Reading is the best teacher

In my quest to become a serious writer, I’ve discovered somewhat late in life what every serious writer knew practically from birth - that reading is the best teacher. 

• Read out of your comfort zone. 
• Read omnivorously. 
• Read voraciously. 
• Read the classics. 
• Read the modern classics. 
• Read fiction.
• Read non-fiction. 
• Read poetry and plays.
• Read science and philosophy, anthropology and sociology.
• Listen to the written word.

The poet, Nikki Giovanni recently said that the US education system needs a rethink:

I’m really just so against grades. …We now are in a fight for grades which means that … a kid like me today would not take a class in physics because I would not do well and it would bother my GPA. That’s crazy. …I’m a poet, I should be taking physics, I should be taking astronomy,… chemistry for sure.  I should be taking things that I know I can’t get an A in but that will enhance my learning.  So if we can move ahead into the 21^st or actually 22^nd Century and say okay, grades are going to be different. [Source]

This is true. Education should be wide-ranging and holistic. Children should be encouraged to learn for the sake of expanding their store of knowledge and opening their eyes to the world rather than learning by rote with the aim of passing exams. 

In a culture where the practice of reading comes second to video games, television and the internet, statistics show that many children no longer own books let alone read them. Which is why libraries remain an absolute essential, a non-negotiable part of our cultural offer. Libraries are a lifeline for those who can't afford to spend £20 on  new release, or wouldn't otherwise be inclined to do so.


I've just ordered this:

It may be in danger of preaching to the converted but we all, even the bibliophiles amongst us, need a reminder that there's no substitute for the practice and simple pleasure of opening a book and becoming lost in its words/worlds.