Why I read
I was asked this by someone who doesn't and got stumped because I thought it is obvious. Turns out it isn't. So here it is....
I think everyone has an addiction.
Mine is ideas. The pusher is a book.
I completely admit that I self-medicate with books and through reading. I cannot, in all good conscience, affirm or deny if this is a better way to deal with “reality” than any other drug. I lose time, I avoid friends, I get lost in the drug, I don’t care. Books are a lot better than real life. I say this with assurance, and will fight anyone who says differently.
People who read have a built-in layer of protection against the world. And yes, the world is something we all need protection from. It may sound odd or as if I have been hurt ( I mean, who hasn’t?). If you love books too, then you automatically understand this. If you don’t, try different books. Try anything. You won’t always find your match, but you might find something. Don’t give up. We all need that protection.
I am still trying to read every book there is. Not because I need the protection (although, maybe I do). Some of them are just not for me, and do not offer what I need at the time. Going through a breakup, I have no interest in rom-coms. Feeling scared, alone and broken, like I always do at the holidays (lots of people who have no family feel this way), combined with this breakup, had me reading cookbooks. I could offer myself comfort by cooking. So I did.
Moods for books change in response to what is happening in your life. I also read science a lot. Facts are better than emotions when you are in your feels. And sometimes it is self-help based on science, because when you are feeling broken, as I do during the holidays, you ask for help. Or try to.
In books, the shitheads are thrown in jail, get a comeuppupance, or are (in some very satisfying cases) blown up. In reality, they are your ex-boyfriend, your boss or the bitch down the street. And sometimes, you don’t ever get to know what happened to the shithead. I mean, we don’t even know if Anastasia was, in fact, Anastasia. (Although Once Upon a December is awesome). So there is that.
I am the party guest who wanders over to the bookshelves to see what the host reads. It gives me a great sense of who they are, and I adjust accordingly. It helps me lubricate socially and gives me a starting point for conversation.
I am never the person who wants to read about something objectively awful happening to someone who is not me, because I just end up with all sorts of empathy, and it becomes a hopeless cycle. Not helpful or forward. So I sometimes put the book down and return it to the library or give it away. No harm, no foul.
The point here is that books chase your mood. You should let them.
So, in the interest of starting a conversation about this, what is chasing your mood right now? What are YOU reading?