Read your own way
Why there’s no single way to be a reader
Literacy is a fundamental human right for all. It creates room for imagination, connection and a greater understanding of the world we live in. As we celebrate International Literacy Day and support the UK's National Year of Reading, it's an opportunity to recognise the importance of reading and the many ways people engage with books today.
From BookTok and book clubs to audiobooks, accessible reading formats and creative reading habits, there’s no single way to be a reader. Authors from the Cambridge Elements series Publishing and Book Culture explain why championing diversity in reading practices matters more than ever.
How reading builds connection and community
Reading and books can become an object around which communities form. Libraries, for instance, are one of the many places where people can come together to access, learn and connect.
Dr Rebecca Roach, Associate Professor in Contemporary Literature, University of Birmingham and author of The Social Life of Books Element shares how books, literature and reading have an inherent 'social life'.
"The ways in which we read - and what we read - are shaped by these conversations: whether in the classroom, at literary festivals, on BookTok or at prize ceremonies. It is a myth that reading is a solitary activity - it's fundamentally social!"
While books can bring people together, they also offer something increasingly valuable in a digital world: the opportunity to slow down and engage with an idea free from the distractions of endless scrolling. Dr Gavin Miller, Reader in Contemporary Literature and Medical Humanities at the University of Glasgow and author of Penguins on the Couch Element reflects on the enduring appeal of books in the internet age.
"I think there's more faith in books than in the internet, and rightly so."
There’s no ‘right’ way to read
People come to reading for different reasons: to learn, to relax, to find connection, to gain new perspectives or to better understand themselves and the world around them. Just as there are many reasons to read, there are many ways to do it.
Dr Roach explains that there is no right or wrong way to read. What we read, how we read and even why we read can change throughout our lives, reflecting our interests, circumstances and needs at different moments in time. Adding to the value of reading, Dr Roach shares some of the many benefits of reading for wellbeing:
"The wonderful thing about literature is that it’s about the process and the space, worlds and experiences it opens up for the reader. Unlike so much of our lives today, you can’t read more 'productively’ or more ‘efficiently’ and that is valuable in itself."
For some readers, the joy of reading comes not from fictional worlds, but from exploring real people, places and ideas. Dr Miller highlights the richness of non-fiction and the many ways it can inspire curiosity.
"Don’t forget about history, biography, reportage and nature writing. It can be easier to dip in and out of these kinds of books as well."
"Just experiment with reading and see what works for you right now. In my own reading, I often find selection overwhelming (too much life admin) and so I have joined a book club to cut out the mental effort of having to choose. Or I ask my students for recommendations. Whatever works is a good habit."
- Dr Rebecca Roach
Read your way
The National Year of Reading, a UK-wide initiative encouraging people to make reading part of everyday life, reflects the importance of creating time and space for reading.
As a proud sponsor of the initiative, we invited authors from the Cambridge Elements series Publishing and Book Culture to share the reading habit that's uniquely theirs, and reflect on the many different ways people engage with books.
"I date all my books when I finish them. Nerdy, but I like being able to fit my reading back into my life and memories of a particular place and time."
- Dr Rebecca Roach, author of The Social Life of Books Element
"My reading for pleasure books are pristine, you might only find a cracked spine. Whereas my reading for work or research books are filled with annotations, tabs and dog-eared pages."
- Dr Francesca Benatti, author of Innovations in Digital Comics Element
"Sticky notes! if I’m really paying attention to a physical book that I’m reading, then it’s full of sticky notes. I have dozens of sticky pads in a drawer in my office."
- Dr Gavin Miller, author of Penguins on the Couch Element
Explore the Publishing and Book Culture Elements series
The Social Life of Books (forthcoming)
By Rebecca Roach
In this Element, Dr Roach shares how books have a social life of their own and how we read in multiple ways, offering an introduction to the ways in which books are produced, circulated, evaluated and talked in the twenty-first century.
Penguins on the Couch
By Gavin Miller
Covering a period from the mid-1940s to around 1980, this Element shows how psychological ideas were filtered and shaped by the inner life of Penguin Books as a commercial publisher with a commitment to professionalism, public education and progressive politics.
How Gen Z Discovers and Consume Books
By Kathi Inman Berens and Rachel Noorda
This Element examines book consumption practices of Gen Z (born 1997–2012), a generation whose formative years coincided with the internet, smartphones and social media-digital ecosystems that transformed book discovery, consumption and social identification.
Inclusive Publishing and the Quest for Reading Equity
By Agata Mrva-Montoya
In this Element, Dr Agata Mrva-Montoya offers a holistic examination of the inclusive publishing practices landscape and argues for the need to move away from ad hoc remediation of books towards the commercial production of 'born-accessible' content.
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