While last week was National Library Week, the Right to Read is an every week thing. Not only did I celebrate Right to Read Day last week, but I’m heartened by the reintroduction of the Right to Read Act. The basic concept of the importance of literacy, of a broad education through reading, speaks directly to my experience and my beliefs.
Reading—the actual act of reading words on a page/screen, not listening to them—is so very important to a person’s ability to comprehend language and communicate it effectively. Knowing spelling, grammar, and how to string words together to express your thoughts is vital in an information age such as we’re living in.
Reading widely enhances our ability to understand the world around us, but also to enable empathy toward those who live in different settings, cultures, and expectations from our own. Reading widely does not dictate how you interpret, how you question, how you agree with what you’re reading. Indeed, reading actually leads to more questions and more awareness of the larger world in which we live. More understanding, in fact.
I believe it is vital for everyone to read. Starting from infants being read to all the way through life. Critical thinking skills stem from reading widely. Having comparative texts enables discussion and evaluation of the facts, opinions, claims. Decision making skills we all need to hone, especially in this era of “fake news” and propaganda posing as news.
So defend your right to choose what you want to learn more about, experience from the comfort of your armchair, or just escape to. But above all else, happy reading!
Betty
P.S. If you haven’t already, please consider signing up for my newsletter, which I send out most every month, including news like new covers, new releases, and upcoming appearances where I love to meet my readers, along with recipes and writing progress. Thanks and happy reading!
Visit www.bettybolte.com for more on my books and upcoming events.
Fury Falls Inn in 1821 Alabama. A place for ghosts, witches, and magic. A place of secrets and hidden dangers.
Cassie Fairhope longs for only one thing: to escape her mother’s tyranny. Her plan? Seduce the young man, who is acting as innkeeper while her father is away on business, into marrying her. But Flint Hamilton has his own plans and they don’t include marriage, even to the pretty temptress. He quickly learns that running a roadside inn in northern Alabama in 1821 means dealing not only with the young woman and her hostile mother but also with horse thieves and rogues. When tragedy strikes, Cassie and Flint are forced to face unforeseen challenges and dangerous decisions together in order to attempt to rid the inn of its newly arrived specter—who doesn’t have any plan to leave…
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Betty Bolte's Musings 