I was reading as far as I remember .I read magazines in doctors clinics ,billboards, wall graffiti ,readers digest and books my parents read.

I was a precocious reader and I distinctly remember being scolded by my mom, for some of the book covers of M&B romances.
My best friend was a book worm too and most of my friends fell into one of the two category of book worms-Full book worm mode(reads every genre),reads Enid Blyton.

The latter was definitely easier to find in a girls school in the nineties. Whatever troubles we had, could be solved over a good discussion about the Famous Five’s most recent mystery or the midnight picnic at Malory towers. The Enchanted wood though still had my heart.

Even after so many years I am happy re-reading those books.
Books will help you understand other people’s point-of-view.
Books will help you relax.
Books are magical at teleporting the mind-free travel.
Books help you learn history and avoid making the same mistake.
Books help you think through complex ideas and understand or not. Helping you challenge your brain and make you smarter. Reading a book is a good way to polish your mind.
Books are the best friend … anywhere.

If you have forgotten to read books or never read one…start small.
If you are a parent, know this-your reading habit will influence your kids willingness to read. Children learn by seeing.

https://healthwealthbridge.com/how-to-raise-a-reader/

But why read?
How will it help?
Is there any real scientific reason to read for pleasure?
Reading is the best way for self education. Educated people are more likely to be successful .
While speech is natural, reading and writing are learned skill ,requiring effort and neuromuscular coordination and higher functions.
The best protection against traditional rote learning is wide curiosity based learning. For that books, libraries are your best friend.
The ability to read and understand is related to better health ,education, social skills, socio-economic status and creativity. These effects may start as early as age seven.
Reading not only helps with education, career but improves, cognitive abilities across all ages and has a role to play in fighting dementia of old age .
According to this study, reading activity may compensate for cognitive deficiencies related to low level of formal education ,and advanced age.
Free Reading-reading for pleasure is a lifelong habit for wellbeing.
What am I reading this week?

Ruskin Bond and Murakami

Sources which give you food for thought and make up your own mind:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6088505/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4354297/
https://www.aan.com/PressRoom/Home/PressRelease/5311
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3853584/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9563722/

I free-write about topics I am ruminating over. After writing the bare bones, I will run a data scan to check if my understanding has any mistakes, biases and add resources as needed from reliable sources.