My Reading Habits in a Nutshell
A parabola. If I were to summarise the history of my reading habits in one word, that would be it. Let me explain…
In year 3, I wasn’t so big into reading. Every time I had class in the library, I would borrow the same book over and over. It was a 50-page Ninjago book. In contrast, one of my friends was already reading Lord of the Rings, which was at least 300 pages! To me back then, you would need to be a genius to read a book over 300 pages. However, as I grew older my mother started taking me to the local libraries. This shattered my previous view on reading and turned the activity from being a chore to being a source of entertainment.
I can’t remember my first book with over 100 pages, but I do remember that I enjoyed it. Once I had finished it, my brain had developed a thirst for more. Before I knew it, I was staying up late at night and finishing 1–2 books per week. It had become an addiction.
When I moved houses in year 6, my local library wasn’t as big as my previous 2 libraries. I still managed to find good books, but they were running out. By the end of year 7, I was struggling to find good books. The problem with my reading style was I only borrowed books from specific genres. Adventure, historical fiction and sci-fi. These included: the CHERUB series, the Alex Rider series, the Once series, and many others. And although this made finding books quite easy in the short run, I had come to the point where there were simply no more of those genres to be found. I had to get creative.
I knew how to search for books in the database, but all the books I wanted were in the bigger neighbouring libraries. It also didn’t help that my mother had started working, meaning the only libraries available to me had to be within walking distance. What I didn’t know, however, was that you could reserve books and have them sent to your local library for free! Once I had finally learnt how to do that, I suddenly had access to all the popular books. I am talking about the Kite Runner, the Book Thief, The Fault in Our Stars, just to name a few. I would read these books as an excuse for not studying for the SHS Exam with my mother. I would read a book for hours until my mother eventually pulled me out of my room and dragged me to the kitchen table. I really enjoyed these books, and it was a break from the adventure books I was so used to reading. But, sadly, all good things must come to an end. The first domino that would end it all was a particular lockdown caused by a particular pandemic.
When Covid-19 hit and we were forced into lockdown, I no longer had access to physical paperback books. Even though I managed to find this totally legitimate and legal website which allowed me to download eBooks for free, it simply wasn’t the same. I managed to finish the Hunger Game series, Power of Five series and the Percy Jackson series, but it took multiple months when usually it would take a few weeks. It was difficult for me to read eBooks late at night without putting too much strain on my eyes and the fact that YouTube was only 2 clicks away made it quite hard to concentrate on my reading. But I pushed through, and I eventually finished the 3 series. And the thing was, I actually enjoyed it!
However, after the SHS Exam I simply stopped reading. The absence of an excuse to avoid the torturous SHS Exam practice paired with the fact I hadn’t been in a library for month was simply too much. Today, I haven’t read a book in weeks. It isn’t that I can’t picture the book in my head, I had just lost the ability to find good books. The books I am “reading” currently are not as entertaining as the books I used to read.
https://lifehacker.com/how-i-tricked-myself-into-reading-more-books-1792775150
But I plan on reviving the book worm within me once again by reserving more best-selling books. According to Lifehacker, I can also read in a more “reading friendly” environment and bring my book around with me so I can read on places such as the train. Hopefully, I can start reading again and relive my old reading experiences.
So, that is why a parabola best visualises my reading habits. My reading rate started increasing rapidly from year 3 to year 6 (where my reading rate was at its peak) but it started decreasing from year 7 to now.
My thoughts on reading
I believe that developing a good reading habit is essential it developing your vocabulary, reading and writing skills. Reading exposes you to a wide range of words in many different contexts which is great for expanding vocabulary. The development of your writing skills is also another benefit you can get from reading as you are exposed to unique and interesting sentence structures and grammar. And, of course, if you read a lot of books your reading ability will improve.
Reading can also be a great source of entertainment. When I was younger, I would read for hours if the book was interesting enough. You can also gain knowledge from reading.
- I have only read one book, The Loners (Quarantine #1), which is a book I chose for its cover (I think you would know why I chose it knowing the current world events). To be honest, I would rather just choose my own books from a best-sellers list instead of following the Wider Reading Challenge because it gives me more freedom.
2. “The Power of Five” series by Anthony Horowitz
Even though I have already read the series I would like to read it again, this time in paperback form. The plot is about a group of 5 “chosen” teenagers who have to find each other from across the world to stop supernatural demons from taking over the world.
“The Hunger Games” series by Suzanne Collins
Like “The Power of the Five”, I have only read the eBook version and I would like to read the paperback verison. The Hunger Games is about a dystopian future where children are selected to hunt and kill each other as a form of population control.
