Should you read for fun?
Do you think reading should be fun? Why or why not? Keep reading, then leave a comment to join this dialogue. And be sure to check out today’s writing prompt at the bottom of this post.
According to an article published in the New York Times a few weeks ago, fewer people are reading for fun. And it makes sense, sadly, given our deteriorating educational systems (public and private) and a swath of other things going on in our society like the steady rise of book bans, the explosion of A.I.-generated content, a growing aversion to critical thinking of any kind, and so on.
I was fortunate enough to be raised as a reader. I was constantly read to, and was often escorted to libraries and used bookstores. I was also constantly around people who were reading, which encouraged me to read. So, it is not lost on me that my reading habits were not developed by some happy accident. I was shown how to be a reader and was encouraged to remain a reader throughout my life. It is also no coincidence that I ended up earning a master’s in English either, or that I spent many years teaching and tutoring others how to read and write, or that I write this Substack.
Now, I didn’t bring all of that up to brag or shame anyone about their own history with reading. Quite the contrary. I brought up a brief version of my history with reading to illustrate how for someone like me not reading doesn’t really seem like an option and doesn’t really compute. Reading is so habitual for me, so integral to who I am as a person and how I process the world and do what I do, that I can’t imagine not doing it. Honestly, I don’t know how I would function in this world if I didn’t read and write every day at this point in my life. But because of this, I also felt like I needed to seriously ask myself whether or not I really read ‘for fun’ either. And the truth is, I don’t think I do. Not all the time anyway. Yet is that really a problem?
Ever since I read that New York Times article mentioned above, I have been asking myself over and over again: Do you read for fun? And my answer is always: It depends. The follow-up question to that answer is naturally: On what does it depend? And the answer to that follow-up question is always: Well, what are you reading and why are you reading it in the first place? To which the answers always vary— answers that, I think, hold the real value of reading.
I think it’s a good thing if you aren’t always reading for pleasure, for fun, for mere entertainment. But I think it’s okay if sometimes you do, too, especially once you’re out of school. There are so many reasons to read, and I think that’s important to remember and celebrate. Why you read, and that you continue to read, is more important than whether you read purely for pleasure or not. Meaning: Enjoying the habit of reading isn’t the same thing as reading for pleasure or fun.
We may not all want to read books for the same reason after our formal education has come to an end. When we’re in school, we’re instructed to read books to learn facts and information. Sadly, not many of us are ever taught to read books for pleasure or entertainment when we’re in school, however—or instructed to read books to understand another person’s perspective or to satiate our own curiosity outside of a provided curriculum. And I believe this has had damaging long-term consequences for both readers and society, this insistence on teaching reading as a means to an end (like a test) instead of teaching reading as an evolving life-long habit that can be enjoyable and rewarding, too.
Ultimately, once you’re done with your formal education, whether you continue to read or not likely depends on why you want to continue to read. And why you continue to read dictates whether you enjoy reading. No? I’m not here to shame anyone about their reading habits or reading history, truly. But it is important to take a moment to reflect on them.
I believe we’d all read more books, and enjoy reading a more diverse pool of books, if we questioned why we read, or better yet, if we questioned why we enjoy reading itself and focused on that instead.
What would happen if more of us celebrated and encouraged reading more books for reasons outside of traditional rote learning or mere entertainment?
Any book you read will teach you something, but are you open to everything that book can teach you, which may or may not always be pleasurable?
When was the last time you read a book simply because you felt like reading something?
When was the last time you read a book because you were curious about its content?
When was the last time you read to better understand someone who has a different background than you by reading a book they wrote?
When was the last time you were fully immersed in a story from a different time and place whether it was pleasurable or not?
When was the last time you read something that sparked deep empathy within you for someone you’ve never met whether it was pleasurable or not?
“Reading is very important—read between the lines. Don't swallow everything.”
—Gwendolyn Brooks
"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one." — George R.R. Martin
"Once you learn to read, you will be forever free." — Frederick Douglass
"To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting." — Edmund Burke
"Books are the training weights of the mind." — Epictetus
"We read to know we are not alone." — William Nicholson
"Books are mirrors: You only see in them what you already have inside you." — Carlos Ruiz Zafón
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© All Rights Reserved by K.E. Creighton; Creighton’s Compositions LLC.
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Today’s Writing Prompt
Writing Prompt: Fun
Write a scene in which one or more people are having fun.
Writing Tip
Before you begin writing, consider: Who is in this scene? How old are they? What are they doing, where, and why do they think it's fun?
Be sure to share what you write for any of the daily writing prompts in a subscriber chat thread so we can read and discuss what you wrote.
