One of my favourite activities to do myself is reading. I love it, of course. Reading is cool and I have that printed on a t-shirt. I could take for granted that you already agree and understand, but then this blog post would be a bit too short, so I’ll elaborate. Reading is relaxing and a great way to start a day or end it, it’s a great thing to do to fill time when waiting at the bus stop and it’s a great thing to make time for especially. It broadens your mind, it helps you to be more empathetic, it makes you laugh and makes you cry and because it all happens entirely within your head, reading is a highly personal experience which is different for everybody.
With all that in mind, reading only really makes sense as a solitary activity, right? But somehow that’s not true. While I wouldn’t like to read in a group of people who were otherwise occupied, there’s actually something pretty enjoyable about reading with somebody who’s also nose deep in a book. Against all reason, sitting and silently reading a book alongside somebody else doing the exact same thing, is actually more enjoyable than just doing it alone – or at least it is for me. It’s hard to put my finger on what I enjoy about this and I feel that it might just be down to being in the presence of friends, but if you’ve never tried communal reading before, I recommend it!
