Book Review: Why We Read
Book: Why We Read: On Bookworms, Libraries, and Just One More Page Before Lights Out
By Shannon Reed (published February 6, 2024)
Review by: Marilyn S. Black, M.Ed.
Shannon Reed was destined to write about the joy of reading. Even her last name suggests her literary passion. She learned to read at the early age of two years old. Getting her first library card as a child was another defining moment. Reed was as fearless as the heroes she revered in her favorite childhood books, like Harriet the Spy and Little Women. At age eight she caused a ruckus in her local library, wrestling an aggressive boy to the ground because he had tried to steal her book bag slung over her shoulder, replete with the books she had just checked out. He slunk away, humiliated and bested by a girl. Still fearless, she currently teaches creative writing at The University of Pittsburgh. Her lifelong connection to reading continues unabated. If she isn’t teaching or writing, she has her nose in a book.
Although Reed acknowledges that there are many reasons to read, she relates some of the more universal ones. Reading for pleasure or to escape from one’s daily grind is a common theme. Sometimes we just want to be entertained. Books can speak to where we are in life and help us figure out how to navigate the next step. Reed firmly believes that literature can transform us. For example, some colleges offer classes titled Changing Lives Through Literature to those incarcerated in prison. Students read and discuss classic and contemporary books. Reed is a strong advocate for whatever encourages people to read, such as reading aloud and online, listening to audiobooks, attending author book readings, and joining book clubs. Her favorite books include nonfiction, disasters of all kinds, and books about crafting. She vehemently opposes the banning of books in our current political climate.
Reed has already started writing her next book titled, My Girls. It concerns essays about some of the authors who have inspired her, like Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Zadie Smith. So, this discussion about books finally begs the question, why do you read? Shannon Reed would likely agree that there are as many reasons to read as there are books!
~Find this title at the bookstore or online at Bookshop.org with other books about reading!
-Marilyn S. Black, M.Ed.
Professor of English, author of two textbooks and a young adult novel, and former educational publishing editor