Reading as a cheap hobby

mehefin

As a trustee of a community library I am so pleased to see this topic. We have recently had a major internal refurbishment which has generated a lot of renewed interest. The problem, as always, is to get the younger generation reading, and to keep them reading particularly as everything seems to be electronic these days!
It was good to see so many authors recognised/revered and loved. My youth revolved around Arthur Ransom, Hornblower etc.
Most libraries if they don't have the full set of eg Jack Reacher can usually order them in. Certainly worth an ask.

Keep up the good work and keep reading
Mehefin

Brambling

MrsStepford said:

There was a series of books featuring Peter and Jane. Peter would help pipe-smoking Daddy in the garden and Jane would help Mummy in the kitchen. They seemed old-fashioned and sexist to me, even before I got to double digits Did anyone else have these at school ?.

I think most of us at a certain age read ether Peter and Jane of Janet and John books at primary school.

Mefin my sister works with primary school age children and they say if the child read it doesn't matter if it's a book or a magazine as long as they read and will encourage children to read about something they are interested in.  It seems the opinion now is most boys of a certain age read more from a device rather than a physical book

my nephew when he was 10 just read Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit on a loop, when my sister voiced concerns with his teacher she was told not to worry as at least he was reading.  A little while later I gave him The Colour of Magic the first disc world book which he turn his nose up until his dad said 'I haven't read this in years' and was soon laughing out loud reading it. Next time I saw my nephew he asked if he could have the rest of the set 🙂 then it was anything sci-fi my Dragon of Pern books were soon rehomed, now as a adult he will read anything.  

MrsStepford

I was a bored disruptive toddler so my mother started teaching me to read. At my second primary school the head teacher berated her for doing that, telling her it was their job. She didn't teach my brother to read which she regrets. My brother wasn't interested and didn't learn to read until he was seven. No dyslexia etc but he was still in remedial classes at eleven. 

Floss

Peter & Jane were the Ladybird reading series books, ranked in levels & difficulty.

@mehefin I'd forgotten about Hornblower - having 2 older brothers meant my reading was quite eclectic. Biggles, Just William, Billy Bunter and Jennings all featured along with Heidi, Chalet School & the Pullein-Thompson pony books.

bouicca21

I learned to read before starting school.  When I got there I wasn’t allowed to read anything else until I had worked my way through the reading scheme, and I’m pretty sure that the reading scheme was Peter and Jane. I’ve hated reading schemes ever since. I still remember sitting in a corner of the classroom with the reading scheme book knowing that my reward for reading it would be yet another tedious reading scheme book before I could be let loose on the enticing box of forbidden books.  

We had hardly any books at home so the library was my favourite place.  My mum actually complained to the school that I spent far too much time reading.

annieb64

There's a publisher called "Girls Gone By" who are republishing a lot of the old  books such the Chalet School series and Malcolm Saville. Not cheap but if anyone wanted a particular book it's worth checking their website.

London_1

My late Mum taught me to read before I started school and I've been reading ever since . There's probably not a room in my house that doesn't have a book somewhere in it I've had to take a lot to the CS recently as I'm moving house but only ones I've already read. I still have a good bookcase half full of stuff I certainly won't be discarding I read every day first thing in the morning and couldn't sleep if I didn't read in bed. I reserve my books online at my local library and a CS is a brilliant place to browse in I always head to the book section first I have been reading for well over 75 years and still love to open a book and immerse myself in the story I go to a book club as well at our local library once a month and look forward to trying a new one when I move in the summer

  JackieO xx

JIL

I read loads when I was younger and read to my children. 
I dont read so much now, but the last book I read was Beryl and i really enjoyed it. I think i prefer real life autobiographies

I cleared out all our books when we moved house, dr barnardo's wrote to let me know they made over £400 from my donation, so a win all round.

Husband does have a reader, loads of books on it and no shelves full of books. We do have some books in the house, a few signed copies and some with sentimental value.

Quasar

What a lovely thread! It's true,  reading needn't cost a penny, and it is not only pleasant but also highly educational at any age. It does wonderful things to the mind, improving concentration, imagination (you need to imagine the situations/people described, not just "see" them as when watching a film).

Lately, I have been listening to audiobooks as well, free on youtube. The readers can be iffy, but with a little bit of searching one can find real treasures. I have listened to all Jane Austen's books, Agatha Christie's, Orwell's, and sundry others. Audio may not be everyone's cup of tea, of course, but I'd say it's worth a try and you can find books of whatever genre you like.

Qx

PipneyJane

@Quasar have you tried Librivox for free audio books?  It contains public domain books i.e. those out of copyright, which are recorded by volunteers.  You can download them to any device and even burn them to CD.

The quality is variable - I was once driving up the M1 listening to Pride And Prejudice, when the reader got to the section that mentions Warwickshire and Warwick, just as I was driving past the signs to Warwick.  The reader obviously didn’t know how Warwick is pronounced so instead of saying “Warrick”, she said “War-wick”.  I was laughing so I hard, I had to pull over.

- Pip