There's something peculiar about how we've elevated books to this sacred category where every page should teach us something or contribute to our betterment. Meanwhile, we consume movies, podcasts, and YouTube videos purely for pleasure without a second thought. When did society decide that books had to earn their place through educational merit alone? For many students, this discourages them from reading at all. To be clear, I'm all for educational books and they've definitely impacted my life (technical guides, personal development, popular science...). What I don't think we give enough credit to, though, is how much learning and satisfaction we can get when we start to read fiction for the thrill of it. The Norrington Room in Blackwell's Oxford I've recently noticed how different I feel after reading a book I genuinely enjoyed versus one I felt I "should" read: the characters and themes stick with me, for months or even years afterwards. Of cou...
Join me on my life and food journeys! I'll be blogging about food, student life, classes, travel, and more :)