Why We Read: On Bookworms, Libraries, and Just One More Page Before Lights Out

Why We Read: On Bookworms, Libraries, and Just One More Page Before Lights Out

336 pages
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Published: 6 Feb 2024
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Editions
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Details

This edition

ISBN: 9781335007964

Format: Hardcover

Language: English

Publisher: Hanover Square Press

Publication date: 6 February 2024

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Description

A hilarious and incisive exploration of the joys of reading from a teacher, bibliophile and Thurber Prize finalist

We read to escape, to learn, to find love, to feel seen. We read to encounter new worlds, to discover new recipes, to find connection across difference, or simply to pass a rainy afternoon. No matter the reason, books have the power to keep us safe, to challenge us, and perhaps most importantly, to make us more fully human.

Shannon Reed, a longtime teacher, lifelong reader, and New Yorker contributor, gets it. With one simple goal in mind, she makes the case that we should read for pleasure above all else. In this whip-smart, laugh-out-loud-funny collection, Reed shares surprising stories from her life as a reader and the poignant ways in which books have impacted her students. From the varied novels she cherishes ( Gone Girl , Their Eyes Were Watching God ) to the ones she didn’t ( Tess of the d’Urbervilles ), Reed takes us on a rollicking tour through the comforting world of literature, celebrating the books we love, the readers who love them, and the surprising ways in which literature can transform us for the better.

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