Reason to Read #2:

Keeps the grey cells from withering. Acquiring knowledge -- and remembering it -- is utmost in enhancing intelligence, I think.

#3: For the pure fun of it to escape from the mundane.

Reason # 4

To find out stuff ( I need a better word here) My life is made up of such trivia I need to keep the old brain sharp. For me, reading and learning are luxuries.

Reason #5

To improve your spelling and grammar. (I think some of it sinks in, even if you don't want it to.)

As companionship. I read my old favorites over and over again, and they become like old friends.

Reading enhances my life; it adds dimension and (echoing Caroline) allows me to escape into another world for a while. I feel refreshed when I come back to reality.

All of the above.

Reading a good book is like discovering a wonderful friend and enjoying the time together. On a cold wintry day I love knowing that a good book is waiting for me to cozy up with a hot mug of chai latte in front of a warming fire and open it up ( with a sigh and a smile).

One reason I read is to help me engage and better understand the world around me. Well written, insightful fiction can help me understand the hearts of people; non-fiction, particularly history, helps me keep the present in perspective. I liked all the other reasons above also.

Yours made me laugh, bigdogstwo. It reminds me of a friend's story about when she was little. She went into the bathroom, locked the door and emerged hours later when she finished her book: a place to read in peace. I read when I was folding towels when I was a child: one basket could take hours. Once I was reading while walking home from school and ran into a newly painted telephone pole. I came home with my new dress decorated with a large green splotch in the front! Not a good idea.

Some great responses here... Thank you to all. Now would it be possible to rank them or are they all meaning the same thing, but said in a myriad different ways? To me, it looks like pleasure and learning something (about the world, about spelling/grammar, about other people, about a topic really removed from your normal life...). What do you think?

Haha, Rose, you were the predecessor to the current wave of smart phone zombies!

I used to read perched in a tree in our backyard. Many days I would grab a big, fat dill pickle, climb the tree, and read till it got dark. :)

Donna

All of the above. I can tell I am getting old because reading is still my preferred form of entertainment, vehicle for learning, and way of making a mental escape for a while.