Well I have to admit, this is probably the most nerdy (meta?) thing I’ve reviewed on this blog in a while. Reading about reading. Stand by for the feedback loop to die down, and for this reality to implode.

Ok. Better? Cool.

Why We Read: On Bookworms, Libraries, and Just One More Page Before Lights Out by author and professor Shannon Reed is a lot of different things. It’s sometimes insightful, sometimes silly and superfluous, but always an engaging read.

Essentially, Reed comes up with twenty-eight or so answers to the question posed by the title — and intersperses about twelve or so humorous book related asides, like funny quizzes and how-to’s — which cover a range of topics, some deep (To Learn How To Die (And How To Live)), and others definitely less so (Because I Wanted Free Pizza).

What I love about this collection is the unabashed sincerity with which Reed just loves books. Even the books she doesn’t like, she finds useful in their own way, and is able to pull something out of every reading experience whether it be just an assignment in a class growing up, or a treasured and dog-eared tome that gets read again and again every year like clockwork.

As someone who has also spent a lot of time reading, and built something of a life centered around books, Reed’s enthusiasm was a much needed reflection and validation.

But even for folks who don’t read thirty books a year, and work in some book related industry, Reed’s essays are quite encouraging, offering plenty of reasons to pick up a book, while also reminding us that we don’t need even one reason to simply start reading. It is valuable for its own sake.

Reed pulls primarily from personal experience when constructing her essays, and while she certainly has some interesting stories and anecdotes from many points in her life, I especially enjoyed the sections that were about her classroom. She has read a TON of books and during these classroom scenes the reader not only gets to hear a fun story, but often times will manage to come away with a slightly deeper understanding of certain books too.

I tried once before to read George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo, but couldn’t really make heads or tails of it. It was validating to read that this was a book Reed struggled with as well, and to hear how she and her class managed to work through it. I’ve been wanting to give the book another shot, and now I feel at least slightly more prepared.

If I’m honest, I felt so much like one of Reed’s students while reading that during a chapter about twist endings she advises the reader to stop reading her book and go read Gone Girl before continuing on. I actually did, and it was one of the most enjoyable reading experiences I’ve had recently. I had a whole heap to say about that book in my review, and wouldn’t you know, when I finally went back to Why We Read to see what it had to say about the book, I learned a whole heap more.

Another reading secret which was revealed to me within the pages of WWR was that you can read cook books and you don’t have to actually make any of the recipes. It seems obvious, but I’ll admit that I’m not much of a cook, and so cookbooks were never really something I ever engaged with in my (ahem) reading diet (the primary exception perhaps being What’s Cooking In The Kremlin). After reading WWR, I’m wondering if I shouldn’t give it a try. Perhaps a whole new world adventure is waiting for me within those recipes.

Give “Why We Read” a . . . Well a Read?

This one gets a whole-hearted YES from me.

Why We Read makes a great case continuing the practice of perhaps one of humanity’s greatest past-times. Whether it be for pleasure or for work; to learn, or to relax; to cry, live, or die, there are as many great reasons to read a book as there are great books to read. Why We Read just takes the time to list a couple of those reasons, and show us how a life of books — a literary life — can be a fulfilling and amazing way to live.

That’s all I have for this week! What do y’all think? Has anyone read this one? Is reading about reading a bridge too far?

For what reasons do you pick up a book?

As always, please leave your thoughts in the comments! I’m really looking forward to talking about this one!