How to teach the thrill of reading
This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning. This week, The Atlantic published its list of the 136 most significant American novels of the past century. “Our goal was to single out those classics that stand the test of time, but also to make the case for the unexpected, the unfairly forgotten, and the recently published works that already feel indelible,” my colleagues wrote in their introduction. “We aimed for comprehensiveness, rigor, and open-mindedness. Serendipity, too: We hoped to replicate that particular joy of a friend pressing a book into your hand and saying, ‘You have to read this; you’ll love it.’” That last line reminded me of the serendipity that’s always at play when we pick up a book. Happening upon the right words at the right moment, and in the right frame of mind, isn’t easy; when all those pieces fall into place, it …
