Why Do I Read? My 6 Reasons for Reading Books
Why do I read? To learn things. Under that answer: one idea to apply, my work, talks with my partner, the people who hand me books, and a sustainable habit.
Lucas BewersdorffRelated reading
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Why Do I Read?
I read to learn things: how people think, how money can be used to buy freedom, and how habits and focus work. That's my go-to answer whenever someone asks. Five more reasons sit underneath it:
- To use one idea: A book pays off when I apply one of its ideas to my life or work.
- For my work: I read some books for my company, business in general, and ReadingHabit.
- To talk with my partner: On shared reads, we trade ideas whenever they come up.
- Because of the person who recommended the book: Many of my best reads were recommendations from people I trust.
- Because I'm a reader now: About 60 days into my streak, it became automatic.
Other readers might read to escape or for status, but that's not me. (If you read to switch off, the mental health benefits of reading covers the research behind it.)
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Try ShelfCheckCuriosity Comes First
I studied computer science, and I mostly read nonfiction these days. Three topics pull me in the most: how people think and decide (Blink, Influence, Alchemy), money and the freedom it can buy, and habits and focus.
Sometimes, a book gives me more than knowledge. The Psychology of Money made me see my savings as a tool that could buy me the freedom to build things on my own, and not only as a number to grow. That's a big part of why ReadingHabit exists (The One Book That Changed How I See the World has the full story).
That's also where the "use one idea" reason comes from. I used to dismiss self-help as common sense. Now I think its value is in applying one idea, not in reading the whole shelf. My reading habit itself started with one idea from BJ Fogg's Tiny Habits: make it embarrassingly small. So I began with one or two pages a night.
The People Behind the Books
My partner and I often read the same book. We don't keep a schedule: we trade ideas whenever they come up (more often than you might think), and sometimes we each take a different point from the same chapter.
The other people behind my books are the ones who recommend them. I started most recommended books without expecting a lesson, and I still got a lot out of each one:
The Alchemist
by Paulo Coelho
An Andalusian shepherd boy dreams of treasure at the Egyptian pyramids and crosses the desert to find it. A short fable about chasing the one thing you're meant to do.
Est. read: 3h 38 min
Get your reading estimateMy girlfriend lent it to me after I had gone years without reading a single book. Finishing it proved to me that I was a reader again.
Blink
by Malcolm Gladwell
Gladwell on the judgments we make in just two seconds: when those snap decisions beat careful analysis, and when they go wrong.
Est. read: 5h 36 min
Get your reading estimateSomeone close to me handed me my first pop-research book. It sent me straight to The Tipping Point afterward.
Sum
by David Eagleman
Forty very short stories, each imagining a different afterlife. A great read to reflect about the life we live now.
Est. read: 1h 52 min
Get your reading estimateMartin Rue suggested it after I shared that I had just finished Derek Sivers's Useful Not True. Its 40 short stories fit my short sessions and still made me think a lot.
Then It Stopped Needing a Reason
When I started rebuilding my habit, reading every night was a decision. About 60 days into my streak, I noticed I no longer had to consciously make it: my iPad mini was on the nightstand, my phone was in another room, and reading before sleep just happened automatically (Reading Shouldn't Feel Like a Chore has more details).
Of my six reasons, "because I'm a reader" explains the least. But for me, it's the one that makes me open a book every day.
Nobody is born a reader, though. Reading is a skill your brain builds through repetition (Reading Isn't Natural explains how), and I built that identity the same way, one day at a time.
Why Do You Read?
So, why do you read?
I don't usually think about my six reasons on any given day. If you're the same (or unsure), discover your own "why": open a book tonight and pay attention to what pulls you back the next day.
Make reading a habit that needs no reason
ReadingHabit times every session and keeps track of your streak, one day at a time. Join the waitlist for early access.
