Does reading have rules?

I accidentally posed myself the question today and had to think about it for a minute. Obviously, there’s the rules where you have to know the letters and the language—learning to read has its own set of rules. It’s important to know whether to read right to left, front to back, etc. But are there any other rules?

Today, let’s dispel some fake rules and talk of the real rules.

☒Myth no. 1: You can’t DNF.

Suppose you picked an apple from a tree. Beautiful red apple, plump and shiny. You take a bite and discover it’s rotten inside. You gonna keep eating?

Any idiot can tell you no, you won’t!

That rule applies to most of life, if not all of it. It’s awful hard to eat only the non-rotten parts.

And if you’re full, or fed up of eating a specific food, no one thinks anything of popping it into the fridge for later… or never. 

DNFing is fine, y’all. Seriously. No one cares. You do you.

☑︎Rule no. 1: Read good books.

Everyone knows the oft-spoken phrase, ‘too many books, too little time,’ but do we ever take it for serious? Because it is.

There are a lot of books out there. Some are good. Some are bad. Some are indifferent. Some are middling-good. Some are middling-bad. Some are brilliant. Some are horrible. 

You only have so much time. You only have so long to be a kid. A teen. A single person. A spouse. A parent. A retiree. A grandparent. Your life is only so long and it’s notguaranteed. 

Obviously, there’s a lot of things more important in life than reading. But I do think it’s important to be wise about what we read when we have the time. 

Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.Henry David Thoreau

☒Myth no. 2: You have to give solid reviews. 

A review is for you to share your thoughts. Period. Obviously, this is not encouraging you to go full-on Mr. Hyde. There’s no call to be rude or mean. What I’m trying to say is, it’s okay to write a review that’s just full-on fangirling. Now, if you have an audience (aka you’re a blogger or a bookstagrammer or something), people will want to know more specifics than OH MY HEART HE WAS SO SWEET AND I LOVED HER AND AHHH THIS KILLED ME <33333333. But sometimes, it’s okay to just indulge yourself and write a wildly fangirly review. Especially if you don’t have an audience. 

☑︎Rule no. 2: Read what you enjoy.

There’s no shame in sticking to what you like. People do it all the time with basically everything (including food, since we seem to be stuck on the food analogy). The older I get, the more I understand this paradox: try new things often, but do what you love doinga lot. So, do you love the old 1960s MG mysteries? Sweet regency romance? Wild West adventure tales? Medieval historical fiction? Read it, my friend. Put it at the top of your TBR. Prioritize it over the books you’re fairly certain you won’t like. Better to miss a book you might have loved than muck through fifty you hated. 

Bottom line?

If you enjoy reading something, read it.S.E. Hinton

☒Myth no. 3: You have to read every day.

If you can or want to read every day, more power to your elbow. But it’s totally okay to binge one day. Or one week. Or one month. Seasons change. Sometimes you read a lot, sometimes you don’t. It’s okay. And you can still read a lot even if you don’t read every day. 

☑︎Rule no. 3: Read frequently.

Reading is important. I don’t have time to hash out all the whys in this post (I will someday, though!), but the bottom line is ‘reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body’ (Richard Steele). You have to do it with a certain amount of constancy for it to be better and/or easier. It doesn’t have to be on a daily basis, but it has to be frequently. You can always care out time to read a little. Eschew TV, YouTube, movies, Instagram. Look for empty pockets of time. You will find time to read. 

☒Myth no. 4: Kids’ books are for kids.

As C.S. Lewis said more eloquently, “a kids’ book only for kids is bad.” Well, that’s the gist of it, anyways. It’s what I typed into google to find the quotation; but the exact quote says it better: “A children’s story which is only be enjoyed by children is a bad children’s story.” 

The bottom line is, a lot of children’s books and Middle-Grade/Juvenile-Fiction books are surprisingly good. Just because you’re of Young Adult or Adult age doesn’t mean you’re relegated to YA or A books. In fact, you may enjoy MG/JF books all the more because of the nostalgia they bring. At any rate, it’s often better to balance out sadder, harder YA/NA books with children’s books, so don’t allow anyone to shame you for it. 

☑︎Rule no. 4: Read widely. 

You don’t have to stay in one specific genre. In fact, it’s better to have a more balanced diet. (I did mention we were sticking to the food analogy, right?) You don’t want to feast only on sweets (easy, fluffy books) but you don’t want to just eat steak either (deep, thought-provoking books). You want to read simple books, old books, new books, hard books, usual books, unusual books. Switch it up. Try different styles. You’ll be surprised at what you find; and you’ll grow. 

☒Myth no. 5: You can’t learn to read better. 

Nope, nope, nope. You can always learn. You can learn to read and enjoy classics. You can learn how to read faster. You can learn how to read slower. You can learn how to read better. It’s never too late. And any progress is better than none, right?

☑︎Rule no. 5: Always learn to read better. 

There are ways to read in a way that maximizes your time. There are also ways to read in a way that ensures maximum understanding. The more you read, the more you learn how to balance the two. Some books should be read as quickly as possible; other books have to be read slowly to really get everything out of them. The secret of good reading is knowing which to apply.

☒Myth no. 6: You have to be a geek to enjoy classics.

You don’t have to be super intelligent. You don’t have to be ‘raised on classics.’ Homeschooled. A Charlotte Mason-er. Old-fashioned. British. 

Classics are books that have resonated with people for decades, even centuries. They are books that portray human nature and the world in a way that is timeless because of how similar human nature is throughout time and places. That’s why they’re classics. You just have to be a human to enjoy them. It takes work—but it’s worth it to deepen your understanding and enjoy excellent literature. 

Are all books hailed as classics worthy, or good books? No. Use discretion. But know that the worthwhile ones are truly worthwhile. 

☑︎Rule no. 6: Read books that challenge you. 

Obviously, when exercising, you don’t just do easy stuff that doesn’t cost a little. It’s the same with reading. There’s nothing wrong with reading fun, easy books—even a lot of them. But it is very important to read books that challenge you once in a while. Books written in an older or more sophisticated style. Books that change your perspective on things. Books that educate you on something. Books that show you sides of history you didn’t know. Give ‘em a shot. You don’t have to love them all. You don’t even have to finish them all. But give them a fair shot and you’ll be pleasantly surprised… and you’ll feel good, too.