When was the last time you read a book?
It's a question that can spark conversation, though its frequency may vary depending on your environment and interests.
For a book lover, however, it’s a natural conversation starter.
I recently posed this question to several members of the book lovers' community, and let me tell you—it led to an eye-opening and enjoyable conversation.
A couple of years ago, Nancy Teresa was in class when her lecturer challenged the students to take up reading to improve their vocabulary and grammar.
With a smile on her face, Nancy explained that she had never realized the importance of reading beyond schoolwork until then.
“I didn’t know I had to read until one day, in campus, when the lecturer teaching English for Journalists said, ‘If you don’t read, you are going nowhere. You will not succeed,’” she recalled.
“It haunted me so much that I wasn’t reading, so I bought my first book—High Lord by Trudi Canavan. I was reading just because the lecturer said so.”
Nancy described Trudi’s book as "huge," but as she read, she found herself captivated by the unfolding magic of the story.
That book sparked a passion, and before she knew it, she was buying more books and discovering genres she enjoyed.
“After reading High Lord, I tried another genre. I was surprised to find that you could get the same emotional impact from a book as you would from watching a movie,” she said.
From there, Nancy fell in love with David Baldacci’s writing, starting with King and Maxwell.
Since then, she has read nearly all of Baldacci’s books, except for anything he may have published in 2024.
Nancy acknowledges that the challenge her lecturer set sparked her reading journey, and today, she continues to improve her vocabulary with every book she reads.
Balancing life as a book lover can be challenging, especially when juggling a day job, being a wife, and raising children.
For Nancy, reading often happens in transit, a habit common among book lovers who seek to learn, grow, and escape reality for brief moments in their day.
But reading isn’t always easy. Sometimes, mood and time dictate what you choose to read.
“I read depending on my mood. I have David Baldacci's entire series and have read most of his books. My bookshelf is full of investigative genres,” Nancy explains.
She offers advice to those experiencing reading slumps: Switch things up by trying a different genre.
“I remember a time when I couldn’t get into the novel I was reading. So, I went to the bookstore and picked up a couple of romance novels. I read them over a month, and then I was ready to dive back into my original genre,” she said.
When it comes to book recommendations, Nancy finds it interesting when someone suggests a book or author within the same genre during a conversation.
Tom Jalio, on the other hand, discovered his passion for reading through his family.
He recalls how his father would buy him Tintin comics as rewards for doing well in school—his first love in literature.
“My brother was a Jeffrey Archer fan, so the first novel I read was Kane and Abel. I found it fascinating to follow the characters' life stories until their paths eventually crossed,” he said.
“After that, I read more of Jeffrey Archer’s work, and since Sidney Sheldon novels were popular in school, I read those too. Eventually, I got into the habit of reading novels, not just shorter books.”
Jalio’s love for reading grew alongside his interest in English and writing compositions. He viewed reading as an excellent way to expand his vocabulary.
“I had read a lot of books by the time I finished school, but it wasn’t until I started working and my first boss bought me a Kindle that I became a more regular reader,” he said.
To decide which books to read next, Jalio sometimes googles classics and searches for whatever catches his eye on Kindle.
“Other times, I browse online bookshops for something interesting, especially when looking for local content. Occasionally, I’ll pop into a bookshop to look for books that aren’t available online,” he explained.
“If I’ve been reading e-books, I try to get a physical book next. If I’ve been reading foreign literature, I switch to local content. If I’ve been reading one genre, I aim to try something different.”
Jalio finds that different authors inspire his passion for various genres.
“For example, I fell in love with murder mysteries because of Agatha Christie,” he said.
When it comes to book recommendations, Jalio often seeks out books mentioned in literary articles he encounters at work, although he doesn’t usually discuss his reading choices with others.
“As an introvert, I don’t openly talk about my reading choices, so the recommendations I receive are usually indirect,” he said.
To avoid reading slumps, Jalio takes breaks, especially after finishing a long book, to give his eyes a rest before diving back into more literature.
Like Nancy, he also uses Nairobi's notorious traffic as an opportunity to read instead of texting or browsing the web.
“I’m notoriously bad at WhatsApp,” he laughed.
What is his advice for someone looking to develop a love for reading?
“Think about it like this—if you ever truly loved a movie, chances are it was based on a book. If you read the book, you’ll uncover layers of depth and nuance that can’t be fully captured in a movie. A movie provides instant gratification, while a book is something you can savor for a long time,” he said.
Although Jalio doesn’t participate in book clubs, he once attended a literary workshop, the Young Writers Initiative, where they received books from the now-defunct Book Villa library.
It was there he discovered Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh, one of his all-time favorite novels.
