Some might say that, having been a blogger for six years already, I should know the answer to this question… and I did (I still do mostly) the simplified version of it, because recently we seem to be overcomplicating everything… At least I know the dictionary version of it – which should be enough to get my point across (I hope).
A reader is a person who reads, especially one who reads for pleasure.
Simple, right? But if that’s the case, we are all readers to some degree, are we not? If we read the newspaper every day, if we enjoy our occasional book, or are fans of comics and manga… We are all readers.
However, this is where it gets tricky. We might all be readers in some fashion, but most don’t think of themselves that way…
Moreover, they are not part of the book community because they are not “real” readers?
I have always found this “real” reader thing slightly funny, but I’m going to make a distinction here…
It’s not a matter of who is a true reader or not… more like the type of reader they are. We can be occasional readers, as I mentioned before.
Or we can be the type of reader who lives for it. The kind of person who makes books a character trait of themselves.. That needs to spend a few hours a day lost between the pages of a book, to then discuss how meaningful an experience it was.. (fancy way of saying fangirling like crazy with fellow bookworms)
And even among those avid readers there are also different characteristics that define them..
You can love classics, be an audio book enthusiast, a digital addict, a specific genre fanatic… and so on… but at heart we are still simple people who enjoy reading.
Why is it then that we are so determined to undermine each other’s love of books?
It’s a shame because what should bring us together is working against us lately. Remember how I said we love to overcomplicate things?… there’s a “new” snobery because if you don’t read classics you aren’t a true reader… or the usual genre shaming, The age appropiate type of reading, heck, even the format of reading comes into question…
It’s funny in a sad way because, despite all that nonsense, the unequivocal truth is that we all love to read… which at its core makes us again; readers…
So, to close up an argument that probably nobody asked for, I say read what you want, as much as you want in the way that you want … You are a reader .. So, let us share in our differences how amazing an experience it is to get lost inside a story… and pay no attention to the static noise of everyday life.
What do you think, fellow reader? Do you pay attention to those pesky details .. quantity, genre, means of reading? Or are you like me and just love reading for the sake of enjoyment? Let me know in the comments below..
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As Always
Happy Reading
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I agree with everything you said in this post!! I couldn’t have said it better!!
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