I often ask friends and contacts what they are reading. It is just an attempt to enter their world. Many people aren't reading anything. Some seem reluctant to say so while some explain they are working on squirrel cages or packing for a trip or preparing for a son's wedding. As an older person, I am interested in the after-effects of reading a book.
I guess it does matter what sort of book I read. I have read enough hot sex scenes, heart-breaking death and loss scenes and scary there-is-a-monster under the bed scenes that I am not attracted to such books. Usually, when I use the Libby app (https://libbyapp.com), I usually set it to show me only non-fiction books. I am not drawn, these days, to magazines, audiobooks or fiction. I do read some fiction and I plan to read more but there are so many books that I am drawn to that are non-fiction I am attracted to that sort of reading fundamentally.
As I age, I find that I have less memory of a given book. I have some lists of books I have read
t.ly/4S6i a 1983 list t.ly/c2Gi a 2011 list
and I can usually remember the author and the title and a few impressions from the book but not much of it. When I read of lost days of schooling due to Covid, I doubt that not reading Tom Sawyer or Silas Marner will actually hamper a person very much. I am confident that humans of just about any age who are not led or directed by an adult with an agenda will tend to find activities and experiences and thoughts of value. I realize playing with matches or loaded guns and such can easily lead to trouble but a little watchfulness by an adult may be enough to guard against mishaps and still leave room for exploration and novelty.
I guess one way to look at my mind is like the office magazine reader. He is paging through Field and Stream while waiting to be called for teeth-cleaning. He doesn't expect to stumble on an article that changes his life but he finds spending a little time reading about duck blinds is an ok way to engage his mind while waiting. I just clicked on the 1983 link and tried looking at titles 25 and 26. I bet they are fine books but I don't recall much from them. It is quite possible that my current ideas about education and thought were influenced by #25 or #26. I can tell you five minutes or so of speech about book 27, quite memorable.
