I just thought: Almost every forum that I've ever been on has at least one thread about novels/authors that people are currently reading, and I never see a "I don't read books" response. So then I wondered if I was amongst a small minority of people that can't stand reading novels? I'm sure there are good ones out there, but 99% of novelists feel compelled to bog the reader down with overwhelming amounts of detail and imagery, rather then getting straight to the point. For that reason, I always visit wikipedia and read the plot synopsis of a good book that I hear about and call it a day. And lately, I've been doing the same thing with movies (although not as often). As time goes on, I feel like video games are the only satisfying medium of entertainment and everything else is just outdated.

Who goes into a "What are you reading?" thread if they don't read books?

Anywho, I don't mind reading, but all of my time and money is already consumed by various other hobbies. I haven't read anything significant since high school, but there are some that I'd like to eventually (Star Wars Expanded Universe, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?).

I can read novels if I want and have the time too. Otherwise, it rarely read.

I find it really weird when people say they don't read - it's such an integral part of my life, my upbringing, I can't imagine not having a good book on my bedside table. That said, I don't get time to read as much as I used to, or as much as I'd like to. Also, what would be the point in a thread for people who don't read - 'hey guys, list every book you've never read!'

Nope, a love reading with a passion. I read anything, novels, non fiction, biography, how to books, social studies, etc.

I'm also big into film. I just don't see anyway you could possibly ruin a good story just by reading the plot summary on wiki. It just kills everything. The plot isn't everything in film.

People who don't like reading are just too lazy or have lives that are too busy to sit down and read a good book. Or maybe don't have the mental capacity to handle literature, and as bad as that sounds, I've known quite a few people like that. In any case, I think if everyone tried, they'd really enjoy reading a book, because no matter how much of a jock you may be, there is a book out there for you.

I know how you feel OP. I live in a large family and many of them enjoy reading novels. Not me. They're too slow for me. I too am more content with just looking up the synopsis on Wikipedia. Or Wookieepedia, for Star Wars novels. And yes, I too feel like I'm in the minority in this area.

Well, game manuals can be fun. Though to be serious, I do like to read. I don't do it very often, but I have a good number of books, and sometimes I find myself in one of those moods. When I do, I will usually finish a novel in about a day or two.

Maybe you're just reading the wrong books? :shrug:

I prefer films to books, because a book needs a whole chapter to tell you what a film can show in an establishing shot, but I like to read on the bus or when I'm lying in bed. If a book is boring, it's because that book is boring - you know, it would be like saying all films svck just because Citizen Kane is (sorry) really, really dull. You don't necessarily need the Michael Bay of books, but you can't really go wrong with the Stephen Spielberg or James Cameron of books.

I like Stephen King and Michael Crichton - easy-reading page-turners that grip from the beginning. Sure, there's detail, but it's not boring detail and a lot of the time it's quite icky and gross detail - which I know that boys are into. I'd recommend Jurassic Park and Sphere by Crichton. I'm currently making my way through the Dark Tower saga, but if you're not a keen reader you might want to hold off on that until you've got more into the habit of reading.

Don't even bother with Lord of the Rings. I made it through The Hobbit, which is quite fun, but gave up after The Two Towers because I was about ready to throw the lot of them into Mount Doom after six hundred pages of tedious waffle. You're much better off with Greg Keyes' The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone series. It's basically a very Elder Scrolls-y premise, which is why Keyes was chosen to write the TES novels, but the Kingdoms books are exceptionally well-written. Once I'd started reading the first I basically didn't stop reading (except to eat, sleep and work) until I'd finished the last book. It's the Helvetica of prose - simple, elegant and unobtrusive writing that communicates the author's intentions so well that you're rarely aware that you're reading most of the time.

http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l3fvlvXQYo1qb1qy5o1_500.jpg, tedious waffle...

I doubt I'm quite what the OP was looking for, but I guess I could say "I don't like to read". However, this is mainly because of my terrible eyes that have only gotten worse, and which make it very painful to focus on text for long. As a kid, though, I read all the time.

I used to read. I don't like to anymore.

Personally, I love reading. But as far as novels goes, I don't read novels nearly as much as I read non-fiction. I spend way more time reading non-fiction, and I prefer to write novels more than to read them... But I usually read one or two novels a year (the non-fiction I read every year goes way over that number, and I can't even begin to figure out my average there... )

I used to love reading. But, that kind of changed a few years ago. Now I feel that reading is too passive an activity, and it takes so long to read all those words. So, I moved back to reading comic books. A lot of the prose - the setting, the action, the descriptions - in the novel are replaced with easily digestible pictures. I can see the setting, action, etc. and register it faster via picture than with lengthy multi-paragraph prose. And I also started favoring video games as a source of story, since it is interactive.

I also feel that I've never been able to talk about the books I read. No one in my family has the same reading tastes - and if they did, they just don't have the time to read a book. Well, okay, my sister and I both like the Discworld series, so there's that. So even when I finish a book, it's like nothing happened - I spent all day sitting on the sofa, and what do I have to show for it?

I still have my bookshelf filled with my favorite novels, I look on them fondly, but I honestly do not see myself reading them again, which I find a bit sad. At the time, I really enjoyed the escapism, the characters, the environments, the plots, the stories, the creativity.

I think I could handle a short book, maybe something 100 to 200 pages. But no more 300+ monsters for me anymore. Another part of my problem is that I have a hard time putting a book down - because even if I stop reading, I keep thinking about it to the extent that I might as well keep reading since I can't get anything else done.

There are many times when I wish a particular book was put in graphic novel format, or turned into a video game.

EDIT: I used to read fantasy novels. Typically dark fantasy.

I dont read novels. Never read a novel because I liked it. Was always forced to read something.

I just don't like reading. I find it exhausting.

I do the same as the OP, whenever Im interested in a story, I just google a summary or watch the movie.

Probably because I read so damn slow, or Im just stupid.

I used to read a lot more. But now it's mostly books that I need to read for college, and the big books have been replaced with reading stuff on the internet (like this forum).


But I do read Discworld novels sometimes. It's very easy to read, funny, and not too long so I can finish one within a reasonable period of time.

Fair enough if you don't have the time or patience to read novels - but are you seriously suggesting that video games are a good alternative, writing-wise? Obviously there are some fantastic exceptions, but most games - even if they're not in that vast majority that suffer from terrible writing as a whole - are fairly formulaic and uninteresting in terms of story...


Yeah, books also. I don't read or watch films just to be told a story - it's about enjoying the ride.


Yeah, I think this is possibly the case, buuuut...


Frankly I think it's bad enough that we have Bay, Spielberg and Cameron in cinema - let alone literature...


But I also disagree with you about the Lord of the Rings. I found Tolkein's writing compelling. Which is more than I can say for any of the boring Tolkein-derrived fantasy that still proliferates...

I like to read. Though some books can be dreadfully dreary and boring and dull. The wheel of time series comes to mind, Ihttp://long.ytmnd.com/

I like reading novels froim the roughgly the turn of the century (the last century, I suppose, now). Verne and Wells, for example. No real attachment to any genre, I just like the way they wrote back then. So pompous and full of self assured vigour! Only a few modern novelists can inject the same sort of life into their writing.

I wish I could read more, I guess I'll have more time in the summer.


Plus, if the author is 70 years dead, it's free on the internet!

I like reading novels, but I hate the idea of reading them (if that makes any sense).

EDIT: But I would really like to read more Tolkien's books (I have only read Hobbit).

And every novel is a masterpiece?

I prefer the visual/auditory experience of games/movies as well as the story. I can appreciate the story of a good book, but I don't like having to visualize every description of people/objects/environments.

Same here (comic books also apply, for visuals). I find visualizing from text to be a tedious and exhaustive process. It wasn't always like that for me, but it is now.

Most of my reading is now textbooks for academics, newspaper articles, and other short pieces.

I think there are different degrees of it for me. I am very much against reading comic books about things that I think could be done in more detail in a book, or a film, but I do read webcomics that focus more on social aspects, because I find that is boring on film and often so in books. I just don't think visual media can fit so much story in as I'd like.

I don't think you're supposed to try hard to visualize. It's supposed to just happen kind of if the book has your attention. It depends on writing style too. It's still hard sometimes if you're reading a book and don't finish, and come back much later and forget how some of it was supposed to be. I like reading novels sometimes because the experience is different from any other form of entertainment.

I don't read books
i'm 19 and i think I've only read about 20 books in my whole life

As of right now since I am in college, and I have about two books to read per class, I am not that fond of reading. I am guessing that when I get out of college, I will start liking it a lot more. When I am on summer break I usually read a book or two, and I can enjoy them! I like reading the more adventure, and Fantasy novels. They are full of fantastic adventures that for some reason movies either like to copy or just completely ruin. I think the only series that movies haven't completely ruined is the lord of the rings series.