Books are boring… Yeah right!

A recent promo for the television show ‘Ellen’ featured the host Ellen Degeneres asking “Why not read a book? I’ll tell you why not - books are boring”. Being a librarian this caught my attention. Partly because I know that Ellen has written several books herself, and I wondered if she was including her own works in this statement, but mostly because I can’t help but disagree with this idea. Books are boring… Yeah right!
Saying books are boring is like saying music is boring, art is boring, films are boring. The thing about something being boring (or interesting for that matter) is that it is a very individual judgement. There are certainly television programmes I find boring, but presumably others enjoy them or they would be taken off air, and I wouldn’t say television is boring as there are other shows I really like. Similarly I enjoy watching test cricket, something others compare to watching paint dry, but this doesn’t mean sport is boring, and the same is true for books.
For me the suggestion that books are boring makes no sense at all. I have read books that have been gripping, moving, captivating. They have tug at the heart strings, made me feel sad and angry at the unjustness of the world, and pride and joy at the strength of the human spirit. Books have caused me to gasp in horror, sent tingles down my spine, and made me laugh so hard that the tea I was drinking came out my nose. Books have haunted my waking hours as I think about what might be coming next, and they have kept me up till the early hours of the morning so I can find out how they finish. They have amazed, educated and changed me.
This is not to say that I have been captured by, enjoyed, or even finished, every book I have ever tried to read. There are books that I have found tiresome and difficult, confusing and unengaging. Books that did nothing positive for me except induce sleep. But this doesn’t mean all books are boring, and the wonderful thing is that there are so many of them. If one doesn’t appeal, there is always another to try. And there is a great variety in what readers think makes a book enjoyable. A list I found on the internet for example of the world’s most boring books included Pride and Prejudice and Wuthering Heights, both of which currently feature on the Whitcoulls Top 100 Books list, as voted by readers.
Reading does involve some commitment and like any exercise the habit becomes easier with practice. Reading requires concentration and an absence of distractions, but when this is achieved a real sense of connection with the book, the writer, the story and the characters can be achieved. This is why keen readers get “lost in a book” and “can’t put a book down”. Studies suggest that the brain processes reading in a very similar way to listening to someone talk, and so it seems logical that we can respond to text in as involved a way as if we were having a conversation.
I know that books are not for everyone because reading is not a method of communication that works for everyone, people with reading difficulties such as dyslexia for example. But there are also many others who simply think books are boring, they don’t engage with the story, they can’t concentrate on reading, and it becomes a chore rather than a pleasure. And for them I wonder if they have simply not yet found the right book.
One of the great strengths of the public library system is that for little or no money you can try out a huge range of books, by different authors and about different subjects. The Non-Fiction collection covers almost every possible aspect of human activity. From the Boer War to the lives of celebrities, and from contemporary philosophy to memorable All Black victories, there is sure to be something for almost any interest. Add the Fiction collection where everything that can be imagined can be written about, and the array of books available from your public library is vast.
The other great strength of the public library is that it is staffed by librarians who have a great interest in books, in getting people reading, and connecting people with the book that is right for them. As a librarian there is nothing more satisfying than having a customer tell you that they really enjoyed or benefited from a book, particularly if it is one that you recommended to them. So if you would like some advice on what to read, whether you find books boring or not, please ask a member of the library staff for some help. I think we could even find one for Ellen!

Jon Adams
Community Outreach Librarian
Masterton District library