What does Scout mean when she says "until I feared losing it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing."

Scout loved to read so much that losing it was like not breathing. It is a case of never really appreciating what you have until you face losing it. Scout, like her father, loved the written word. Her teacher's threat over not reading at home scared her.

 scout was like losing reading is like not breathing because she loved it so much.