The Top 10 Books People Lie About Having Read
Over on The Book Blog at ReadersRead.com, they give a list of the top 10 books that people in Britain are most inclined to say they have read, but never had. Apparently, these folks think they’re liable to lose face if they can’t enter the conversation about the books.
Well, here’s our chance to root them out, or, here’s our chance to help them out.
- When one of these comes up in conversation, ask about that person’s favorite details from the book, or what they thought of the ending.
- Ask about characters that didn’t really exist in the story, or tell about your favorite part involving your made-up character.
- Say that really, you only read the Cliff’s Notes and that you think that the
rightingwriting (Oops!) was better in Cliff’s notes than in the original text. - Say that only feeble minded people still read books. You listened to the podcast while you sailed the Mediterranean last summer.
Or to encourage them to actually read, if you suspect that they don’t, you might steer the conversation toward
- how great books are so much more satisfying than TV
- how reading books restores your mind rather than deadening it like those marketing driven, manipulative, dreck-filled patched-together images created simply to drive you into the store so you too can feed at the trough of the gods of commerce.
- how reading stimulates your ability to solve problems at work
- how reading helps you understand other person’s points of view
- how hard it is to put down a good book, especially compared to how hard it is to find a good TV show while you’re flipping through the channels
January 28th, 2007 at 6:49 am
This is a great list! I think kids will get excited about reading when they hear us parents talk about the awesome books we’re reading. My kids see me read, and then they sit next to me with their little books. And of course, they love it when I read out loud to them — especially when we read a funny book and laugh together.
I love trying to bring the Bible stories to life by acting like they just happened yesterday — at the dinner table, I’ll say, “Can you believe those Israelites were so whiny? God just opened the Red Sea for them, and then they’re whining about being thirsty!” It makes my kids laugh — and then (hopefully) on the inside of their hearts, they’re realizing how silly their whining is too.
I’ll have to pop back over and read through your archives — and visit some of your links. Thanks for spreading the word that BOOKS ROCK!
January 31st, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Hey Daniel,
Great site! I’m a fellow book junkie, mother, author, speaker. We turned off the tv at our house about 8 years ago and haven’t looked back. Instead, every night we sit around reading with our kiddos.
My next book (Mama Said There’d Be Days Like This) is a book for moms that encourages them to take a rest stop, to take a breather. One idea I suggest is to read with their children.
February 15 – March 15 I’m going on a Blog Book Tour and wondered if you’d be interested in “interviewing” me on your blog. If so, I’d love to send you a free copy of my book.
Let me know,
Jenn