Never reads!

I learnt to read at an early age ( having a strict mother who didn't like my playing with the rough ( her words ) children in the street - my choices were limited ) and I also enjoy writing .
I have some dyslexic friends and those skills are a nightmare for them .
I have friends , who aren't dyslexic and they just hate reading and writing .

We are all different .

I have friends who are great , but neither of us would enjoy a holiday together :
they like sunbathing or shopping all day every day .
I like a browse round the shops for something interesting and local and have to limit my sunbathing as my skin is so freckly and touchy .
I would rather research the history ,visit old buildings -take photographs of them and perhaps , sketch or paint them .

I also enjoy collecting wild flowers where allowed , pressing and identifying them .

Most of my friends would be bored senseless !

Let's celebrate the diversity of people !

The only two people in my family who never read are my husband ( not read book since leaving school!) and my son -in -law rarely reads! My two kids and two grandkids are avid readers! And me of course.

…..Life without a book in my hand would seem strange indeed!🤔

I love to read and have done since I was a child. My two daughters are both readers too. My son is dyslexic and although he does read he finds it difficult so can turn into a chore. All my grandchildren are avid readers.

I used to read but not anymore - is it due to my varifocals? Can’t hold a book in bed? Words just jump all over the place.
Don’t remember what I’ve read either!
I envy the bookworms

I used to read a lot when I was commuting on the train but read very little now, other than for the book club.

Reading has always been a joy and belonging to a local readers' group has brought me like-minded friends. I also write reviews on new books for the local press and would read all day if I could. It's almost a drug and now that I have to rely on public transport, I don't mind delays with a book in my bag!

Our DD used to say how glad she was that DH and I were both readers, because it was a good example to her boys. One of them is still hooked on stories (history at uni), the other never engaged in the same way.
As for DD, she never reads herself, which I regret. Talking about books with a kindred spirit can be such a source of pleasure.
But, as others have said, we are all different.

No because I think it is up to the individual. I like to read now and again but mostly making things cheers me up. Knitting, crocheting, watercolour painting, playing the ukulele, doing glass painting, embroidery.

My first post here, hi everyone. I’ve always been an avid reader & wouldn’t judge anyone who isn’t, but do feel they’re missing out. We’re thrilled that our 2.5 yr old Granddaughter loves books & memorises them, narrating to herself in her cot at night.
For anyone who finds it difficult to read a book, I can highly recommend audiobooks - I admit to being addicted to them & they make the dullest task much more enjoyable. Having just had major eye surgery, I’m very grateful to have a huge audio library at hand.

I too am a bookworm. One daughter is too, the daughter has always hated reading with a passion.

I just love to curl up with a good book and books are always taken on holidays!

Both my children grew up surrounded by books and I read stories to them - together and separately - at bedtime and other times throughout their childhoods. DD still reads, although not as avidly as I do; DS loved being read to but never really took to reading fiction - he and his dad both prefer reading technical maths /engineering /computer stuff, sometimes from books but more often these days on the internet. I do believe we all need stories, but suspect a lot of young people nowadays get their story 'fix' from video games, film and TV rather than books. I don't think there is anything wrong with this but I do think children should be offered plenty of books from the earliest age, so that they have a broad and genuine choice of where they get their stories from.

Horses for courses, we're all different, wouldn't do for us all to have exactly the same interests.

I grew up failing to make my library books last the week but as life got busy with work, and then as an academic, I found reading became functional rather than a pleasure. I learnt to skim read long documents and pick out the pertinent bits; I read thousands of essays which needed to be marked and given detailed, kind and constructive feedback. I didn't want more reading when I got home! After retirement I have slowly been feeling my way back into reading but I'm very picky and will discard a book if I am irritated by the style of prose, poor structure or simply not enjoying it. There are plenty of other things to do, particularly online and also writing. I don't feel I miss out by reading less than I did when I was a teenaged 'literary vacuum cleaner' and notice that one of my children hardly ever picks up a book now - and not for want of ability as he's waded through the entire LOTR series in the past! These days, most young people read online so I wouldn't worry if someone isn't picking up novels etc as they are probably reading and communicating in different ways. Online gaming, for example, can be very engaging, creative and challenging requiring multi-dimensional processing and memory rather than using the linear format of traditional text. At some point in the future I think it's likely that people will turn away from the internet and return to the simplicity of reading paper, like they have vinyl!

I was the child with her head stuck in a book ,when my mother insisted I go out to play I took my book and found a quiet corner to read it.I dont read much now and can go for months without picking up a book.I dont feel deprived by it though ,its just now life is.My daughter reads a lot ,my son only for information ,no book for pleasure ,just a fact finding mission.My OH is similar but he was diagnosed with dyslexia when the 2nd of my GC was diagnosed in high school.We had been saying for the whole of primary school we thought she was dyslexic but the teachers knew better!!
OH ,saw many similarities in himself so had it checked out.It didn't impinge on his life a great deal he just couldn't read contracts etc unless he had time and a quiet space to do it in.
I'm very proud of the fact he has built up businesses not knowing he had an issue and certainly not judgemental of him not reading for pleasure

Bookworms and Extroverts Unite!
You can still be a voracious reader, learning new things AND be a social butterfly. Actually these people are far more interesting to me. They exhibit a curiosity for life.
🦋 USA Gundy

I go mad if I haven’t got a book (or Kindle) to read.

If a book doesn’t grab me after the first dozen or so pages, I won’t go on with it though. Ploughing through books I wasn’t enjoying ended with school/uni exams - though I still found myself at over 50, ‘ploughing’ through a couple (out of 10 or a dozen) on an OU Eng Lit module.

I'm inclined to agree with others, there are generational differences, we all grew up in a time when there was precious little television, so we were forced to make our own entertainment and reading was one such way of keeping ourselves from being bored. I grew up in a house that was crammed with books so much so, some were piled up on the floor sometimes. My father was not a diy person, in fact a bit useless in that respect, and my mother was prone to say from time to time, "before you get married, make sure whoever you marry can put up shelves!" with a sidelong glance at my father, conveying to me that was some pre requisite for a happy shared existence. I vividly remember my visits to libraries from the earliest age and treasured books at birthdays and Christmas.

I did the same for my own children, one is a voracious reader still, I'm pleased to say, the other, apart from devouring the Harry Potters back in his school days, hardly ever picks up a book, apart from his small stash of his own personal "bibles" not in the religious sense, but books pertaining to exercise, diet and wellness all of that. It is fair to say they, as other have stated, access all manner of information pertinent to their lives and interests via their devices, and it can be serious and lengthy material, so that's reading of sorts it's just a different medium to books. My grandchildren loved their books when they were little, and I think they always have one on the go, but they come to ours armed with their gadgetry, which they do swear they're only allowed at the week-ends at which time any book gets kicked into the long grass.

When one of my step grandchildren hit a significant birthday a while ago, when asked by friends what she would like, she replied "just give me the best book you've ever read" thought that was a great idea.

My husband is an avid reader, God he gets through books in a nano second, his preferred genre is crime, but occasionally he deviates, my choices are more eclectic, I always have a book or two on the go, it's how I switch off. Books have always been a source of joy, but I have to admit, distractions are many and sometimes I find it harder to switch off completely, I had the same problem with yoga. Just zoning out I swear it never used to be this difficult.

I know someone who says he has never read a book in his life. However his practical skills are second to none. He can visualise how things should be or how things work. I guess it's how our brains are wired.

DH, DS, DiL, DD, DGD and myself avid readers. DSiL not at all and DGS has to be “encouraged”. I can’t imagine life without reading but don’t judge - well not much! 😂

I learned to read when I was very young, about three. It was the only thing I excelled at! I can’t remember a time since then that I haven’t had a book although of course when you have small children your reading time is very limited! My two DD do read but nothing as much as I do. The grandchildren sadly would prefer a screen. I have several friends who never read books, I find it a bit strange, but don’t judge them.

At junior school age we never had many books at home that I can recall. I do remember reading ‘Alice in Wonderland’ home alone when I was about 9y - off school and unwell for some reason. Was a bit scared to be in the house on my own too I remember! Maybe that’s why the book I read stays in my memory. Mum worked in a shop part time further up the road. No telephone in those days for us either. “Stay in bed. Keep warm. I’ll be home at lunchtime and here’s a banana by the bed for your snack.”

I was an avid reader. I’m sure I’m not the only kid of that age who, if sat eating at the table on my own, would read the label on the bottle of HP sauce. Or the cereal packet - I can still remember ‘riboflavin’ and ‘nyocin’ in (sp?) in the list of contents!

Happy Days. 😁

I am an avid reader and like Urmstongran would read the back of a bottle of ketchup as my mother did before me. I drive my husband mad when we are out because he loses me as I read notice boards, every label at a museum, etc.

My daughters are bookworms, the sons less so. The boys read for research purposes only whilst the girls read for the love of reading as well as for research. Horses for courses and all that!

Read much as a child and taught mine all their letters and how to read at varying rates before they started school. One was away at 3 1/2 and is still a sponge for information in his 40s. He just reads everything everywhere not just books but anything written anywhere.

I am a reader and come from a family of readers, my own children all read and my teenage Granddaughter is never without a book. My youngest stepson was an avid reader until he went to Secondary school and then refused to read as he said he would be bullied if his classmates knew he liked to read.