The idea of “Summer Reading” was initially created to encourage parents to have their children read during summer vacation. Why? Because summer reading is critical to one’s ability to not only retain information, but also to grow in knowledge and develop critical thinking skills. Most literacy experts believe that children should read on a daily basis in order to maintain literacy skills learned in the previous school year. So local libraries and literacy programs encourage kids to read, and often provide extensive book lists to boost summer readership.
Makes sense. But what about the adults?
The same adults who are no longer students, who work, have families to attend to and lead busy lives should not be exempt from the same philosophy: that reading is critical to one’s ability to . . . grow in knowledge and develop critical thinking skills. Especially in this day in age when certain politicians keep talking about “fake news,” the only way you’re going to know whether it’s fake or not is to read. And I’m not talking about reading on the internet or on Facebook . . . getting real books written by smart people who are experts on the topic. This is the secret to developing critical thinking skills, questioning what people say, and reading to back up (or dispute) their statements.
Sometimes it’s not about reading to checkup on the facts, it’s also about reading poetry or novels that can take you on a mind trip. Sometimes it’s about revisiting old books to remind you of the beauty of language. I often turn to James Baldwin because the artistry of his work, his classic works like Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953) and Giovanni’s Room (1956) reads like prose-music and gives me the chills while also encouraging me to refine my writing skills. Right. As if it were remotely possible that I could ever write like Baldwin, but that’s one of the reasons why we read these great writers, because they inspire us — mentally, spiritually and yes, even artistically.
Maybe it’s not just about summer reading, maybe it’s something that every child and adult should be doing all the time, reading and thinking and talking about books. In fact, when I was growing up, there was no such thing as summer reading in my household, because we read all the time. We weren’t obsessive about it, we still did normal things like eat and sleep, work or go to school (or sometimes both), look at TV, go out and visit people, or go to the movies, but we were attached to books, both figuratively and literally, because they were part of our being. That’s why I find it so hard to believe that there are people out there who don’t like to read; it’s almost tantamount to meeting people who hate chocolate: I sort of intellectually understand it but on a far more deeper level, I just don’t get it.
I’ve read books eating chocolate. I’ve eaten chocolate while reading books. Yummy!
So here’s why adults should read: It helps you relax and relieves stress; it helps you sleep (falling asleep while reading a book is the best sleeping aid, ever); and it helps make you more emphatic when you read about other people, whether it is a fiction or nonfiction book. Reading also increases your knowledge and vocabulary, and builds awareness and confidence, so why not give it a try? If you haven’t done it already, try spending the rest of your summer reading at least one book. It may surprise you how good you feel after reading a book, and much you enjoyed it.
Happy reading!
