I follow current events with duty and dread. Then columnist Garrison Keillor takes me from the horrors of Iraq, Katrina, AIDS, etc., if only for a short time.
In “Bonding through books; What writers and their readers share is intimate and timeless” (Commentary, Dec. 2), he writes, “One reads books in order to gain the privilege of living more than one life,” and that reading decreases loneliness.
I’d like to add that reading stretches us by introducing new perspectives and characters into our lives.
Reading changes us if we let it.
My parents read to my sister and me and still read to each other after 50 years of marriage. My 17-year-old son reads to me.
Reading connects us to ourselves and each other. That may explain the popularity of book clubs.
But you don’t need to belong to any club. To me, the library card is more precious than a credit card.
