[Yudster]

When I started school at four I could already read fluently - I have no idea why, my mum says she didn't teach me and my dad certainly didn't. Its just one of those things I could just do. By the time I was 5 the school had run out of books that I hadn't read, but I didn't care because my mum was a librarian so I had virtually unlimited access to anything I wanted to read. So I read everything. Fiction, reference, biographies - the lot. When I was still 5 the school asked me to bring in whatever I was reading at home because I had devoured every book in the place, and I will never forget the look on my teacher's face when I brought the biographical account of Thor Heyerdahl's Kon Tiki expedition which I was halfway through (my dad had finished it and passed it to me, he knew I'd enjoy it).

Anyway, I haven't changed. I read bloody everything. Its probably why I'm good at pub quizzes.

[dimtimjim]

See, this makes me sad, so many people tend to dismiss fiction as "not worth reading", only read autobiographies and insist that anything that actively engages your imagination as "childish" as if that gives themselves some kind of intellectual bonus points (but probably still watch Eastenders and Coronation street).

Soz big-bro, I mean no offence to you book types and certainly have no derogatory feelings to those who enjoy a read, its just how my mind works. I am very un-imaginative, but am highly technically minded. 'tis the same reason I watch little TV, but can easily kill hours watching Discovery channel, for example.

[Nicola_Red]

When I started school at four I could already read fluently - I have no idea why, my mum says she didn't teach me and my dad certainly didn't. Its just one of those things I could just do. When I was still 5 the school asked me to bring in whatever I was reading at home because I had devoured every book in the place, and I will never forget the look on my teacher's face when I brought the biographical account of Thor Heyerdahl's Kon Tiki expedition which I was halfway through (my dad had finished it and passed it to me, he knew I'd enjoy it)..

I could read before I got to school too, but I don't think I was quite that advanced! I just remember scoffing at the books they expected us to read, the ones with a picture and one word on the page. I was straight onto Janet & John

[Bruvva]

Soz big-bro, I mean no offence to you book types and certainly have no derogatory feelings to those who enjoy a read, its just how my mind works. I am very un-imaginative, but am highly technically minded. 'tis the same reason I watch little TV, but can easily kill hours watching Discovery channel, for example.

Wasn't a go at you in particular

When I started school at four I could already read fluently - I have no idea why, my mum says she didn't teach me and my dad certainly didn't. Its just one of those things I could just do. When I was still 5 the school asked me to bring in whatever I was reading at home because I had devoured every book in the place, and I will never forget the look on my teacher's face when I brought the biographical account of Thor Heyerdahl's Kon Tiki expedition which I was halfway through (my dad had finished it and passed it to me, he knew I'd enjoy it)..

I could read before I got to school too, but I don't think I was quite that advanced! I just remember scoffing at the books they expected us to read, the ones with a picture and one word on the page. I was straight onto Janet & John

I was on to the "read whatever you want" stage at school very early on as well. I was reading Lord of the Rings at 7. Although to be fair, I skipped the boring Tom Bombadil bit.

[bmstinton93]

I don't read.

[dimtimjim]

I don't read.

Yeah, checking FB status updates dunt count yoof!

[Nicola_Red]

I don't read.

Why? I'm not having a go at you - just curious. Have you ever read? Did the books you did at GCSE put you off?

[bmstinton93]

I don't really know. I just can't be bothered. I read all 8 Harry Potter books and used to read although kinda felt I did cause I had to. It just takes too long and I find it boring. And I hate silence as well and then can't read with music on...

[Nicola_Red]

Ah, that's fair enough. I think in a culture where the TV is on all the time, silence can seem weird. But I like to read sitting outside work on my lunch, or on the tram home. I feel gutted when I see I'm reaching the end of another kindle book, cos I can't afford to buy as fast as I can read!

[bmstinton93]

You can download kindle books for free off Piratebay...

[dimtimjim]

Tsk, tsk.

Don't pirate stuff people, its only fair to get paid for what you do - be that write books or stack shelves at Sainsburys.

[Nicola_Red]

Yeah, I wouldn't pirate books. For some reason I feel more strongly about that than I do films or TV shows.

[a-moron]

Do you buy books from the charity shops?

*Cause we all know they are just a front for seedy criminal skulduggery.

[Nicola_Red]

No, apart from coffee table/glossy hardback type books I only buy e-books now.

[a-moron]

How do you turn the pages down on an e-book to keep your place?

[Nicola_Red]

It remembers for you. What, you think I paid £110 for something that doesn't even remember where I'm up to?

[R94N]

I actually saw quite a few people on holiday, and on the plane, using Kindles. I didn't really think e-books had taken off among 'normals' but even though that was just one trip it sort of showed it has started to.

[chrysostom]

In London (oooh!) they're commonplace on trains and the tube. I think they're a very useful resource for commuters.

[R94N]

Maybe I just don't get out enough to notice.

[Nicola_Red]

I've only had my kindle a couple of months, but my mum has had one for over a year, and she's pretty normal. Much more so than me anyway.

[Travis Bickle]

Tsk, tsk.

Don't pirate stuff people, its only fair to get paid for what you do - be that write books or stack shelves at Sainsburys.

Absolutely. Illegal downloads are just the same as walking into a shop and nicking a book or a DVD. If you wouldn't do that, don't illegally download.

[chrysostom]

Whilst I agree, Cinema prices in some places are tantamount to theft. Probably due to the rise in piracy.

I can't remember who posted it, but this sums up my justification for piracy (on the basis that I buy the DVDs when they're available).

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones

[Travis Bickle]

Whilst I agree, Cinema prices in some places are tantamount to theft. Probably due to the rise in piracy.

I can't remember who posted it, but this sums up my justification for piracy (on the basis that I buy the DVDs when they're available).

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/game_of_thrones

I If you saw a film at the cinema and liked it, wouldnt you be likely to get the DVD as well when it became available?

[R94N]

I disagree with the film industry complaining about piracy as directly being loss of sales. Sure, some of those pirated copies could have been sales but there were probably many people that pirated the film that wouldn't have bought it legally anyway. And since they can be copied infinitely there wasn't really any loss of revenue because they wouldn't have bought it anyway. They seem to still think so but you can never completely stop piracy from happening.

[Emmy]

When I started school at four I could already read fluently - I have no idea why, my mum says she didn't teach me and my dad certainly didn't. Its just one of those things I could just do. When I was still 5 the school asked me to bring in whatever I was reading at home because I had devoured every book in the place, and I will never forget the look on my teacher's face when I brought the biographical account of Thor Heyerdahl's Kon Tiki expedition which I was halfway through (my dad had finished it and passed it to me, he knew I'd enjoy it)..

I could read before I got to school too, but I don't think I was quite that advanced! I just remember scoffing at the books they expected us to read, the ones with a picture and one word on the page. I was straight onto Janet & John

I could read before I started school too, in fact my mum claims I could read at 18 months because she'd get up in the morning and find me 'reading' books to myself in my cot, but strangely enough I've never quite believed her on that one! I could definitely read before I turned four though, and I remember insisting on being the one to read bedtime stories to my dad. My favourites were the 'Ramona' books, if anyone remembers them? They were turned into a tv series at one point too.

As a child and teenager I would regularly read two or three books a week, and more during school holidays, but since I started working I've become quite lazy where reading is concerned. I have recently started to try to make more time to indulge in books and still read a good bit during holidays, but I feel like I should be getting though more of them.

This summer some the books I've read and enjoyed include 'Quiet. The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking', 'The End of the Wasp Season', 'In The Midst Of Life', 'The Land of Decoration' and 'The Weird Sisters', and several Jodi Picoult and Diana Chamberlain novels. I'm currently reading Mark Radcliffe's 'Reelin' in the Years' and I may re-read some of my mum's Maeve Binchy books too after the sad news about her this week.