A Homeschool Reading Conversation With the 11yo

 The 11yo and I discussed books the other day on a walk.

"You see, there are books you want to read, and books you should read.  Sometimes the books you want to read are also good books that you should read.  And sometimes they aren't.  Sometimes the books you should read are books you also really want to read.  And sometimes they're not.

There are books that are 'good' books because they are beautifully written, and explore themes in insightful or eloquent ways.  But you may not personally like those books.  You not liking them doesn't mean you shouldn't read them, necessarily, because they may very well be books that are worth reading.  Books that should be read.  Even if they aren't everyone's cup of tea."

I sympathize with the desire not to read those books.  It's a standing joke that the only way I ever got through Thackeray's Vanity Fair was by pausing periodically to smack it against the radiator.  There are some titles that I really don't want to read and probably won't just because they will utterly destroy me.  I put titles such as Toni Morrison's Beloved in that category.  But I don't not read those books because they're bad books.  They're excellent books.  Books that should be read, and that readers (shall I be daring?) have a responsibility to read.

It's true.  The way that good, true, beautiful things are guarded from one generation to the next isn't just by collecting them in hermetically sealed vaults, but by experiencing them yourself.  If you can read, and enjoy the delicious freedom of literacy and access to all the free books you could ever read courtesy of your library, I would say that you have a duty not to squander that gift.  Read the good books.  Hide the stories in your heart.

Image Credit Alfons Morales via Unsplash