You might think of such people as lost and forgotten in a desolate area somewhere in the Antarctic, but no, they live among us. Many people hate books, and hate reading in general. Often, this is the result of insufficient exposure to quality reading material. However, there are many other reasons why people have a dislike for reading.

Insufficient Reading Skills

People with poor reading skills cannot absorb knowledge and new information at a satisfactory pace. When a person doesn’t have the right reading skills they don’t get to benefit from reading as much as someone who has good reading skills can.

When people read at a very slow pace, this troubles and frustrates them. It makes them feel incompetent. For these people, reading just looks too time consuming and counterproductive to even bother with.

Conversely, people with sufficient reading skills or even a speed reading ability are more likely to enjoy reading and devour reading material, simply because their reading skills make it easier for them to enjoy the process, which further strengthens their love of books.

It’s no coincidence that people who’ve mastered speed reading are more likely to rekindle their love of books and reading.

Irrelevant, Obsolete or Indifferent Reading Material or Style

Exposing someone only to the wrong, age-inappropriate reading material can prove detrimental for their subsequent opinion of book reading. To help someone love reading it is necessary to provide the right stimuli from an early age, showing them that books are little worlds of new knowledge and wisdom.

If as a child you were surrounded by the wrong type of books, it’s only natural that today they don’t seem as appealing as they do for a bookworm. An avid reader has generally discovered the pleasures of reading from an early age, and is used to reading a lot. Not mastering the art of reading at a young age might make it difficult for people to fully grasp how rewarding an experience reading is, something that persists as they get older.

Lack of Concentration

People who tend to get distracted often and easily will find it hard to really delve into a book and get into the lost in the images and ideas that reading can bring. Too much stress or anxiety in life can make reading a difficult and frustrating experience they justifiably want to avoid. If you can’t focus on reading and your mind constantly wanders off to think of tomorrow’s deadline or business trip, it’s only natural that you’ll prefer another activity to reading, something that doesn’t require you to concentrate.

Insufficient or Wrong Schooling, Lack of Family Support

If your parents didn’t really promote reading and they didn’t read much themselves, you probably don’t have the same urge or curiosity to step into the world of reading. A bad experience with bullying classmates, or too strict or inattentive instructors, might also give people an inclination to dislike reading if the only reading the do as a child is in the classroom.

Book reading ought to be a lifelong engagement, whether you want to briefly escape from the everyday world, or whether you are seeking new knowledge and wisdom.

Even if you didn’t have all the reading advantages as a child, remember that mastering the art of reading is not really an age-restricted practice. As an adult you can discover the many pleasures reading provides. Improving your reading pace can substantially help in encouraging you to read more. Speed reading means you spend less time reading more material while comprehension remains intact. As a result, you reap the benefits of reading in a time-efficient manner.