I've started reading more for enjoyment, not because I think it will make me a better person, but because scrolling on my phone is not fun.

We read more than ever. Deep reading is what we miss, rather dearly.

The quote I parrot the most is one that I learned in library school, “Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created or recreated by the author. When lighting conditions are just right, however, a window can also be a mirror. Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of a larger human experience. Reading, then, becomes a means of self-affirmation, and readers often seek their mirrors in books.”

Lying in bed on a dark wet winters night reading the hound of the Baskervilles is pure magical joy

Since I started reading again I noticed my concentration and general mood has improved so much... finally getting round to reading all these great classics, now I can't believe what I missing out on.

Instead of reading I'm listening to Dominic talk about reading - that's valuable right 😅

We do sometimes forget that the essence of reading a book is to simply enjoy them.

But just imagine the chants at Wolverhampton Wanderers' home ground if all the fans had read Middlemarch:
“Our deeds still travel with us from afar/And what we have been makes us what we are.”

I’m a readacholic . Nothing beats a cosy evening with a great book in bed most nights.

Thanks to podcasts like “The Rest Is History” I have bought and read tenfold the amount of books I used to. Not to mention that the quality and direction of my reading list has improved notably.

I could not live without a book!

I’m 75 and reading is my religion. I’m not better, I just learned to read and I loved it!

As a newish parent, I’m finding myself increasing depending on older children’s books because contemporary ones seem to be lacking so much.

My favourite word is, "Read...read...and read!"🎉

i started screaming when he mentioned The Lord of the Rings. I am 62 years old and have never liked science fiction or fantasy but two years ago I asked my daughter, who has a degree in English and Shakespeare for a book recommendation. Her favorite book. You know where this is going. She said I should read The Lord of the RIngs. I groaned. I had recently finished Middlemarch just to give you an idea of where my head was at. But I am always about giving things a try. I can honestly say I have never read a book or series of books that I enjoyed more. I think everyone in the world should read these books. And there needs to be less “furrowed brow” and more “wide-eyed enjoyment.” Thank you Dominic!

Reading - particularly fiction - has some of the same psychological attributes and benefits as meditation and creative hobbies.  Even though you're reading someone else's words, your mind is doing work to translate them into experiences.  And because those experiences are from a high perspective, you're also doing moral work in the sense of putting yourself in the shoes of others, including both the author and their characters.  There's a peaceful, rested feeling after a good read, which seems paradoxical but isn't.  Like good exercise.  Even though effort was involved, you've added to yourself.

When you read, you can pause and think about a particular paragraph you have read, on line its readiing, press the buton.  next page whoosh gone  ,onto the next no time. to think (well that;s my view) I read constantly.

For me, the purpose of reading is not moral improvement ("becoming a better person") but to improve my understanding of human nature and patterns in human behaviour and history. It is through understanding how these patterns manifested in the past that I am able to see how events will play out in the near future. I am currently reading the "Parallel Lives" of Plutarch because of insights it gives into the patterns of behaviour manifested by those entrusted with ultimate State power.

Stopped at 14 minutes to carry on reading my book

I have had a stroke and find it hard to read now so instead of reading 3-4 books a week i listen to excellent podcasts like yours about the history I'm interested in and some fiction that's historically based. Loved James Herriot, some of Wodehouse is hilarious, reading will never pass I believe. Kids just need to be given the love of it.