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

by Shannon Reed

was not one of the children who needed to be coaxed. I read, a lot, already: in the bathroom, in the car, in the dentist’s chair, waiting for my dad to pick me and my cello up, at my brother’s soccer games, and while theoretically helping my mom with dinner. I read as we drove through the raw natural beauty of Yosemite National Park and missed seeing several bears. I read during my math classes at school, when I definitely should have been listening.2 In other words, I did not need to be enticed to read more. I also did not need to eat more Pizza Hut pizza. This is not a commentary on my health, or on whether anyone should be eating Pizza Hut all that often, but a statement of fact. When I was a child, there was a Pizza Hut a short walk from our house, and it was my absolute favorite place to dine, which led to a weekly scene in our living room. My father wondered aloud to my mother where we should get dinner, and I would race in from three rooms away to suggest Pizza Hut. I didn’t get my way all the time, but it was often enough.