The very first book I can remember picking up and reading was Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Before that my parents would read fairytales to me, and after it was the Twilight series. It was the fairytales that inspired my love of magic and happily ever afters’, Twilight that inspired my love of YA fiction, and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone that inspired my overall love of reading.
Ever since I was a child there’s been so much I’ve loved about picking up a new book and diving into a new story. It’s why I’m still reading now twenty years after the first Harry Potter book was released. I have friends, and even family members, who rarely read. They pick up maybe one or two books a year, and I wonder how?!
Reasons I’m Thankful I Started, and Love, Reading
I have travelled all around the world without ever leaving my home
When I read the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series I travelled to Prague, Morocco and Rome with Karou, when I read The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue I travelled to Paris, Barcelona and Venice with Monty, Percy and Felicity, and when I read the Legend trilogy I travelled through dystopian Los Angeles with June and Day.
Travelling is one of my favourite things, and books can be like their own journey around the world if the setting is written well. It’s why the world building in fantasy books is such a big thing for me. I can visit Barcelona or Los Angeles or Rome myself, but I can’t visit Red London or Hogwarts or The Night Circus so I need to travel there through the stories.
I’ve been on dangerous, deadly and epic adventures with my favourite characters
I am never going to have the kind of adventures Harry, Ron and Hermione did, or any of the characters in my favourite books do, and a lot of the time I wouldn’t want to. I’d likely be the character who ends up dying in the very beginning, but I can read about my favourite characters journeys – all full of magic and danger – and that’s the next best thing.
I’ve learnt a lot from books
No matter what books you read there is always something you take away from them. Reading releases like The Book Thief and All the Light We Cannot See has taught me a lot about World War II, but even if it’s not something as easily defined as that, books can focus on some important life lessons.
It’s why diversity is so important. Stories like The Hate U Give, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, and Highly Illogical Behaviour – that deal with the Black Lives Matter movement, LGBT+ sexualities, and mental illness – can teach us so much about life.
I started a blog
This is a main reason, the number one reason, because where would I be without my blog? Most of my spare time is devoted to commenting and blog hopping and posting reviews or features. I love talking to everyone on WordPress, which is another point on this list, I love writing my reviews and putting them out there for the world to see, and I just love my blog and blogging in general
I’ve met some amazing people
The whole of the bookish blogging community is a wonderful place to belong, and I’ve made some great friends through WordPress who I love talking to. Plus there’s nothing better than talking to someone about a book you both love; fangirling over the characters and relationships, sharing spoilers about the books already released and theories for the books still to be released.
I’ve had the opportunity to go to some great events
For two years now I’ve attended YALC in London; they’ve each been two of the best weekends of my life and I’m already looking forwards to going next year. I went to the midnight release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows with a large group of friends and one day I’ll make it to New York for Book Con. There is a whole world of bookish events out there and getting to go to the ones I have have been high points in my life.
I can look back on picking up Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, or Twilight, or even to my mum reading Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland to me, and know it’s responsible for some of the best parts of my life. There are so many reasons I love reading, but these are the main ones; it’s become a huge part of my life, along with blogging, and I can’t even imagine how much my life would have changed if I hadn’t picked up those initial book releases.
Now Onto the Discussion Part of This Post:
What was the first book you can remember reading, or what was the first book that inspired your love of reading?
What are some of the reasons you’re thankful you started reading, do you agree with any of mine?
Let me know in the comments below.
What a lovely post! I so agree with how reading has given me so much- especially allowing me to travel anywhere from the comfort of my bedroom 😉 And go on adventures!! and yes I’ve learnt so much too 😀
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Thanks so much, and yes think of how much money we’ve potentially saved by buying books instead of holidays all over the world! 🙂 Plus the adventures we’ve been on without risking our lives the way our favourite characters have! 😀
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hehe you’re welcome, so true! hahah so true!! 😀
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Thanks for sharing! I agree with all the reasons you’ve noted. One of my earliest reasons I fell in love with reading is that I can live through the characters. It was a way for me to say, hey this gal here is just like me. Or, hey, this boy here is going through a rough time, but look at him, still trying to live by every day. it was just a magical thing for me, as a kid, to realize there are people out there just like me. Better yet, I hoped that some day I would go on my adventures with them.
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That’s all right, I’m glad you enjoyed this post and that you agreed with my reasons as well. 🙂 Oh that’s a brilliant reason to have started reading, for me it wasn’t so much about the characters as it was the worlds they lived in. Still there were the odd few characters like Hermione and Matilda as well I identified with a little (well it was probably more that I wanted to be them).
Magical is a great way to describe reading. Even today I think it’s still retained that same sense of magic despite us not being able to go on adventures with the characters we read about. 😀
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What a lovely discussion Beth ♥️ I too love to travel… not just to different cities but different worlds and as different people… and the adventures! You’re right when you say I’ll never go on a HP level adventure but that’s the fun of books…
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Thanks so much Dani! 🙂 ❤️
Exactly, it’s not just the real world you can travel around through reading but other worlds we never would get a chance to visit otherwise. I feel like it’s more fun reading about adventures than actually having them, less dangerous as well! 😀
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I’ve learned a lot from fiction books too. The Book Thief was a great read for the complexity relationships between Germans and Jews during WWII.
I just followed your blog.
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Oh The Book Thief is actually one of my all time favourites. It’s an incredible story and one of the first historical fiction books I picked up.
Thanks so much. 🙂
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Excellent list of reasons, Beth! Reading and blogging is such a huge part of our lives, it’s nice hear about the reasons why you, yourself, keep on doing it. I’ve been reading since a kid as well, but never truly went hardcore like I’ve been doing since the creation of Bookidote. It’s when I discovered that there was a whole community and world of readers/bloggers out there that I finally felt like I belonged somewhere hahah This post was definitely inspiring! Might someday think about doing something similar some day, when I have time to write it up or something hahah Great stuff, Beth! 😀
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Thanks so much Lashaan. Yeah there are so many reasons I keep reading and blogging and these are just a few of the main ones. Probably the ones most of us on here can identify with as well. I will say starting blogging and discovering the community of other readers and bloggers already out there was incredible. There are now so many more people I can talk to about books I love which is actually the main reason I started blogging in the first place. 😀
Oh I’d love to see something similar on Bookidote, definitely send me a link or something! 🙂
Thanks again Lashaan. 🙂
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Harry Potter and Twilight were the books that made me fall in love with reading too! I love this post and how positive it is! ❤ I also would be the first one to die during one of the adventures hahaha!!
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They’re kind of the main ones aren’t they? Especially for our generation. We grew up with Harry Potter and then it was Twilight that hooked us on YA paranormal romance. At least that’s what it was for me. 🙂
Yeah, better to just read about the insane adventures our favourite characters undertake than risk dying ourselves right? 🙂
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I think the first books (besides Harry Potter of course) that inspired my love of reading were most of Tamora Pierce’s books! I would read and reread the parts that made me cry over and over again, so I was a fan of heart wrenchingly painful books even back then haha!
I definitely agree with your reasons! I have started my blog, which I love, and through that I have met amazing people, joined bookstagram and met EVEN more amazing people!! I never thought I would have so many people to flail about my favorite books/characters with and it is WONDERFUL
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Oh I haven’t heard of them before, but I’m sure they were amazing if they’re what inspired your love of reading (every so often I love heart wrenchingly painful books too, but not too often.)
Thanks so much Esther. Yes blogging is a major plus to my love of reading, and there are so many things I am thankful for when it comes to blogging as well, that could be a whole different topic. 😀
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Yess I love this post!! You put it EXACTLY into words — in fantasy, you get to travel to places you never could go to irl, which is why I love it so much. And to experience the things that characters do and learn about issues or topics in thr world today — it truly is amazing!
I also have made amazing bookish friends (including you!) and I wouldn’t have met them without having loved reading as a child! Reading has opened up so many opportunities for me that I’m just so grateful for. Love your post!
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Thanks so much May. 🙂 ❤ Yes reading had opened my world in so many ways; through travel, and topics, and issues, and all the things I've learnt and discovered since I started reading.
Oh same here. Blogging and all the wonderful people I've met through my blog (including you of course May) are one of the best things that's come from my love of reading, and yeah I'm so thankful for it too.
Thanks so much May. 🙂 ❤
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Exactly! Reading has just opened up a world of possibilities, whether it be with people I meet or the worlds I’ve traveled to. 😀
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Yep, and even some of the real life places I’ve been to. I don’t know if I would have gone to Prague when I did if I hadn’t read and loved Daughter I’d Smoke and Bone so much! 🙂
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Hello Beth! I love this post and all of these reasons are true for me as well! I love that reading brings us to places that we’ve never been, and teaches us new things by placing us in others’ shoes.
I love Harry Potter as well. But even before Harry Potter, when I was very little, my grandpa used to read me stories that he’s written himself. I think this inspired my love for stories! (I might also have gotten my writing genes from him!)
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Thanks so so much Sophie, I’m really glad you loved this post. 🙂 Yeah there is so much to love about reading, it makes the world a much bigger place for us bookworms doesn’t it?
Oh wow that sounds incredible, and yeah very possible where you got your writing genes from as well. 😀 Harry Potter is the first book I remember reading but not the first book I read, or was read to me. 🙂
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What a great post! As I was reading, I thought about The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. I remember my mom reading it to me and just wanting to read it over and over and over again. I’ve seen every adaptation I can get my hands on, and it still has a special place in my heart (and I so want to go to Narnia). I agree with all of your reasons for reading–and for me, it’s just a special way to spend my time. I love the community as well–and I’m so glad I blog. Thanks for sharing this post!
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Thanks so much Sarah. 😀 Oh The Chronicles of Narnia was a major one for me as well. I started reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at school and was hooked on the series from then on. Also yeah I’d love to go to Narnia, if only right? 😀
It really is, and I agree with you there because there are so many amazing things I’ve discovered through reading and blogging is a main one. 🙂
That’s all right. I’m so glad you enjoyed this post. 😀 ❤
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Oh this is such a lovely post, Beth – and I agree with all of your reasons here,they’re the same reasons why I love reading for sure. Traveling, having big, epic adventures, finding comfort, people you can relate to, dream, and so on. I love it so, so much ❤ I can't remember the first book that got me into reading, since I can't remember when I started reading at all, hahaha 🙂
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Thanks so much Marie! 🙂 ❤️ Yeah these are the main ones, and probably the ones most of us bookworms can identify with as well. Travelling is a love of mine both in the real world and in bookish worlds, and the adventures I can read about, the character relationships I can explore, and just everything makes me love reading so so much. 🙂
In that case I guess you must have a few defining books that stand out, rather than one you can pinpoint and say ‘this is the one that started me reading.’ 🙂
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Oh yes, definitely. I have tons of books on my mind – mostly French books, though, since I wasn’t speaking English when I was little, ahah. Strangely, I was a lot into fantasy back then and now I’m into contemporary? ahah 🙂
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Oh that is strange. For me it was almost the other way around. I had a year or so where I was really into contemporary but now it’s fantasy. 😀
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I love this post! It’s so cool! I am thankful that I started reading because it has helped my creativity and writing, which has become such a huge part of my life and a very defining part of me. I also like that many of the books that I read make me think and reflect on something, and I like that.
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Oh thanks so much, I’m really glad you loved this post. 🙂
That’s a brilliant reason, and actually one of the reasons I’m thankful I started blogging is that it got me back into writing again. Like you with writing reading is a huge part of my life, can you even imagine the people we’d be now if we hadn’t discovered writing/reading when and how we did?
Yes, I definitely agree with you there. There are so many diverse books, books that deal with hard but important topics, that I’ve read that have made me think and taught me so much as well. 🙂
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I loved reading this Beth! You touched on so many great points, everyone should read! I can’t remember the first books I read, but it’s funny while cleaning out my closet these past couple weeks me & my mom found my reading log from probably first grade & it had page upon page of books me & my mom read together. I still even have a bookshelf full of baby books my parents read to me from when I was born, so I guess I’ve been surrounded by books my entire life!
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Thanks so much Meghan. 🙂 Yeah these are just a few of the (main) reasons I love reading, and I guess something all bookworms can identify with as well. Oh I couldn’t remember the very first book I read, or that was read to me, but wow finding that reading log sounds incredible. It must have been nice to have seen that record of the books you read that earlier with your mum, and to have been surrounded by books your entire life too.
I’m not sure where my love of reading comes from. Granted my parents read to me as a child but my almost obsessive love of reading does seem to have come from nowhere. 🙂 ❤️
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You’re welcome! Yes! I’m sure we can all identify with this post! Haha it was kinda funny to look at it because my mom had to write for the teacher my progress and a lot of them were ‘Meghan did a good job’ 😛
Haha, I feel you because no one in my family seems to read to the extent that I do 🙂
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Well if a lot of them had ‘Meghan did a good job’ at least you were consistent right? 😀
Yeah people are always shocked when they hear how many books I can read in a year, but I’m shocked by how little the people around me read. 🙂
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Haha, quite consistent!
Haha, really you’re shocked by how little people read?! That shocks me 😛
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Sometimes yeah. I think I just wonder what people do when they don’t read. Especially when most of the people I know have a 1+ hour commute into work each day. Plenty of time for reading. 😀
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Haha, yeah I see your point 😛 🙂
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What a great post! Every word you said was so incredibly accurate. Books have really shaped my life and I am unsure where I would be and what my values would be if I didn’t read as much as I do. Idk who my role models would be and what my outlook on life would be.
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Thanks so much Sydney. 🙂 Exactly, can you even attempt to imagine who we’d be now if we never started reading? I feel like I would be a completely different person because that’s how much reading has shaped my life. Also I feel like my life would be boring if I wasn’t reading and wasn’t blogging either. 😀
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Totally agree with all of your reasons. Another reason I’m thankful — ever since I started posting the books I’ve been reading on Facebook, it seems to give people a built-in conversation starter to talk to me about. I’m very introverted and small talk does not come naturally to me at all, but I’ve found a lot of people have been asking about my reading challenge, asking for book recommendations, asking about the last thing I read, etc. I was worried that posting all my books would annoy people, but it seems to be interesting to at least some of them!
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That’s great to hear, and that’s a brilliant reason to be thankful as well. I find the same when I’ve attended bookish conventions. Normally I’m very introverted too, and a little scared of starting conversations with strangers, but knowing you already have that similar interest makes it easier to talk to people.
It’s great that reading has given you that interaction, and something I’ve always said about blogging is if you enjoy it post it. It doesn’t matter what other people think but it sounds like people enjoy you posting about books which is great to hear. 🙂 ❤️
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Love this post! So many true points. The first book I remember reading by myself was HP… and also animal stories by Bill Wallace. I loved those! But like you said, I remember my mom reading to me every night (mostly fairytales) before I could actually read myself. And then I started reading with her, and to her. Those memories are so important to me. Especially when I read HP… the incredible, magical feeling it gave me. I’ll never forget it. Reading is amazing… and can take you on so many incredible journeys. Fantastic post, Beth! 🙂
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Thanks so much Megan, and yeah we’re part of the HP generation. The ones who grew up with the series and who pretty much all love the books even now. 🙂
I almost feel that reading fairytales when I was young was what inspired my love of fairytale retelling today, and it’s amazing you have those memories Megan. 😀
Yes, and that’s exactly why I love reading so much, so I can travel to all these places through the words my favourite authors have written.
Thanks so much Megan! 🙂 ❤️
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You’re welcome, Beth!! Love ya! 🙂
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why is this post oh so perfect? oh i know why, because an amazing human being wrote it! wow beth, you really wrote all my feelings one post. this was so beautiful and positive. as an introvert myself, books really take me to destinations that i have never been too and it also opens my mind to a lot of things that i might not have heard of. just like you, my mom used to read my brother and i a short story per night when we were kids. i remember the secret garden being my first book that really caught my interest with reading. although my mother likes to say that even before then, i was a reader. i guess the secret garden is just my first memory. thanks for this wonderful post beth!
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Thanks so so much Gretchen. I am so glad you enjoyed this post so much! 🙂 ❤️
There are so many reasons I love reading, these are really just a few, and yes I get what you mean because I’m very introverted as well and books are a real escape for me. Plus there are the fantasy settings you can’t visit but almost feel like you could one day through reading about them. 🙂
Oh I think I read The Secret Garden after seeing the film and I really enjoyed it. There are a few short stories I have fond memories of but there’s always that one book/series that stands out more, and for me that’s the Harry Potter series. 🙂
That’s all right, I’m so glad you enjoyed this and thanks again Gretchen! 🙂 ❤️
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Matilda by Roald Dahl is one I always go back to. It gave me permission to love books and the stories within. The second book that made a huge impression on me as a reader was Kindred by Octavia Butler. Butler gave me the permission to be black and like science fiction, where I didn’t feel like I belonged before then.
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Oh I loved Roald Dahl’s books when I was younger, and I can certainly see why Matilda was that book for you. She was one of my favourite bookish characters and I actually wanted to be her at one point. 😀
I think it’s great you had these two books in particular that made such an impact on you. I’m glad you managed to find them, and read them. This kind of thing is what reading is all about right? 🙂
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Harry Potter is kind of the first book I remember reading too. Like, I know I must’ve read some before that, but I don’t specifically remember those like I do HP. And yes, all your reasons are great! Well, I’ve never been to bookish events, but I agree with the rest! I’ve definitely learned a lot and gained understanding and grown as a person because of reading!
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I completely get what you mean because it’s the same for me. Before Harry Potter I largely read fairytales and the like but the first series I remember so clearly that hooked me on reading was Harry Potter. It’s such a large part of my life now.
Thanks so much, and oh hopefully you’ll make it to a bookish event one day. 🙂
I do think reading is a large part of what makes me me today! 😀
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I definitely don’t remember the first book I loved reading since it was so long ago (I’ve been reading since I was in Kindergarten!) but I do remember that the first YA book I ever read was The Hunger Games, which, obviously, changed my life. ❤ I read YA because of that series! Reading Percy Jackson was probably my first introduction into fandom life, which, again, huge part of my life! And, last summer, I'd say that Marisha Pessl's Night Film was what launched me into being obsessed with thrillers, which has changed me as a person a LOT – I read adult books, learned I love dark stories, and I'm now obsessed with real life unsolved mysteries/cases, which is awesome! 😀 Reading has definitely changed me for the better, not to mention it makes me feel better when I'm down! ❤
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Oh wow that is a long time. For me I feel like reading was something I always loved, but that there was a period of my life where I wasn’t into reading, like an epic reading slump that spanned years of my life or something.
For me the YA book that changed my life was Twilight, I didn’t really get into The Hunger Games until later but it’s a great series isn’t it? Same with Percy Jackson but ahah that’s a series I didn’t get into until much later. 🙂 I imagine it must have been great to grow up with those series the way I did with Harry Potter and the like. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Night Film so I’m glad to hear you loved it Mikaela. 🙂
Yes there’s so much reading has done for us, can you even imagine who we’d be if we never started reading, picked up The Hunger Games in your case and Twilight in mine? 🙂
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Beth I just love this post!
You really put in to words how I feel about reading and you showcased a lot of my favourite books as well!
Other than Harry Potter, the book that really got me in to reading was The Outsiders!
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Thanks so much Kristin. 🙂
Yeah, there are so many reasons I love reading but these are a key few, for a lot of us bookworms on WordPress too I imagine.
Oh, I haven’t heard of The Outsiders, but it guess it’s one you have fond memories of if it got you into reading. 🙂
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