Why Do You Read Books?

Confessions Of An Omnivorous Bibliophile

Photo by Mark Cruzat

I fell in love with reading in my teens.

As a dedicated “C student,” I had zero interest in recreational reading until the middle of high school. It probably began with an enthusiastic English teacher assigning—and actually convincing me to read—F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. Mind blown.

I later started a punk band with another kid from that class, but it was our lead guitarist who handed me a copy of Kurt Vonnegut’s Deadeye Dick. That was the first time somebody my age recommended a book to me.

Something clicked. I was hooked.

Early on, reading was all about exploring different takes on society through the experiences and insights of flawed “literary father figures.”

I was initially drawn to outsider perspectives that loosely aligned with my love of unhinged rock and roll (often driven by my romanticized ideas about alcohol and drug use)—Vonnegut, Jack Kerouac, Albert Camus, Hunter Thompson, Charles Bukowski, Raymond Chandler, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jim Carroll, J.D. Salinger.

Not a terribly surprising list for an angsty SoCal teen in the ‘80s, but those writers demystified the dark corners that drew my prurient interests. Most crucially, they challenged many of the fixed worldviews I’d been introduced to by my family, teachers, little league coaches, and youth group leaders during childhood.

I soon got the same thrill roaming bookstore aisles as I did flipping though vinyl and CDs at record shops.

My self-education in literature got more formal in college where I discovered Joan Didion, John Hawkes, Toni Morrison, Jorge Luis Borges, Katherine Dunn, Mikhail Bulgakov, John Osborne, and many others. In the years after college I fell for E. Annie Proulx, Martin Amis, Bohumil Hrabal, Phillip K. Dick, Donna Tartt, Neal Stephenson, Jennifer Egan, Haruki Murakami, and David Eggers.

I indulged in YA literature along the way, starting with Harry Potter (on my own and with my kids) and Philip Pullman’s ‘His Dark Materials’ series before unabashedly sinking my teeth into the Twilight books. Just last year I read Tracy Wolff’s Crave.

In the mid-2000s, mainstream thrillers by Stieg Larsson, Dan Brown, Arnaldur Indriðason and Jo Nesbo led me back down the rabbit hole to the crime/mystery fiction of Don Winslow, Kem Nunn, Louise Penny, Alex Segura, Gillian Flynn and Blake Crouch. (Which led to publishing a handful of my own crime novels.)

These days I mostly read music non-fiction and literary fiction, with a little crime/mystery mixed in. The cadence goes something like this:

• 33 1/3: ‘70s Teen Pop by Lucretia Tye Jasmine

• The Trees by Percival Everett

• Euphoric Recall by Peter Jesperson

• 33 1/3: The Go-Go’s Beauty and the Beat by Lisa Whittington-Hill

• Live From The Underground: A History of College Radio by Katherine Rye Jewel

• Yellowface by R.F. Kuang

• Dark Ride by Lou Berney

• I Don’t Fit In by Paul Collins

• My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

I’m currently reading Barbara Kingsolver’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Demon Copperhead, a beautifully brutal modern-day Huck Finn tale for the OxyContin crowd. Next up is Darren Paltrowitz’s DLR Book: How David Lee Roth Changed the World.

Might as well jump.

I still like being challenged by books.

Don’t get me wrong, I derive a lot of pleasure from reading as well—and a fair amount of luxurious escapism—but in my experience, embracing a wide variety of authors and genres is the best way to keep evolving as a person.

By viewing the world through other people’s writing, I feel more connected to the continuum of humanity. (To that end, I can’t imagine ever intentionally reading an AI-driven book out of anything but morbid curiosity. What would be the point? Then again, maybe I already have and didn’t know it. Moore’s Law, accelerating change, etc.)

And I like to think I learn some things along the way, about myself and society at large, even when I don’t agree with what I’m consuming. Maybe especially when I don’t agree. Depending on my mood, I definitely can get irked by what I encounter on the “page” (I almost exclusively read ebooks these days), but when I’m at my best I take a beat, re-read whatever provoked that reaction, and simply ask myself ‘Why?’

Sometimes my internal response is ‘that’s a stupid opinion,’ ‘a tired observation’ or ‘an unfounded claim,’ but slightly more often it’s something along the lines of ‘that’s interesting,’ ‘they might have a point,’ or occasionally ‘wow, they’re right.’ It’s a series of small steps, but I’ll take it as proof of personal progress thanks to books.

So, it’s ironic that this thing I strongly believe keeps me connected to the human experience is primarily a lonely endeavor, and that dedicated book hounds like me are pretty rare in the U.S. of A.

According to a recent YouGov poll, 54% of Americans read a book in 2023 (which means 46% didn’t read any books last year, for my glass-half-empty friends). At a high level, that’s not too bad (more than half!), but the data also revealed that 82% of Americans read less than 10 books annually…not even a book a month.

I’ll guesstimate that I read around 30 books in 2023, putting me at the 92nd percentile.

Honestly, 30 makes me feel like a slacker. Although, in fairness to myself, I do need to leave some of that time for writing, editing and listening to music. I suppose I could go back and make a real list, but that would cut into my precious reading time.

I’ve always worn my love of reading as a badge of honor, but these days it almost feels more like a (ahem) scarlet letter based on the “How do you find time to read?” comments I get from co-workers and casual acquaintances when I mention books. (I have a similar reaction when I hear how much time they spend watching sports or binging TV and movies. It all comes down to how we use our precious free time.)

Which is honestly more of a personal observation than profound conclusion since I don’t plan to change a thing in 2024.

Except maybe to read more books.

So, why do YOU read books?

If you made it this far into my read screed, I assume you’re a book lover too. If so, join the comments to let us know how you fell in love with reading.

Seriously, I’m curious.

I’d also like to know how many books you read a year on average, whether that’s more or less than prior years, and what genres you gravitate towards these days.

Book suggestions always welcome.

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