Maybe it’s time we all dive into a book simply for the fun of it and for nothing more.

Reporter Jenae Hackensmith and I took a few minutes before delving into the work day recently to chat in the Herald break room about the ending of Paula Hawkins’ “The Girl on the Train.”

We’d opted to read it at the same time — albeit Jenae breezed through it in a matter of days while I took a little more than a week.

But soon after we chatted about the big reveal and climax (don’t worry, I won’t give it away) we opted for the next book in our quasi Herald reading club to be Allen Eskens’ “The Life We Bury,” this year’s citywide read for the Austin Page Turners. That way we could converse about the book and swing over to Austin Public Library at 7 p.m. on April 28 to hear from the author himself.

We invited others to join our brief dabbling into a Herald reading club only to be met with only a few takers and just as many responses of “OMG, no!”

Something in that reaction struck a chord with the English lit major side in me. Now this isn’t to lambast those who replied “NO!” to the mere question of reading or to call them out publicly. It’s not meant as a way for me to stand up on my soapbox or pedestal and pass out judgment or throw my nose in the air.

This simply turned into a matter of curiosity: Why do people love to avoid the subject of reading or show vast aversion to it.

My simple answer: Maybe we need to stop making such a big deal out of it.

I browsed some online sites looking to assuage my curiosity only to find a barrage of spitballed theories, preachy support or literature, and other sarcastic blogs.

And there in, I suspect, lies the rub.

Over time, our culture has built a pedestal for the issue of reading and made it into something that’s endlessly debated and pushed on students in school and has set it apart as a controversial, divisive topic.

People talk about the enrichment, the learning and so on.

Can’t we just go back to it being something that’s simply fun and engaging?

We’ve evolved into a culture that turns everything divisive. If you don’t read, you’re wrong. If you read “Twilight” or “FiftyShades of Grey” you’re too juvenile, if you read Shakespeare you’re too educated.

I look at the books my young niece reads — “Judy Moody,” “Cheater Pants,” “Jingle Bells Batman Smells” — and see how it’s simply a matter of fun and enjoyment to her.

Letting people simply read what they want without judgment could be one key way of opening the flood gates.