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

by Shannon Reed

A hilarious and incisive exploration of the joys of reading from a teacher, bibliophile and Thurber Prize finalist

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. From the varied novels she cherishes ( Gone Girl , Their Eyes Were Watching God ) to the ones she didn’t ( Tess of the d’Urbervilles ), 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 surprising ways in which literature can transform us for the better.

Genres: Nonfiction, Books About Books, Memoir, Essays, Audiobook, Humor, Adult

336 pages, Hardcover

First published February 6, 2024

About the author

Shannon Reed is the author of Why We Read: On Bookworms, Libraries and Just One More Page Before Lights Out (2/6/24) and Why Did I Get a B? And Other Mysteries We're Discussing in the Faculty Lounge (6/30/20). A frequent contributor of humor to The New Yorker and McSweeney's Internet Tendency, her "If People Talked to Other Professionals the Way They Talked to Teachers" was the most-read piece at McSweeney's in 2018. She has also written for The Paris Review, The Washington Post, Slate, Buzzfeed, and many other venues.

Since 2012, Shannon has taught at the University of Pittsburgh in the Creative Writing and Composition programs, part of the English Department. She is currently the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Writing Program and a Teaching Associatge Professor. Before arriving at Pitt, she taught preschool in Johnstown, Pennsylvania (her hometown) and Tribeca (not her hometown), as well as high school in Queens and Brooklyn. She holds a BFA in Theatre: Acting and Directing from Otterbein University; an MA in Educational Theatre from NYU; and an MFA from the University of Pittsburgh in Creative Writing: Fiction.

You can often find her reading.

Reviews

[Dee (on Hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded down. Non-fiction or fiction, I generally do enjoy “books about books”, but this one was a bit “meh”, and I think that was mainly due to just too many personal author anecdotes … it felt a lot less why “WE” read and more why the author reads, which was mostly just “whatever”. There are references here for every kind of book- from cookbooks to classics to children’s, so again, it does try to appeal to many readers, but it really just wasn’t what I expected, and it took too much time and effort to get through with little insight. Great cover tho…

[Debbie W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why I chose to read/listen to this (audio)book:
1. GR friend, Melissa's review sold me (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... and,
2. September 2025 is my "Q and R Authors" Month!

Praises:
1. several of author Shannon Reed's essays are so LOL relatable, both as a teacher and a reader! Some of the ones that tickled my fancy included:
-"To Finish a Series" - this was a more common activity when I was younger, but now I have so many books on my WTR list to get through that I'm not sure that I want to tackle another series!
-"Because We Had To" - this essay really spoke to me as a teacher. Schools are one of the biggest culprits for discouraging reading! I refused to assign worksheets or make-work reading projects - surefire ways to kill the enjoyment of reading. To quote Reed "Nothing kills the experience of reading a good book more than having to answer questions about who the main character is, what his motivation might be, and what the giant glasses symbolize ... I bet that no one from my class has made much use of the skill of correctly answering worksheet questions over the last thirty years." (For more insight, check out Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It by Kelly Gallagher);
-"To Break the Rules" - a humorous look at what "good" readers do (or don't) do - rules vs. preferences;
-"Because Failure is Most Definitely an Option" - Reed explains why we shouldn't feel "dumb" when we don't "get" a book. I enjoyed her amusing anecdotes about "superior" readers;
-"But Not Shakespeare!" - high school assigned reading of this bard's works did not make me a fan, but Reed enlightens us (and herself) that dramas/plays are meant to be heard and discussed! Hmm ... maybe someday I will check out Shakespeare via audiobook!?!
-"Evaluating Recipes" - What a hoot! So true!
-"Because Someone Gave Me a Book" - Yep! Please don't give me a book to read (or recommend it) just because you loved it. If I want to read it, I'll ask, or better yet, I'll put it on my WTR list (one caveat - only my Dad is allowed to do this!)
-"To Be Shocked" - I enjoyed learning about the 4 elements needed in books written with a twist, and why these books are quite difficult to write. Read's explanation as to why Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is in a masterclass in fiction writing;
2. some random musings I noted:
- even though reading is a solitary activity, it becomes communal when we want to share our thoughts;
- her thoughts about Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders - kudos to those readers who were quite taken in by this story/writing style;
- I enjoyed hearing her anecdotes about reading (and teaching) horror;
3. Reed includes a List of Books and Works Mentioned - I was thrilled to see that I've read (or at least recognized) so many of these books!
4. narrator Paige McKinney successfully uses inflections and intonations for this audiobook; and,
5. Reed's final essay "Because We Are What We Read" actually brought tears to my eyes!

Niggles: Not a one!

Overall Thoughts:
HER anecdotes are MY anecdotes! Loved it!

[Barbara K · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’ve read more than 50% of this book, which is my personal benchmark for dnfing, while still rating and reviewing.

My problems with the book are summed up with the first two words of the title. There is no “we” in this book. It is all about the author’s experiences with reading, and with helping others to learn to enjoy reading.

There is also not much, at least not much new or insightful, about “why” we read. There is a lot about how the American education system discourages students from learning to love reading, but that’s why we don’t read, not why we do.

Mostly, the book is anecdotes, many of which extend for an entire chapter. I realized that I would not finish the book about halfway through a lengthy description of the efforts of Reed, along with her co-worker, to avoid reading a particular book to a class of 3 year olds because they (the teachers) were bored with it. I never figured out the point of the story, but enduring it nearly brought me to tears.

Which, incidentally, is one of Reed’s reasons we read: to cry. For me, not so much. I read for lots of reasons, but never to induce a good cry. Unlike Reed, I do not enjoy my “tears being jerked”.

I found it curious that she went on at length about people avoiding specific books because they were, in essence, afraid they wouldn’t be able to understand or appreciate them. That falls well outside the range of my own experience. I have lots of reasons I avoid books, but fear is not among them. I wonder if any of my GR friends have fear issues when it comes to books?

If you enjoy cute anecdotes, you might like this book. But if you are looking for any insights into the always fascinating (at least to me) question of Why We Read, I’d recommend you look elsewhere.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first, I wasn’t sure the direction this book was going. I felt myself completely understanding of the author’s early stories as to how she turned to reading. I couldn’t help but feel compassion towards her as she shared how she was hearing-impaired and how reading gave her a sense of home and safety. Especially, when everyone else had unrealistic expectations of her that she had difficulty meeting.

But then the author veered in directions that seemed to focus on all her personal experiences with reading books. So, I felt, myself losing interest a bit, wondering…how could I turn this reading experience around and find myself regaining interest in her stories. Was there a way I could possibly relate to some of her experiences, too?

So, I began to focus on her stories about how we respond to books, our reactions to books, and her student’s reactions to books.

When she spoke of those experiences, I could feel the emotional connections to books and sense how her students would feel something deeply from the books that were being discussed. In those discussions, those pages were heart-felt and compelling.

And, when she would talk about some of her personal experiences with some books, I could sense how deeply impacted she would be by them, and I could relate to similar feelings. You know the feeling, when you finish a book, and say to yourself, “you were the perfect book for right now.”

For those of us who enjoy reading, this book can be a delightful reminder of why we read. For those who are still uncertain, she has lists of books to consider reading. And for those who haven’t been reading just yet, maybe this may be the book they will want to pick up to explore why so many of us turn to reading for comfort and companionship when we need a little escape.

[Wanda Pedersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would venture a guess that most of us who gather here are capital R Readers. We read regularly and devotedly. It brings us joy, comfort, and, if we're very lucky, epiphanies about our lives. It is always a surprise to us when we encounter someone who considers reading a bore or a chore.

Shannon Reed teaches literature in Pittsburgh and sounds to me like she's damn good at it. She covers a lot of literary ground in this defense of reading for pleasure. Love of libraries and rare book rooms. Historical lit. Children's lit. Tear jerkers. Amish romances. Shakespeare and other playwrights. Mysteries. Contemporary fiction. Poetry. Vampire novels. Harry Potter. Memoir. She has read it all and recognizes that we will all have varying responses to it, but that knowledge of what you truly enjoy is valuable and may change as you advance through life.

I often found myself nodding along with her points. Lots of people do get hung up on capital L Literature, like her student who tried to establish his superiority to the other students by saying that Moby Dick was his favourite novel. The class smelled a rat and strongly suspected intellectual snobbery, which Reed discourages. Reed approves of audiobooks—they do count as reading. She also recommends going to performances of plays (or at least reading them aloud, preferably in groups) rather than reading them silently to oneself. She gives counsel to those of us freaked by horror: Lights on. Before 8 p.m. Have snacks. Write notes. Make sure there are other people around. I concur with these guidelines. If you have issues with a genre, give it multiple chances. Just because one novel/short story/poem doesn't work for you doesn't mean that all of them won't. (I have a friend who refuses to read vampire or zombie novels because of an author in that genre who offended her somehow. She has cut herself off from all that fun because of ONE author's behaviour!)

There's nothing wrong with loving a particular genre as long as you don't use it as a measuring tool to put down readers of other materials. I struggle with poetry, but haven't made the effort that Reed has to try to appreciate it. I have issues with many literary novels, which seem to me more like misery porn than like entertainment. But I occasionally visit that genre in search of one with meaning to me.

My mother was a Writer, so I have observed a writer in her natural habitat. Most of her writing took place in that zone of the day where the supper dishes were done and her kids were in bed. I found it perfectly natural to fall asleep to the sound of steady typing. She read a lot to fuel this habit. I've read voraciously since I learned the skill. But, having lived with a writer and studying them at conferences over the years, I have come to realize that I am a Reader (and, to a lesser extent, a Reviewer). There isn't a novel inside me trying to struggle its way out. I am not driven to write. But you know what? Writers require audiences and I am an enthusiastic member of that audience.

[Jess the Shelf-Declared Bibliophile · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was just okay. It certainly wasn't hilarious as the blurb says. I think the author thinks she's a lot more clever and funny than perhaps comes across. I didn't like how she talked down about those who didn't love the same books she did, and how "they just didn't get it". Not every book is meant for every person, we all connect differently to each book we read, and guess what? That's okay! Also, if she said ONE more thing about Covid, I was going to DNF. She devoted a whole chapter to the fear and terror and isolation she lived in during it, and kept finding ways to bring it up again, PUHLEASE.

[Martha Yesowitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why We Read is less about why WE read and more about why the author reads. I expected more of a rumination on appeal characteristics and why certain genres appeal to certain types of readers. What I found was a very funny, very identifiable rumination on the author's life as a reader. As a scaredy cat myself, I especially enjoyed her section on the horror genre and her obsession/fear of certain books in her school media center as a child. Her poor librarian and her poor parents! Recommended for readers who like to hear why others read, and also as a possible book club selection to spark personal reflection and sharing.

[Diane S ☔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s extremely hard for a bookish person to dislike a book about books and reading. This book though appealed to me on many levels, I could relate to so much, that I thought it was a step up from most others. Plus, I enjoyed that it was a personal insight to the reading and teaching of books to which the author has dedicated her life.

From the excitement of getting her first Iibrarycard, the author takes us on a journey of her life in reading. Her dislike of the high school required reading choices which I share. I always have loved to read and usually was okay with the required books, but I hated So Big and Silas Marner. Have never picked them up since.

Anyway she goes on to describe her experience teaching creative writing, the books she assigns and the students reactions.

There is one thing we don’t share. I don’t read while brushing my teeth.

[Julie Stielstra · Rating 2 out of 5]

George Saunders, a writer I admire (full disclosure: I am a paid subscriber to his online Story Club), recently posted a prepublication chapter from this forthcoming book of essays, in which writing teacher Reed describes the experience of teaching Saunders’s eccentric, imaginative novel Lincoln in the Bardo with her students at the University of Pittsburgh. Reed does a brave thing: she does not read and analyze the book beforehand: she reads it, chapter by chapter, from scratch, alongside her students. Together, they all try to figure out what this crazy book is about. The creativity, perseverance, openness, and sheer fun of the adventure is disarming and entertaining. I love books about books, about readers and reading, and this one looked promising; NetGalley kindly obliged me with an advance copy.

It quickly became apparent that the title is a misnomer: it should be titled “Why I Read.” Not that we don’t have things in common, and not that her various explications of why people spend hours absorbing printed text aren’t valid (“Because We Had To,” “Because I Wanted a Free Pizza,” “To Feel Less Alone,” “To Feel Superior,” “For Comfort”). But Shannon Reed is the focus in chapter after chapter: her focus is her reading, her choices, her experiences. This is not “On Bookworms,” but “On A Bookworm.” So readers should expect an idiosyncratic, personal memoir of her own reading habits and preferences. That said, I found her sections on her teaching and her students to be the most engaging – the comradely exploration of Saunders, the unexpected joy her tenth-grade girls found in Jane Eyre, how her not-very-diverse classroom coped with an essay about a Black man’s experience of being perceived as a threat. One of the more successful personal pieces worked through how Atul Gawande’s sensitive and powerful book Being Mortal affected her in the aftermath of her father’s death – and was one of the few written with a more serious, heartfelt, and honest emotional tone.

Because – and your mileage may and almost certainly will vary – Reed is considered (and considers herself, and tells us this several times) a humor writer. She clearly works very hard at it. And sometimes when you work that hard at it, it’s not funny. It’s labored and heavy-handed. I found the numerous “footnotes” which were basically cute or smart-alecky asides tedious. Not sure if they were intended to be a satire on scholarship, but they weren’t particularly sharp – more like what a snarky teenager would mutter in the back row of a boring class, thinking how clever she is. Sometimes my impatience was just a matter of taste: she boasts on never having read a book I love, and champions a series I gagged on (yes, Anne of Green Gables…). One of my measures of a book about books is whether it gives me a title or two that I need to go find and soon. This one, I’m afraid, did not.

People who read, who love to read, who couldn’t live without reading, will certainly find plenty of head nods, agreement, and things to appreciate in Reed’s equal devotion to the power and joy of books. She may be a very good teacher, who respects and enjoys her students and sharing their journeys through stories and characters and words. Had her focus stayed more on things other than Shannon Reed’s eccentricities (a terror of sea creatures?) and proclivities (a very long wander through the writing of cookbooks) and inclination toward smart remarks, this might have been a much more affecting and absorbing book than it is.

And I would like to tell her that if Gawande touched her, she needs to read Middlemarch (well, except for Will Ladislaw, who really is irritating).

[Adrienne Teague · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one! I related to Shannon's experiences as a 50 year old who grew up reading as many books as she could get her hands on. Each chapter is named as responses to the title: Why We Read. I love learning about how other people take in words. What do they think about as they read? What do they do to their physical surroundings to enhance the experience? Why do they choose the books they do? This book gave me insight into Reed's reading life with a humorous twist.

[Diane Barnes · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I enjoyed this one. The author tells about her own reading and also her teaching of literature at the high school and college level. Interesting deep dives into some contemporary fiction that told me a few things I didn't know.

[Julie Durnell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was humorous, honest, interesting, and filled with all manner of bookish tidbits! I would love to have Shannon as a teacher or a fellow book lover friend. Her classroom book choices/discussions are geared towards making (or keeping) lifelong readers.
Kudos to her!

[Kremena Koleva · Rating 3 out of 5]

" Не е нужно да усещаме по лицата си живия, солен вятър на ново приключение всеки път, когато вземем книга. Понякога харесваме ново приключение в открито море, но също така е хубаво да предприемeм пътуване до място, на което сме били преди, и да се възхищаваме на това, което се е променило. Жанрът е успокоителната утеха, в която се връщаме в нашия читателски живот. "

Книгата е разглеждане на всички малки и големи , първостепенни и вторични причини да дишаме и живеем с книгите. Тя проследява собствения ни опит с угризенията на съвестта ни да изоставим започнато заглавие, когато то се окаже не каквото сме очаквали. Радостта ни от честите посещения в библиотеки и книжарници. И възпитаването у нас на четене извън комфортните и приятни жанрове, с които сме свикнали.

[Shannon Reed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly the best book ever written.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essays on the love of libraries and reading.

My favorite is on late night reading… where no one will call you or ask you to do something that interrupts your reading.

[Jessica (Odd and Bookish) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give this book 4.5 stars.

I received an ARC of this book for free from the publisher for promotional purposes.

What a wonderful collection of essays on reading!

This book is a collection of personal essays on the impact of books and reading on the author’s life. As a lifelong reader myself, I found many of the essays relatable. One of my favorites was “To Break The Rules” (pg. 65) which discusses how there is no right way to be a “Good Reader.” We should read how and what we want. I wholeheartedly agree!

The book is well organized. It is organized in rough chronological order of the author’s life, which made the essays flow logically. The earlier essays focused on her childhood, while the later ones focused on her teaching career. There are also short and humorous list-like essays (for example, “Calmed-Down Classics of American Literature for the Anxiety-Ridden” and “Signs You May Be a Female Character in a Work of Historical Fiction”) dispersed throughout which helped break up the monotony of essays.

The author’s writing style is easy, accessible, and often humorous. Despite talking a lot about teaching, it’s never pretentious or overly academic.

My one critique is that some of the essays started losing steam at the end. I found some of the later essays not as impactful as the earlier ones.

Overall, I highly recommend this book to all my fellow bookworms!

[Zibby Owens · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a humorous memoir of essays about the author's experience as a reader. The author shares a wide range of personal thoughts and reflections, her unique perspective on different genres, and a glimpse into her experiences teaching English and writing. She also provides some strategies for reading for pleasure and getting through those more challenging books.

The author also wrote about her hearing impairment and how that affected how much she loved reading. Without asking anyone to repeat anything, she could reread books on her own, anywhere she went, and would not feel as alone. She wrote, "If I lose my hearing aids or if they break, I lose not only what I feel comfortable calling a gargantuan sum of money, but I also lose the ability to but also my ability to interact so-called normally with the world, I'm plunged back into near silence. My disability, held at bay and almost unnoticeable at times, comes roaring back."

I loved this book so much. I chuckled so many times and dog-eared most of the pages. One of the author's most clever things was describing how we can know if we're a character in a book. The author writes: "Signs you may be a character in a popular children's book. You are a bear. If you wear clothing, your outfit is missing some key element, such as pants. You have severe impulse control issues, although you generally mean well. If you are British, you have extremely small achievable dreams, like going to the sea or having a tasty snack. You would like a hug. You probably do not work. Surprisingly, this doesn't seem to be connected to the painlessness. But if you do have an occupation, you are either a teacher, a maid, or the driver of a large and complicated vehicle. You spend more time with your best friend than any actual human adult has ever. That best friend takes up 80 percent less physical space than you. "


To listen to my interview with the author, go to my podcast at:
https://zibbymedia.com/blogs/transcri...

[Terris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love books about reading books, and this is a good one! Shannon Reed teaches at the University of Pittsburgh. She breaks the book down into several different categories and talks about lots of different kinds of reading material. She draws on her own experiences of reading and teaching literature and creative writing classes. And she's funny! Of course, I enjoyed her references to so many books that I've read, and many that I have not. I'm glad that she listed the books that she referred to at the end of the book!

If you enjoy books about books, you will like this one! It is entertaining, will hold your attention, will make you smile, and you will probably learn something -- what could be better?! ;)

[Justin (Bubbas_Bookshelves) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like the people hating on this book missed the point. Yes Reed relates her experiences as a reader to her own life but I took all of this as an opportunity to look inward to my life as a reader. I related to her talking about accepting grief through the Harry Potter series, finding genres that don’t really quench your thirst while still appreciating the authors of that genre, that “books have seasons” and we read them when we need them in our lives, her excitement of BookIt, the childhood trauma that is Where the Red Fern Grows, and the greatest twists in literary history (for me it’s The Murder of Roger Ackroyd). This book really resonated with me and made me proud to call myself a reader.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining book about reading for pleasure, learning to love the books we get assigned in school, ways to teach youth the classics in an accessible way and so much more. I especially enjoyed insights into the author's own upbringing as a hard of hearing disabled person. Good on audio and perfect for fans of The secret lives of booksellers and librarians.

[Camelia Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

"In fact, being pretentious about books might be a recurrent condition for those of us who consider ourselves Readers, a fandom not just for a particular author, series or genre, but reading as a lifestyle. We are the people who brag about how many books we read in a year, who say things like, “oh, I barely watch TV; I usually just read”, and who will find literally any opportunity to work the fact that we read Infinite Jest in its entirety into any conversation."
(Chapter To Feel Superior)

If she substitutes Infinite Jest with Middlemarch, Jean-Christophe, War & Peace, or, lately, The Origins of Totalitarianism, then she describes me (insert an embarrassed smile). I have said, many times, that I barely watch TV and I usually just read. I, and I believe the majority of my GR friends too, are guilty as charged.

[Syn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how quirky and funny this book is. There are so many funny things that the author mentions that I as a reader do. Are my behaviors weird? Maybe not as weird as I thought since she mentions certain bookish behaviors within these pages. My favorite chapter was about the 13 steps of how she chooses her next book. It had me laughing and giggling because I do most of the things she was talking about.

It's smart, witty, and bookish to its core. It's overflowing with different mentions of books with a list compiled at the back in case you wanted to see all of the books mentioned. If you are an avid reader and like nonfiction you will most likely enjoy this book.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5
Boy! Can I relate. Wonderful memoir. Can't wait to meet her at Booktopia. I think I'll be reading it again before then to jot down questions to ask her.
(I had one that I thought would be really deep, but instead of writing it down, I kept reading and subsequently forgot what that question was. I do remember that it was tying together two different parts of the book.

[Lisa Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reed doesn't come up with anything new on why we read, but it's always fun to read the experience of someone else who loves books too. Of course, those are the reasons we read books, and will continue to read books.
What I found particularly fun were the little sections in between, such as how to know you are a certain kind of character in a book. Those were really funny.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as interesting as I thought it would be. The first half is more interesting to read. The second half gets a bit tedious and somehow preachy regarding various books and readers.

[Keely · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, if Shannon Reed is not this writer's real name, I hope I never find out, because I think it's pretty much the best possible name for the author of a book all about the reading life. Real or not, I had a ball spending time with Why We Read. That's how this reading experience felt to me--just hanging out and nerding out about books with a fellow reader.

In the book, Reed alternates essay chapters that reflect on a broad reason why we read, with humorous list chapters that have fun sharing the ins, outs, and inside jokes of book love. Reed discusses key books that have meant a lot to her over the years, and these include not only books she's read, but also books she's taught at the high school and college level. Her teaching anecdotes ended up being some of my favorite parts of the book.

I'm always a sucker for books about books, and Shannon Reed infuses some welcome humor into this sub-genre with Why We Read. Reed and I appear to be about the same age, and we have some significant (predictable?) overlap in books we love: Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders, Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel, State of Wonder by Ann Patchett, and more. So, I trust and am looking forward to trying some of her additional recommendations in the book list at the end of Why We Read.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover, table of contents, and title called my name. Whether listened to as audiobook or read from the pages, this was enjoyable, looking at a large sampling of the reasons that drew the author into reading and kept her and many of us reading for life. I loved the essays Because I Wanted Free Pizza, To Feel Less Alone, To Taste, To Feel Superior, and Because We Are What We Read. Isn't it always fun to know that there are others that share the same compulsion to drink in words for just about every imaginable reason? This book will not be for some because it is inconsistent in the point of view, length, and style of presentation from reading to reading. Some are lists, anecdotes, asides, and diatribes rather than essays. This is written from the author's life experiences in reading personally and professionally, so some may be disappointed, not relate to or enjoy this book. But, I personally found plenty in this book to savor, contemplate, and enjoy.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not really sure how much I can rave about this book other than say it's a must read for EVERY reader.

If you are a child of the 80/90's you will appreciate it even more! I found myself laughing, crying, and looking around the room to see if the author had been spying on me and I saw so much of myself in her writing.

I wasn't even half way through the book when I was already texting my book loving friend... You NEED this book!!!!

I highly recommend and guarantee I will be ordering a copy as soon as it's available!

Thank you VERY much to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

[Kinga · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Without ever really experiencing any of it, I know it all.
Because books taught me.“

Oh thank god there was a list of all the books mentioned at the end, I tried to mark the ones that sounded most interesting but I was hoping I could see the full list somewhere, and I did!

It’s always interesting to hear (or read) other people’s reading habits, genres or tropes they prefer (or hate), books they just can’t forget about, and so on. So I thoroughly enjoyed Shannon’s recollection of her connection to reading and books throughout her life; needless to say I related to a lot of things she described.

[Mireya · Rating 1 out of 5]

Shannon Reed's "Why We Read" promised to unlock the secrets of our love for getting lost in a book. The chapter titles were inviting, but the book itself fell short.
Instead of exploring the "why" of reading, I fetl that it simply listed titles, feeling more like a shopping list. I was hoping for a deeper dive into the transformative power of reading and was left disappointed.