as a history major, and graduated with a BA in English and writing. Now I'm a librarian, and I'm working on my first novel!

I've just always loved reading. My father and aunt do, too, and we share books a lot. My mom will read occasionally, and usually reads books about the ocean and summer, things like Elin Hilderbrand, and my brother, who's younger than me, hates reading. He's never been able to sit in one spot and focus on something for that long, unless it's a superhero movie. He'd rather be outside playing football or soccer :)

But my love of reading, which I think stems from my grandmother, has certainly had an impact on my life. I've got a great job that I like a lot, and I like to think that books can also culture you in a way, too. Have I ever been to Europe or Asia? No, but I've been to Hogwarts, and Narnia, and Britain in WWII. Like StarMan said, books allow you to "travel" and, even though a lot of them are fiction, when you read them, you live in that world with those characters, too.

Debbie wrote: "I agree with all the points made here. I'm an only child and I don't remember a time that I didn't love books. They were always my best friends. I always had to have a stack of Golden books with me..."

Hi Debbie, I have tried adult coloring books and I think the kid coloring books are more fun and aren't as prone to giving me carpal tunnel than the adult ones. Way too many small areas and it took way too long to color one page. LOL

Kelsey wrote: "Reading has always been a part of my life. As far back as I can remember, which is about the age of 2, my grandmother would read to me constantly. It got to the point where I would ask her to read ..."

Thank you for sharing your story. I love your Grandma. Reading is beyond important in all children's lives. It adds so many positives that are invaluable.

I'm bumping this thread a bit to give my own story.

I am an only child. So I played alone and with imaginary "friends" a lot as a kid. Once I was able to go to school, I made lots of real friend but still had to go home alone. My mother didn't really read to me, but she was always there for me. When she passed, I was devastated. I was only 10 years old. It was extremely hard. My aunt (her sister) took me in and had heard of this new series that was coming out. She thought it would be good for me to have something to do, a new outlet, to help me cope with my mom's death. That series was Harry Potter.

To this day, I re-read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone anytime I have a family death (I read it twice in a row 2 years ago when my uncle died in a freak work accident and my young cousin committed suicide). It will remain my favorite series of all time.

My love of reading began because I needed a place to go. It still remains my go to things to do in high stress/anxiety inducing situations. For me, reading IS my life.

I used to read a lot as a child, mainly comic books, but I still read. Then I grew up, moved cities, went to college, got a job and a boyfriend and reading was all but forgotten. I still feel a pang of guilt when I think of those years that I did not read. Luckily, I realized what was missing from my life and I cut down on watching tv for 4 hours straight and stopped to while away my time, picked up a book and ever since, I have read every single day. It has been 5 years since then and I have changed jobs, got married, moved to a different country and reading has been one of the constant thing in my life. I read when I want to relax, when I want to be entertained even when I want to distract my mind from an unsettling thought. Reading has been an escape for me as well as a grounding experience keeping me stable in all the dynamics. I can keep talking about it but I think it's enough for today. I'm gonna go read now.

Which generation reads the most?

Fun statistics in infographics form, comparing the reading habits of 5 generations:

https://the-digital-reader.com/2020/0...

StarMan wrote: "Which generation reads the most?

Fun statistics in infographics form, comparing the reading habits of 5 generations:

https://the-digital-reader.com/2020/0......"

Fascinating - thanks, StarMan!