Finding a Passion for Reading

I have not always been a huge fan of reading. It is not like I read hundreds of books when I was younger. There are really three major turning points in my life which I can remember that turned me into the reader that I am today. I hope that one day I can turn the love for reading that I have over to my kids.

The first memory that really stands out in my mind is when I found a book that I really enjoyed reading: The Firm by John Grisham. At the time, I was probably about 14, and I remember distinctly being engrossed by this book about a lawyer working towards the truth and lots of money (trying not to spoil anything here).

From that book, I went on to read several other books by John Grisham. I really enjoyed his style of writing and the setup of books. While some of his more recent works haven’t been as engaging to me, at the time, I had never read anything like those books. Probably because most of my reading had been for school.

I didn’t get heavily into reading at that point in my life. While I was reading for school (classics), those weren’t really interesting to me and didn’t really lead me to want to read more. Finding something I enjoyed reading was an important event for later in life.

The second major event didn’t come until nearly 10 years later when I was 24. At the time, I wasn’t really reading at all in my free time. However, I was given a Kindle as a gift from the company that I was working for. 

At the time, the Kindle was only a year and a half old, and no one I knew had one. Today Kindle’s are extremely popular, but it took several years before that was the case. I knew what a Kindle was at the time, but I had no idea how it really worked. 

I felt that I should really take that gift and make good use of it, and that’s exactly what I did. Receiving that Kindle is really what set me down the path of reading in my free time. I don’t remember how I was able to find free books during those early years, but somehow I was able to.

Having a Kindle also led me to read more physical copies of books at the time as well. Since e-books weren’t ubiquitous at the time, I’d often read a new book by an author, and want to read older books by the same author. The only way to do so was to check those books out at the library. I soon became a regular at the library as well.

This led to the third event in my life which really solidified reading as a habit in my life. I had picked up a very large book called John Adams by David McCullough. I don’t remember what led me to checking the book out, but it was a 1000+ page book. At the time, I hadn’t read any books anywhere close to that length. I started reading it on a Friday evening, and read for 3 straight days (Monday was some type of holiday and I didn’t have any kids at the time) to finish the book. I loved the book.

This was my first interaction with a historical book that presented information in a way that actually made me interested. History wasn’t really interesting to me coming out of a textbook. This non-fiction book was completely different and it opened up my vision on how I viewed reading and what I’d enjoy.

This leads to a few important ways to find a love of reading and to really start it in your own life and your kids life.

Read yourself

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You have to start reading, obviously. If you’re not reading in your free time to some degree, you’ll never find a passion or joy for reading. It probably sounds simple, but this can be a tough step, especially if you have kids. 

We’ve presented many tips in the past on how you can make this work, but at the end of the day, you have to be the one to make the decision. Are you going to read hundreds of pages a day to start? Likely not. But just getting started is the first step.

Find books you enjoy reading

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An important part of reading yourself is to find books that you enjoy reading. Reading should not be a chore that you are doing in your free time - you won’t do it. When you’re in school, you’ll likely read books that you don’t want to or are not interested in.

When I found The Firm at age 14, and again finding John Adams at age 25, I discovered books that resonated with me. I followed that up with more reading of similar types of books. I kept reading books that I liked.

Once I was in the habit of reading, I started to explore other genres more, and to find what I did and didn’t like, but once you’ve found something you enjoy, keep going down that route as it will ultimately help drive you to find more books that you also enjoy.

Read to your kids

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Finally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t talk a little bit about trying to instill a love of reading to your kids. I’m sure my parents read to me when I was younger, but I don’t remember it. I believe that it’s critical in helping your kids find a love of reading.

Sit down and let them choose a book they’d like you to read to them. At the same time, choose a book that you think would be good to read to them. Read the book they want, then read the book you want.

By both choosing a book, they get something they want to hear, and you introduce them to something new. Yes, you may end up reading the same book every single day (as my youngest likes to choose the same thing), but that’s fine. What’s important is that you’re teaching them to read.

As your kids get older and start reading on their own, let them choose a book to read on their own, and give them a book you’d like them to read. Let them split the time between the two. The goal isn’t to choose something boring, but rather something that will be a little challenging for them so that they can grow as a reader.

Conclusion

Finding the desire to read and giving that to your children can be a challenge. However, by making the time to do it, and finding enjoyable books, you can make reading an enjoyable activity.