I always thought that people in the West read because they like to read. But a British bookstore owner told Asharq Al-Awsat that most people read just to avoid taking to strangers while they are in cafés or on trains. Weird.
As I take the train two times a week, I read a lot on train. However, I never thought of it as a way to avoid talking with other people. Nevertheless, I don’t like talking to strangers on train. I think that a book will never stop some people from trying to talk to me. They will start with a silly question about the book, and then will go on talking blah, blah, blah.
Sometimes I think that some people here find me weird because I read on train. Reading a book is not something you see everyday in public over here. But reading is good, so I don’t care. I will keep reading, people.
Saudi Jeans 
Reading never stopped people from talking to me either. I met a couple of French-speaking people once in this way (I was reading a French novel): one of them was a guy from Mali and, I don’t know how, but we got talking about polygamous marriages. His father had two wives and he told me a little about how happy he was to have more brothers and sisters but that the two women hated each other.
He did recommend I read Vol de nuit next, which I am still working on.
I read on public transportation to pass time and to catch up on reading – otherwise I never have time to read. :)