On Reading

Rather than write a long diatribe about what's going on in the world today, I will simply endorse reading. Reading, you ask? Why reading?

Here's why:

There are a lot of people who have been posting comments on social media that go something like this: "To all my black friends: What can I do to improve things? How can I understand how you're feeling? How can I teach my kids about racism? How can I help?"

And then, a typical response: "It's not our responsibility to educate you."

I tend to agree with the response. On a number of things, actually.

My mom says that abortion is the greatest evil in our world today. I'm sure some people would say racism is. Some people would say sexual exploitation is. The list goes on and on and on, and yes, there are a lot of dark and evil things in this world. I would argue, though, that the greatest evil is ignorance, and I don't think it's a coincidence that people are reading less literature and long-form articles now. (See The Long, Steady Decline of Literary Reading.) Rather than pick up a newspaper, people read only headlines on their Facebook feeds. Instead of looking up a definition in a dictionary or encyclopedia, they ask Alexa. And instead of spending an hour or two during the week reading a critically-acclaimed and age-appropriate book, they read the latest young-adult novel that involves a teen love triangle.*

What happened? Was it Twitter and its 140-character limit? Was it the unending scroll of social media feeds? Was it 24-hour TV? All-you-can-eat miniseries on Netflix? I'm at a loss.

I am happy to know, however, that one message I'm seeing over and over again this week is that people need to pick up a book and read. Read! Learn! Educate yourselves! It's important!**


Thing I'm thankful for: my grandma, for teaching me to read


* I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with young-adult fiction -- even young-adult fiction with love triangles, for that matter. I do find it odd that many adults read young adult novels exclusively. I liked Harry Potter just as much as the next person, but I'm 38 for goodness sake. If I can't understand or be entertained by a book that's written for an older audience, maybe I should re-think the focus of my life.
** I used to be more articulate. See Reading and Travel . . . Travel Through Reading?