lou's library

Reading is a primarily lonely hobby. Well, lonely sounds like the wrong term in this context, because lots of readers love that they get to experience stories on their own. And I get it, believe me. I cannot count the number of times I have desperately wanted a day at the office to end so I could hurry home to my book and the fictional characters I was currently spending my time with. Bliss!

But, as I grew older, I realised how much I love reading as a shared experience. There’s little worse than reading an amazing book and having nobody to talk to about it. And this is exactly why I wanted to write a little love letter to reading as a commmunal activity. Whether that is as part of a book club, a buddy read or reading someone a story (we as a society should decide to make this a thing for everyone, not just children).

I believe that reading with others helps us form bonds and find community. Particularly if you’re introverted or shy or simply have a bit of a hard time connecting with others, reading and talking about books can be a great way of finding like-minded people and skip the awkward small talk. I’ve been part of book clubs that have helped me feel less lonely during lockdown, and have read books I never even would have heard of otherwise because of it. It helped me branch out and that can only ever be a good thing.

And while talking to my friends about the books we were reading, I got to hear their perspectives, what they found intriguing about the stories and characters, maybe also what they disliked or found problematic. It definitely broadened my horizon, as cheesy as that sounds. I believe we can learn a great deal from stories, but only if we engage with them and take them seriously, and nothing is a better way of doing so than communal reading. It can also take the fear away from those books that we secretly think we’re not smart enough for, or feel intimidated by for some reason.

But most of all, it’s incredibly fun. Whenever my best friend and I buddy read a book, I’m having the time of my life. We catch up every 100 pages or so and discuss what has happened and what we think might happen in the rest of the book. Sometimes (okay, rather often) we’re very wrong, sometimes we’re quite close to the truth, but always, I’m thinking about what I’m reading in a different way than I would if I were reading it alone.

And sometimes, when we decide to read a book like The Satanic Verses, which we both hate from page one on, reading it together helps us make it through the entire thing without throwing it at a wall. Because if neither one of us has any clue what’s going on in the story, then it’s definitely Salman Rushdie’s fault and not ours. We laugh about it now, but when we were in the trenches of that book together, it was comforting to know that while I was suffering through each chapter, so was my best friend. And now it’s a memory we share and that only the two of us understand, because of all the trauma bonding we did.

I wish there were more spaces for reading together, that it was something we as a society celebrated and made sure to continue, because I cannot see a downside to it. I have never attended a book club meeting and felt worse afterwards than I did before. I have always learned something about the book we were reading, and often also about my friends, and I think that is beautiful. I know I am biased because I love to read, but I truly think that establishing a routine of experiencing stories together would be an amazing way to encourage children to read – particularly those who wouldn’t normally pick up a book.

Maybe there are cultures who put more value on the exchanging of stories together and sharing them with one another. If so, I’d like to move there. But for now, continuing to read with friends and talk to them about my favourite (and least favourite, that can also be incredibly fun) characters and stories shall be enough and something I value tremenduously.