I haven't read a book since high school, where should I start?I know there are people like this in the real world. One of my former co-workers bragged she hadn't read a book in over 20 years. Her explanation was that anything worth reading would eventually be made into movie or tv show anyway. But I really thought that she was one of a very few.
I cannot imagine not reading a book in 20 or more years. I couldn't even imagine being without books for a couple of months while my shipment came from the US. I had to pack some books to tide me over. (I know there are libraries, but I never trust libraries to have books that I actually want to read, so I had to be prepared.)
After I got over my shock at not reading a book for many years, I considered the question. How would I instruct someone to find a starter book? I'm working on the assumption that the person in question knows how to read and can read books marketed to and written for adults.
My best advice would be to determine what kind of tv shows or movies the person enjoys. Then I would head to a bookstore and explain to the employee at the help desk that the person wanted to get into reading and enjoyed _______ style tv shows/movies -- to find the broad genre/category in that particular store that matches the tv style. From there, it would have to a trial-and-error process of picking up books that look interesting, reading the blurbs and maybe a couple of pages of the first chapter to get a feel for the author's style and the characters.
Honestly, that is what I miss most about honest-to-goodness brick-and-mortar bookstores. I miss being able to browse by picking up the book. I miss being able to flip though the book. I miss feeling the book -- some bindings are stiff and that makes the book stiff and not friendly in my hand. I miss being able to see the font and white-space on the pages -- both of which can make a difference in how I feel about reading the book. I miss being able to see the book on a shelf, and pick up the book next to it or below it, because those caught my eye as well. I miss discovering a new author by just wandering among the shelves in the store. Physical book shopping is an active process, and it's personal, tactile and pleasing.
I like being able to pop online to Amazon and finding exactly the book I know I want, but I do not like Amazon for discovering new books, or buying books by unknown authors. I find it hard to happen upon new, unknown-to-me books on Amazon. And it's nearly impossible to check things like he binding, paper quality, font and white-space on Amazon. Not being able to hold the books when shopping for them takes away much of the fun and adventure of book shopping for me. Reading is a a tactile activity. There is a physical aspect to it. And shopping for the books should be as physical as the reading.
I hope the poster finds a decent bookstore with helpful employees to re-start her reading adventures. I hope the experience of finding a book is as fun as the experience of reading the book. But I hope that for all readers, not just lapsed ones.
