The question 'How do people read?' continues to be the subject of ongoing empirical research in
a wide range of disciplinary fields including but not limited to literary studies cognitive
poetics book and media studies psychology of fiction and neuroscience. Kamila Augustyn
(University of Wroc¿aw) presents the results of a qualitative study of adult Polish readers
from different ages and occupations exploring their motivations for reading and the
circumstances that can influence the reading experience. Testimonies gathered through in-depth
interviews tell us how avid readers engage with books how they feel while reading and see the
ways in which their reading behavior changes over time as they gain life experiences and
explore different genres types and forms of books. As this is an exploratory study its scope
covers all aspects of reading books whether for leisure required reading or for professional
purposes. The research adopts Kathy Charmaz's approach based on the grounded theory developed
by Anselm Strauss and Barney Glaser. In alignment with the constructivist paradigm knowledge
is not merely discovered but rather created. Therefore Reader who are you now does not
reveal an objective reality but instead how readers construct narratives about themselves. The
empirical material collected is divided into three sections: The first focuses on the
preparation for reading the second on the act of reading itself and the third on what happens
after reading. In order to provide a comprehensive understanding of the cognitive and emotional
processes involved in reading the analysis of readers' statements is supported by findings
from various disciplines including book and literary studies the psychology of fiction and
emotion and cognitive science. Supplementary material on this title is available online here:
https: doi.org 10.18150 QLROKU
