Why Reading Is Essential

October 8, 2013 Subscribe · Forward Why Reading Is Essential The following is Walter Mosley's introduction to "Best American Nonrequired Reading 2013" [Mariner Books, $14.95]. When asked to write the introduction for "Best American Nonrequired Reading 2013," I was at first stumped and a little mystified. The potential palette for such a collection seemed so large, unwieldy, and subjective that I wondered how any specific presentation could do it justice; I mean, what is meant by the best, after all? When I talked to the managing editor, he told me that my relationship to reading was what the editorial staff, and readers in general, would find most interesting. This added request, requirement, or desire only served to increase my consternation. Reading is such a personal and private activity that, in some ways, it seemed impossible to talk about with any shared sense of truth, verity. Continue reading... Best New Books Out This Week How To Become A Better Reader 13 Best Fictional Redheads POLL: Shocking Number Of Americans Don't Read Books Popular Myth About Success Debunked Popular Myth About Success Debunked 9 Female Book Characters Punished For Having Sex NSFW: 9 Smutty Sign Language Phrases 30 Books You Should Read Before You're 30 11 Novels That Will Creep You The Hell Out ALISON WOLF Not Often and Early, But Rarely and Late The idea that it would be "normal" to have one's first child after the age of 30 would have seemed completely extraordinary to any past generation. Continue reading... KEITH THOMSON The Man With 59,000 Books -- In His House As an unwanted fourteenth child on a remote North Dakota farm, Lawrence S. Thomas found an escape in books. After earning a Ph.D. at Berkeley, he became a professor of Slavic languages. Following his wife's death, he devoted himself to books -- in unprecedented fashion. Continue reading... ADAM GRANT What Makes Malcolm Gladwell Fascinating If you believe that Gladwell's success is primarily driven by his writing, I think you've overlooked the most important factor. What makes him most interesting is not the narratives themselves, but rather the ideas behind them. Continue reading... VICKI COBB Children's Books and Authors Draw a Crowd of Thousands On beautiful autumn afternoons, when the sun is shining and the leaves are glowing with color, people crave gatherings like this--an excuse to connect with people, ideas, beauty. Continue reading... ROZANNE GOLD Cookbooks: Jerusalem and Balaboosta Now that Jerusalem has become one of the best selling cookbooks in recent years, it may be time to look at it in context. Continue reading... Received this from a friend? Sign up for alerts from The Huffington Post here. Unsubscribe here. Huffington Post, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003