How to fall in love with reading as a Dyslexic
2019 was a year of change for me, and one of the most surprising things to come out of it was learning to enjoy reading. As a child I struggled with Dyslexia (and still do), as such reading was one of those things that was hard to enjoy when it was:
1. Difficult - letters and words moved and jumbled around, and
2. The education system, at least at the time in the UK, wasn’t feeding us (me) with content that engaged and inspired reading of one’s own accord from a young age.
It would be akin to only experiencing one genre of music and then deciding that music isn’t for you; very similar feeling to the allegory of the cave. Add on top of that parents that didn’t read themselves or have recommendations on what to read and you’ve got a situation which doesn’t lend itself to a reading environment (I have similar sentiments around a lot of cultural and arts stuff here). Why would a child choose to read when he has a gameboy and lego to play with - hell, why would an adult do the same with the same options?
It’s hard for me to pinpoint exactly how I transitioned from the dyslexic who didn’t read to the one who did, but I imagine it’s a combination of things; time and temperature are ingredients after all.
Where my love for reading began
Looking back I believe it started when I took time away from work, and some stressful life events, to travel in late 2018 - to experience a slower pace of things (and an even slower internet connection). When you have headspace to be with your own thoughts, they finally have a chance to converse with you rather than being buried under the load of one’s stressful existence. One of the things I started to notice was that I’d become conscious of the lack of books I’d read over the last decade (somewhere between the ages of 16 to 26). Maybe I’d read one or two books cover to cover, Walter Issac’s biography of Steve Jobs and the ‘Four Hour Work Week’ by Tim Ferriss come to mind, but not much else.
And that’s not to say I hadn’t read anything over that period of time. I’m certain we don’t really realise how much we read on a day to day basis; emails, social posts, news articles, texts, etc. But it was the noticing of how I’d not pursued much or any reading simply for pleasure (and not continuing with English as a subject into A-levels) that struck me. I also suppose an ex who badgered about my lack of reading finally got through to me too'; some things arrive a touch too late unfortunately (It’s hard to acknowledge something obvious when it’s really obvious).
This thought came about somewhere around the mid-point of my travels and fortunately for me, a fair amount of the hostels I was staying at had book exchanges, or even just a take what you want shelf. In reality though It wasn’t until a friend I made in Krabi and travelled with for about a month and a half (shout out to Jake) leant me a copy of ‘The Da Vinci Code’ that the cogs started to turn.
Now I know, I’m a bit late to the Dan Brown party; many of my peers likely read it when they were teenagers. I vaguely remember seeing the movies, but goodness the book was so much better. And, having since read one or two more of his books it’s apparent that the internet likes to dunk on him for his formulaic writing style. The main point is that his books are fun and easy to read especially when you’re just getting into the swing of things. In any case I tore through that book and quickly picked up something else that sounded interesting to me but ended up being harder for me to digest, Steven Hawking’s ‘a brief history of time’. This book was really interesting, but a hard read. It took me significantly longer to finish despite being about a 3rd of the size and I found myself breaking my flow of reading more often.
Having gone from an easy read book, to only just about getting through one, I was left with room to think why (which is a lot easier when you’re sitting on some beach on Langkawi than at a desk in rainy London); but I didn’t find the answer clearly until I was back in the UK a month or so later.
The secret to enjoying reading
Surprisingly you don’t have to beat your dyslexic brain into submission and force yourself to read literally anything (and if you try to then this is a fight you’re bound to lose; your dyslexic brain has a somewhat inside advantage here).
The real secret starts with finding books that you are actually, genuinely interested in reading. I used to think I hated fiction books, but it turns out I just didn’t like the kind of fiction that I’d previously been introduced to. When I found the kind of fiction books that I enjoyed with a writing style (actually this might be even more important) that didn’t make me want to murder suicide the author and myself; I found myself actually enjoying the process of reading.
Once you’re armed with this first secret, the others start to reveal themselves rather quickly. Upon immediately understanding the first one you are liberated with the knowledge of the second secret - you don’t have to finish a book just because you started reading it. If within the first chapter or so you’re not into it, put it down and move onto something else (even if it’s some critically acclaimed masterpiece - I hated Dune for example). You wouldn’t force yourself to watch an entire tv series if you weren’t vibing the first episode, so why would you do the same with a book.
The next secret reveals itself once you start reading books that are within the same fields and often have overlapping chapters of knowledge. When you come across this and you feel like you’re reading stuff you already know, skip forward a bit and then continue reading, repeat this process as and when you feel like you’re not learning something new (this obviously doesn’t apply to fiction books). To super-power this secret, before you even start reading a book, look through the glossary and then jump to the sections with the specific knowledge you’re looking for from within the book. You don’t need to suffer through the padding before or after the knowledge you’re genuinely looking for; think of it like a buffet, you don’t need to eat anything other than the food you want to.
The final secret I will reveal at the end of this post.
With these reading secrets, you’ll find it much easier to move on from books you don’t resonate with, and power through knowledge based books as you focus on the bits that are most important to you.
5 book recommendations to ignite your love for reading
With all this in mind, we come full circle to the title of the post and five books I’d recommend for those who aren’t confident readers (like I once was) and are looking to get the flywheel of reading in motion. I can’t guarantee that you’ll like them as much as I did, but all five of these books I’ve rated five stars on goodreads and if you’ve read my post about the 5 star rating system, then you’ll know that I don’t give five stars out whilly-nilly.
For the purposes of this post and to ignite that fire for reading I’ve chosen to exclude all ‘learning’ or ‘knowledge’ based books, choosing to focus on those that tell engaging stories - In no particular order:
Ready Player One
I first experienced this story through the lens of Stephen Spielberg’s cinematic interpretation, which if you haven’t read the book yet is quite enjoyable. But, and it’s a big but, if you have read the book, it doesn’t hold a candle to this 80s nostalgia, digital treasure hunting, literary masterpiece.
It is immediately clear upon reading this book how epically large it is in both geographic scale and passing time. It just isn’t possible to translate this accurately to a film, possibly a tv show, but it would be an incredible amount of work just from a legal licensing point of view.
The magic of this book is it is a gripping, fun and engaging sci-fi book that doesn’t feel all that far away from a possible reality. It’s heavily salted with reference to pop-culture from the 80s and 90s but, at least to me, doesn’t feel overbearing. The story arc is playful, suspenseful and at times really makes you think as you try to solve the puzzles facing our protagonist. It’s a kind of like if world or warcraft and the meta-verse crossed over with bitcoin and became the number one economic power of the world that absorbed that vast majority of human’s interest.
Reader caution - the sequel to this book is one of the worst things I’ve ever attempted to read and one of the few books I’ve ever rated 1 star (alongside notable trash such as Robert Kiyosaki’s ‘Rich dad poor dad’). Pretend that Ready Player One is the only book in the series and save yourself for corrupting your inevitable love for this book.
Bad blood
This book has a special place in my heart because I have experienced an almost like for like workplace at a startup I was employee number three at. Delusion, deception, egomania, sociopathy, psychopathy, nepotism, narcissism, gaslighting, and so much more fill this epic piece of investigative journalism by John Carreyrou. Focused around Theranos, A Silicon Valley startup claiming to be able to run over 300 tests on just a single drop of blood and their young founder Elizabeth Holmes, you’re in for an insight into the art of bullshit and expert grift founders are capable of.
It’s hard to describe this book without giving too much away, but it’s one of the few non-fictions I’ve read that feels like a fiction (Shackleton comes to mind here as an other book that does this). You have to continually remind yourself that everything within the book happened. And, even if everything within this book were fiction it would still be one of the greatest books I’ve ever read. I’ve gifted it to at least 5 people who have all been captivated by this modern day corporate thriller.
This is not a book to be missed and fortunately there are some brilliant podcasts out there that will scratch the itch for more you’ll be desperate for once you finish reading.
The Name of the Wind
Recommended to me by my best friend after asking for recommendations - selling it as his favourite book of all time (and I can absolutely see why). This was the first fantasy book I’ve ever read that completely enveloped me in its story. Patrick Rothfuss, the author, is a master of prose and has built a world within this book so captivating that I found it hard to put the book down at all. Blasting through the first volume and onto the second without much hesitation.
Like many millions of others I’m waiting in anticipation for the next and final part. And for those who think George R.R. Martin is slow at releasing books, wait until you get a load of this guy (it’s been over a decade since the second book in this series was released and I think Patrick sets the bar exceedingly high for his own work). So don’t feel too frustrated after you catch up and find yourself thirsting for that final part.
This book opened my eyes to explore other fantasy books by the likes of Brandon Sanderson and Sarah J. Mass; who both create fun and involved worlds.
Project Hail Mary
I think this is my favourite book of all time. It’s one of the few books I own which I’ve read more than once. The audiobook is also supposed to be particularly special so I might give that a go soon, but this really is one of those rare books that doesn’t put a foot wrong at any point. Filled with science, loss, love, peril and so much more; the story subverts all the expectations, archetypes and tropes expected of a Sci-Fi novel.
Written by former NASA engineer Andy Weir, writer of ‘the Martian’ and ‘The Egg’ (one of my all time favourites short stories), Project Hail Mary is his third book within the Sci-Fi Genre and a one shot mission to save earth. Similar to his inaugural book, this one is also written from the first person perspective. It’s a high stakes story of a lone individual against impossible circumstances to save more than just himself (doesn’t sound quite as exciting when I put it like that).
Engaging, emotional, heartwarming and nothing short of fucking awesome, do not miss out on this book!
Flowers for Algernon
I picked up this book after watching the ‘It’s always sunny in Philadelphia’ episode ‘Flowers for Charlie’ and it’s probably one of the most impactful books I’ve ever read. Perhaps now more than ever, as we expand our knowledge on the mysteries of the brain, psychology, neurodivergence and more.
It’s a sci-fi novel that sits in similar spaces to that written by Alan Moore, George Orwell and Aldous Huxley - in respect of how typically there are only a few narrative details that separate the novel’s world from ours.
For those who aren’t familiar with the above work, Flowers for Algernon is a very Black-mirror-esc read. Told from the perspective of the protagonist, Charlie, through a series of journal entries that very much starting as a dyslexics nightmare - for the first couple of pages at least, but stick with it. It’s a genuinely tragic story that takes you on an emotional rollercoaster of life’s hardships and confusions all within a very short period of time. I believe that this book should be a national reading requirement at school, if only to help improve our own compassion and empathy towards others.
That’s my recommendation for five books I think you should give a go if you’re not yet into reading and are looking to find a route in. I genuinely hope you can find a love in reading because there really is something for everybody.
And the final secret as promised. In order to really enjoy reading, you need to give yourself a distraction free environment. That means you need to leave your phone in another room (on silent), no tv in the background, no music either (or at the very least no music with words and at a low volume that can act as non-distracting white noise). Remove all distractions (most critical in the first 15 or so minutes of reading) and allow yourself to get lost in the book.
If you’d like to see what else I’ve been reading you can check out my Goodreads here.
