Why Reed reads

Reading gives me the world.

Shannon Reed, Why We Read

Those drawn to Shannon Reed's 2024 book Why We Read probably already know why they read. Mostly the book tells us why the author reads, but other readers will find much they can identify with.

Reed, who now teaches creative writing at the University of Pittsburgh, was the kind of child who was punished for reading by being forced to watch television. My own mother punished me for reading by forcing me to go outside and play, so I can identify.

Her life has been full of contradictions. She dislikes scary books but once taught a course on vampire literature. She doesn't cook much but devours cookbooks. She hates assigned reading and has doubts about its benefits, yet as a teacher she has often assigned reading to her students.

Reed writes with a light touch about a lifetime spent in the company of books. Her mostly brief essays cover such topics as why series books are popular, why some books make us cry, how books can help cure loneliness and even why Ethan Frome is so often taught in high school — "because it's short and there are about five billion copies available in our nation's school book rooms."

Reed reads just about everything and anything. She reads the classics, too, but doesn't seem to hold them in much higher regard than more popular books. My favorite line from her book: "It's undeniable, if slightly appalling, that half of the joy of reading books like Moby Dick is that you get to tell everyone you're reading them."

How true. Have I mentioned that I've read Moby Dick twice?