This blog is going on around two years of reading around a book a week. I think there\u2019s some correlation between that and this being generally one of the happiest time periods of my life. Lately (often?), I find myself thinking about what I want out of reading. Learning<\/a>, sure, a window into others\u2019 experiences<\/a>, yes. Entertainment<\/a>, maybe most of all\u2014though I\u2019m one of those weirdos who isn\u2019t entertained unless I feel like I\u2019m learning<\/a>. <\/p> Reading unfamiliars your world<\/a>\u2014it shows you the world is bigger than you can imagine and yet connects you to every person who\u2019s ever lived (as we\u2019ve seen Baldwin say<\/a>). A bit of something strange<\/a> or even something simply different<\/a>\u2014a beach read in winter<\/a>, a novel from a place I have never been and am realistically likely to never go<\/a>\u2014it feels so vital to me. Yes, I fully get that in the age of video games and streaming TV and all sorts of brightly-colored cartoon drugs that live in your phone, there are plenty of options for escape, imaginative experience, and entertainment that aren\u2019t reading. No, I don\u2019t begrudge people taking those options. A movie a night doesn\u2019t seem unreasonable to me<\/a>, and video games are fun. But I think books can offer something those things can\u2019t. Books, frankly, can get weirder<\/a>, wilder<\/a>, more creatively unbound<\/a>.<\/p> Sometimes, this means books deal with tragedy<\/a> and human awfulness<\/a> in a more visceral way than movies or video games. \u201cWe read to steel ourselves,\u201d I said Friday, and yeah, sometimes, I do think it\u2019s important to read stuff that discomfits<\/a> and upsets<\/a> and depresses<\/a>. It\u2019s a tough world out there<\/a>. But I recognize this is difficult, and I recognize it\u2019s a big ask to be like, \u201chey, this thing you want to do for fun? Make it more like taking medicine.\u201d This\u2019ll result in me reading a book about a big, real problem, and thinking, \u201coh my god, everyone needs to read this book, but definitely not enough people will.\u201d That sounds smug, and I don\u2019t mean it to be\u2014in my late 30s, being a parent, I\u2019ve finally understood what it means to really not have enough hours in the day. <\/p> So yeah\u2014there is a certain hopelessness I walk around with because of my reading. The things I believe need to happen for us to live in a just and fair society won\u2019t happen in my lifetime. People are doomed to make the same mistakes over and over<\/a>. It\u2019s tough to know what to do with knowledge like that. <\/p> When that line of thinking gets too heavy, I come back to books as entertainment<\/a>. Then I think more about how books, not having to play the same game<\/a> of capitalism as movies or video games, are in a pretty powerful position, from a storyteller\u2019s perspective. So I keep reading, and keep blogging, because it\u2019s fun. But everything I read<\/a> keeps making me feel<\/a> like there\u2019s something powerful in there<\/a>. Maybe that\u2019s magical thinking. <\/p> But, looking around? Let me know if you got any better ideas than \u201creading a lot\u201d and \u201cmagical thinking.\u201d <\/p> (uh, certain individuals enjoying McDonald\u2019s in Altoona need not reply)<\/p> Sorry you got an email, <\/p> Chris<\/p>![\"File:Graz](\"https:\/\/substack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com\/public\/images\/ea1dc2cb-470c-4542-9472-2d926598a037_800x600.jpeg\")
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