Why We Read - Book Talk

Join us for a conversation about Why We Read: On Bookworms, Libraries and Just One More Page Before Lights Out by Shannon Reed. This book discussion is in support of National Library Week so come out and share your love of reading with the library!
We read to escape, to learn, to find love, to feel seen.

We read to encounter new worlds, to discover new recipes, to find connection across difference, or simply to pass a rainy afternoon. No matter the reason, books have the power to keep us safe, to challenge us, and perhaps most importantly, to make us more fully human.

Shannon Reed, a longtime teacher, lifelong reader, and New Yorker contributor, gets it. With one simple goal in mind, she makes the case that we should read for pleasure above all else. In this whip-smart, laugh-out-loud-funny collection, Reed shares surprising stories from her life as a reader and the poignant ways in which books have impacted her students, featuring fan-favorite classics to contemporary works and more:

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
The Wizard of Oz
Gone Girl
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Little Fires Everywhere
The Diary of Anne Frank
Jane Eyre
...and more!

From the varied novels she cherishes to the ones she didn't, Reed takes us on a rollicking tour through the comforting world of literature, celebrating the books we love, the readers who love them, and the ways in which literature can transform us for the better.