“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.”
—Joseph Brodsky
Does it matter whether you fill your head with the classics or modern books? Manga or SciFi/Fantasy? Romance or nonfiction? The top 100 books by NPR or the Rory Gilmore Challenge? Does what you read matter as much as the fact that you are reading?
Let me begin this blog by admitting that I am not a book snob. I read across the spectrum of genres out there (though some more than others). I don’t believe in limiting myself to one genre, but it seems there is pressure to read a specific type of book to be considered a “Reader”—as if reading something other than nonfiction or a classic novel means you are less somehow. You are not.
Reading is the best activity for your brain. It stimulates the visual cortex, sparks the imagination, and triggers the brain’s mirror neurons, which is why you feel what the characters feel.
Reading engages your entire brain and body. How could anything possible of doing that be bad?
I don’t recall in any of the neurological studies I’ve read about storytelling seeing a breakdown of the type of books used in the study. In most cases, they focused on short stories and anecdotes to test their theories because they fit the time parameters for the test subjects. These were not great examples of literature or blockbusters. They were quick stories to test a theory and they worked, as they were—no editors, no bestselling charts, no test of time.
The brain doesn’t care. So why should we?
We read to live more lives than possible for an individual. We read to escape, be entertained, learn, be inspired, get lost, find ourselves and every other reason on the planet. Each need determines what we read.
If you want to learn about other cultures, read books from those lands and authors from those cultures. If you want to learn about science, grab a science-based nonfiction book or a nonfiction science volume. If you want to learn history, you can read any number of fantastic nonfiction books told in narrative form or get your lessons through well-researched historic fiction (realizing that you may have to measure the knowledge gained from fictional sources with a bit of research to ferret out the fact behind the fiction).
Books allow us to dip into other people’s consciousness and experience what life would be like if we found ourselves in their circumstances. It frees us to explore all aspects of what it means to be human without altering who we are. We can see what it would be like to face an alien invasion or a serial killer. We can run through a haunted house with the devil on our heels or live through the dust bowl years on the plains of America. The possibilities are limitless.
With books in translation, we can experience any country on the planet. We can feel what it would be like to leave our homeland for another, flee a war, survive a massacre, lose everything in a fire, and every other human experience all without leaving our favorite reading chair.
During this pandemic, reading let us roam the planet, escape our worries, make new friends, grieve losses, fall in love, conquer an obstacle, win a war, and catch killers. We could be everything the lockdown prevented us from even considering.
Reading is our passport to humanity. Should it matter what trips we choose? Are our choices any different than deciding to go for a hike versus taking a cruise? Reading is a choose-your-own-adventure. There are no wrong answers. No wrong choices.
Use lists and recommendations as guides, as suggestions for good trips to take. Don’t take them as prescriptive or binding. They are not.
Reading is freedom and can only remain that way if it is free of censorship and open to choice.
Don’t be shamed into reading “proper” literature if you prefer romances and fantasy. Don’t let anyone tell you that YA is not for you. Why not? You can make that choice for yourself. Don’t let anyone else define you. No one has that right. Pick your own books and be proud that you are feeding your brain and expanding your horizons however you choose to do that.
Look at the lists and read those that pull at you. Make your own lists. Read books that make you happy or sad, if that’s what you want.
Read books. It’s that simple. Everything else is irrelevant. And remember that even bad books teach us something—even if it is just showing how not to write a story or describe a character or resolve a conflict.
If you want to write, you must read and read broadly or deeply. If you love one genre, go deeply into it. Read the classics within that genre, as well as the current titles available. Know what has come before and what is happening now. Know the trends. Understand what makes that genre unique.
Now go read something.