How I Started Reading
Obviously I read books as a child, but I only started reading books for pleasure as an adult about a year and a half ago.
At the time I was going through an experiment in my life where I'd given up my smartphone and was using a basic Nokia (I kept this up for 2.5 years, maybe I'll write a post about this because it was a fun period and there's a lot to talk about). But because of this I couldn't just pull out my phone whenever I got bored, so I had to find alternative ways of entertaining myself. For the 20 minute commute into work I made every day I would happily just pass the time by looking out of the window, or reading the Metro newspaper that they give away for free at stations.
But then I got asked to go on a business trip to Cardiff with some of my coworkers, which would involve a 2 hour train journey. Obviously we would make conversation for some of the journey, but I knew that I needed something else to keep me occupied.
So I decided to go to Waterstones and buy some fiction. I guess I already was reading at this point, but all I would read were non-fiction programming books. I went to the Classics section in Waterstones. I think what drew me to classics was the idea of wanting a book that was proven by time, and also the fact that I think the past was a simpler place. I guess I also wanted something "safe" to read, so I went with a copy of Moby Dick. Now I'll just read whatever, but at the time I would have felt insecure reading something like romance, so I just went with a book about a bunch of dudes hunting a whale.
In the end we actually did just talk for the whole train journey. So I didn't even read Moby Dick whilst on the train. But I found other places to start reading, at home, on my normal commute into work. And I found I really enjoyed reading - even though I actually didn't think Moby Dick was that great of a book.