I read therefore I am. I learned to read at about 2 1/2 because all of the adults around me were always reading. My grandmother would read aloud and follow the words with her fingers as she went. One morning, I just started chiming in. For me, the worst thing about law school was that it required so much reading that I actually lost interest in personal reading. I felt that I had lost my identity. Luckily, I was able to pick it up again after the bar exam (the first book I read was Dante's Inferno).

If I were to try to articulate what I get from reading, my response would be pretty similar to Andy's. In fact, I probably have a more positive view of 99% of the things I read because I was able to learn something new or get a new perspective from reading it. I also have to agree with Melydia -- I read because it's fun.