No longer than I have been following reading communities on social media, I have already picked up on a lot of competitiveness.
“You’re not a reader if you only read…”
“Audiobooks don’t count.”
Apps make it easier to track what you read over time – encouraging competitiveness. Admittedly, they also provide some interesting statistics.
Although I am on a classics kick at the moment, I can’t stand that kind of literary gatekeeping. Life is challenging enough already. Read what brings you joy (or whatever you seek).
“On these grounds Hugh particularly insists that the student of reading cultivate the virtue of humility: ‘For the reader there are three lessons taught by humility that are particularly important: First, that he hold no knowledge or writing whatsoever in contempt. Second, that he not blush to learn from any man. Third, that when he has attained learning himself, he not look down upon anyone else.’ Armed with this humility, the reader can safely pursue the wisdom to be gained from reading; the reader can be come a true student.”
The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction, Alan Jacobs