FAQs about Reading

Reading has become an online phenomenon in last couple of years. Although every reader has a personal preference, a balance between printed and digital books has been achieved. With platforms like Bookchor providing online buying and selling of second hand books, many books and readers have been united when hope seemed lost. With Instagram cracking the code for most appealing feature for humans - a platform for (visually appealing) pictures - book bloggers are getting visibility as #Bookstagrammers (more on that in another post later). Books on Toast has taken up the trend to another level with its quirky reviews and interviews. What I am saying is, apart from the last weekend when Avengers: Endgame and The Long Night were trending, reading books has been getting a lot of attention.

I have a reputation of someone who reads a lot in my circle given I talk about reading a lot. I have recently realised that I am selective about the books I pick up, usually literary fictions. I read a few authors and even fewer genres. I haven’t willingly picked up poem collections or a drama. I have begun seeing the importance of non-fiction in last couple of years (it’s strange because I read Khushwant Singh’s The End of India long ago and loved it). The only reason I have read any genre apart from novels is because I studied English Literature for five years, excluding the comics that I grew up with.

I often find myself in a dilemma when I am asked for suggesting a ‘good’ book. Good is such a generic adjective. I begin a question spree trying to decipher what the speaker means by good only to realise he/she/they has no idea. With the plethora of summer reading lists available online, I thought a blogpost on FAQs about reading might help some.

HOW DO I BEGIN READING?

You have already begun. Acknowledge that reading the articles with false, provoking titles is also reading. Spending time on social media or whatsapp is reading. (If you have been my friend at any point of time then you’re a pro at reading because I write unsystematic essays aka rants over text messages.) It’s important to know that you have been reading all your life even if you haven’t consciously picked up a book.

Reading that first book becomes a lot easier without the assumption - ‘I have never read before’. It can be challenging yet it feels good to know that if you could read an annoyingly lengthy forwarded whatsapp message then you can read a book too.

You might fall in love with the first book you read. You might not become an obsessive reader immediately (which seems to be the goal these days). That’s okay. Reading is a habit that’s cultivated over a period of time. Be patient.  

WHAT KINDS OF BOOKS SHOULD I READ?

Read anything. I am often met with statements like, “Suggest good books, not Chetan Bhagat or chicklits.” It becomes ten times more difficult to make a suggestion simply because I began reading novels by the two categories that the person has already eliminated. I cannot imagine reading Rushdie or Ghosh or Murakami without The Twilight Series or Chetan Bhagat or Cecelia Ahern.

Enter the world of reading books without preconceived notions. Read anything till you know your preferences. If you want to experiment with many genres then pick up the syllabus of any university that provides a literature course in languages you’re comfortable with. Also, once you find your comfort zone, make sure you step out of it once in a while to remain flexible – Pick a book that you think you won’t like.

Reading book is NOT confined to reading in English. I have been guilty of this and I often find people who don’t consider reading in any other languages simply because it’s not even a passing thought.

WHAT SHOULD BE MY READING SPEED?

Whether or not we consciously choose it to become an obsession, reading speed becomes one. Being able to complete a novel in a day if not two used to give me a sense of achievement that helped me deal with the fact that I don’t understand Physics at all. My reading speed made me feel good about myself.

However, in last couple of years I have realised that I am unable to read as fast as I used to. I don’t have the time or the carefree attitude of not having to worry about what to do next in life. As much as my reading speed had made me feel good in school, it made me feel like a failure equally when I wasn’t able to complete reading a book.

Reading speed depends on many factors. Sometimes we get along almost immediately with some authors and genres. At other times we keep reading one paragraph or a line over and over again with the inability to comprehend it. I would say reading speed shouldn’t be a stress mark on anyone’s forehead.

It’s okay to leave books half-read. I have forced myself over the years to complete every book I picked up only to leave most of the books half-read last year. Sometimes we just don’t have the mind space for certain books and that’s okay.

HOW MANY BOOKS SHOULD I READ?

Does it matter? After (/If) you’re done experimenting or when you find your comfort authors or poets or genres, choose quality over quantity. If you are always open to reading any book, then that’s amazing too. 

There are too many books out there. It’s okay to feel like Samwell Tarly in Citadel library (can’t help Game of Thrones references at this point) but it’s important to know that we cannot reach each and every book and even we do, we cannot read them all. Moreover, we don’t have the agency to read them all. So, read as much as you can, pushing yourself for more, gradually. Remember that there will always be more books unread than read. DO NOT panic if you don’t have the time to read. I often suggest people to carry a book all the time, use the lunch breaks or metro rides if possible.

If setting a goal like a particular number of books in a month or year helps, do it. All I am saying is that to be careful about turning it into an unhealthy competition with others or yourself.

HOW DO I GET OUT OF READER’S BLOCK?

Reader’s block, like pain, demands to be felt. You cannot dismiss it, you cannot ignore it. The worst thing you can do is attempt to get rid of it. Respect the block; let it take its toll on you. This is when it’s important to have a life beyond books. Stop obsessing about it, and it eventually leaves. This is when I say, you don’t choose books to read, books choose you to read them.

It’s important to distinguish reader’s block from book hangover. When you read a book that you like a lot, it can be difficult to pick up another book immediately. If you want to speed up the process of getting rid of hangover, you can discuss about the book, write about it, read what others have to say about it, watch/read author interviews or just wait it out till it stops affecting you actively.

Having said so, the purpose of reading can vary from person to person. I always suggest people to read books because they expose us to different lives, stories, experiences. Novels were my gateway to the world. The idea of one life where we might or might not fit in is scary. What’s scarier is the idea that our way of living is the only way or the correct way of living.  I am alarmed by the idea of books becoming the only yardstick to judge people. Reading is a habit that takes time to be developed. It's not everyone's cup of tea (if you're a literature student active in an academic course, nothing applies, make it your cup of tea no matter how good coffee tastes!). I keep finding people who force their way into reading because its trending, when they can have similar experiences by watching Youtube videos or travelling. With the access to visual media and internet, books are no longer the only agency for exposure. Books are just one of the many sources we have. My preferred source, any day!