It never ceases to amaze me that there are people that don't read books. Ever. In fact of my 5 closes friends, 3 of them never read, and 2 of them read about 2 books a year.

My parents (especially my Dad) read a ton and I guess I picked it up from them. How did you start reading and do you know people who never read?

I know people who announce quite proudly that they never read, like it's something other people should be impressed with. And there I am, fighting back the urge to kick them in the crotch.

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Reading was always a part of life in my family. As a child I always had my nose in a book. Some of my earliest childhood memories are of my mum taking me and my sister to the library every week for story time.

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Reading:

The Spartacus War - Barry Strauss
Slow Death - Jim Fielder
The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire - Edward Gibbon

I live in California's Great Right North, where most people think Rush Limbaugh's a leftist and every orgy's a family reunion. I used to sit in all-night coffee shops in the wee hours and write and sometimes read. I can't tell you how many times people stared at me while doing this, as if I were dismembering a live puppy at the coffee counter. More than once, someone looked at me strangely and asked, "How come you're readin' that book?" (Most people here, strangely, speak with a southern accent even though they've never been outside the state of California -- I think it has something to do with listening to too much country and western music.) I've never understood people who don't read, and I have nothing but contempt for those who announce this fact about themselves as if it's something of which to be proud.

Dismembering a live puppy ... That's why you're one of my favorite authors, Ray, you desribe things like a mad genius.

I could rant and rave about this post all night, but I just started Under The Overtree by James Moore and I need my fix ... I confess: I am addicted to good books, reading, writing, to me it's like Stephen King says, it's magic, telepathy, creating entire worlds from the power of the written word. There have been so many times in my life when loved ones passed away, miserable things happened, where if it hadn't of been for the good author I was reading to take my mind away from this lovely world we're all in, that I would have gone absolutely bonkers.

And yes, sadly enough, I have a younger step-brother who proudly shouts, "Reading is a waste of time and it's for morons." Now this kid is not stupid-despite the incredibly stupid remark-and he is into horror movies. I have said over and over, "Look at this one by King, or look at this one by McCammon, come on, how can you say these books sound lame?" I try everything possible to get him to read and nothing works.

I remember being in second grade, we always had a book selling thing going on in the fall, and I had my eye on a book I wanted when out of nowhere another kid got his hands on it before me, and we both got into a little kid fight over it: it was hilarious! So from the time I was able to read, I've been reading. And I'll never understand people who just don't get it. They're missing out on the magic.

Hey! Take your hands of that book! It's mine!

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"There's no law, no law anymore - I wanna steal from the rich and give to the poor."
~The Ramones~

That's what makes these boards so much fun. You get to converse with people from all over the world who love books (and especially horror books). Sure we don't all like the same style of horror necessarily, but the respect for a good read is always present.

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http://vintagehorror.com/home/author/matt

Even though I had been online since '99, I never talked to another human being online until I joined the Leisure horror forum a couple of years ago.

I don't live around readers. I don't know what the hell's wrong this place, but there just aren't many readers and the only horror read is King or Koontz. The only reason I watched the posts on the Leisure site was to hear about new books or authors I didn't know of. Then I started following the conversations and realised some part of me was withering away inside at not being able to talk books, especially my kind of books.

It was scary, I'm not a very outgoing person, but opening up and joining was one of the few smart decisions I've made.

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Well, there have been a couple of flipper babies...yeah.

I remember what first sunk home for me the fact that I don't live around many readers.

I was in my VO-TECH class and Silence of the Lambs was still a recent movie and the class started talking about Hannible Lector as if he were real.

I told them he never existed and they looked at me like I was either insane or a moron.

I tried to tell them that nothing in the movie happened, it was all Thomas Harris's imagination, that Lambs was actually a sequel, and I even asked them if they had ever heard of Lector or Buffalo Bill before the movie, but nothing worked.

Then the teacher came in and one of them said,"John's saying Silence of the Lambs didn't happen."

And the teacher looks at me and says,"Just because a thing is hard to believe doesn't make it make-believe."

I remember that my mouth dropped open which I'm sure was a satisfying reaction to the students who all got this smug, knowing look on their faces like they had just helped show someone sheltered and ignorant of the world the truth about things.

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Well, there have been a couple of flipper babies...yeah.

I grew up in a household of readers. My grandfather was always peering into some book or another. When his eyes started to go he'd stare through a magnifying glass, poking away, word by word. Thanks to my grandfather I was introduced early to Matt Helm, Mickey Spillane and DH Lawrence.

My grandmother, on the other hand, was always working through some bodice-ripper or another. She was big on the Falconhurst and the Mandingo series - as well as the works of Frank G. Slaughter.

It just seemed like reading was something a body did.

Nowadays we've got video games and dvd libraries and wii-workouts and i-pods and blackberries and all kinds of nifty gadgets and gizmoes that we stare at instead of books.

Not me. I still read in restaurants and coffee shops and on the bus. It's as natural as breathing.

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FLASH VIRUS: EPISODE ONE (always free)

FLASH VIRUS:EPISODE TWO ($1.99)

I too believe Hannibal The Cannibal really exists:

What really irks me about reading these days is the amazon kindle. Yes, I know you can get cheaper books and you can carry the thing anywhere, great, but how can you replace books!?!? Come on, I love the fact that I have to manually turn a page, that after ten years the binding gets shot and I have to buy another, I love the cover art ... if it's good.

I can't imagine a world where book stores are no longer needed because of a $400 piece of microslurp.

Save our books and ban the amazon kindle!

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"There's no law, no law anymore - I wanna steal from the rich and give to the poor."
~The Ramones~

I started reading at 3 and was one of the lucky ones. Both my parents were voracious readers and we even had a "library" of sorts with hard cover books. My dad was a sci-fi fan and I fell in love with Bradbury.

I would be at the library every weekend checking out books and started reading "adult" books by the time I was 12. I had already read every Bobbsy Twins, Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys book by then.

I always had my nose stuck in a book growing up and could read 3-4 books a week, more in the summer.

My MIL never was a reader and couldn't understand why my nose was alway stuck in a book. Then when my FIL passed away she asked if she could borrow a book and within about 3-4 years read every book in my library (just the thrillers not the horror).

Hubby's not a book reader but he reads the paper and some journals.

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Well, there have been a couple of flipper babies...yeah.