By Sam Gutterman
I admit—I’m addicted to books. My addiction spans a wide range. Whether in print or digital format; fiction or nonfiction; science fiction, science fact, bestseller; philosophy or actuarial; or a short story or essay collection—I can only praise and marvel at all of them. Sometimes I veer past my local bookstore, assuming I will buy one more book to add to my unread pile.
Fiction or nonfiction—I try to alternate them. My enthusiasm ebbs and flows with the author, the book’s quality, and my mood. Reading goes beyond simple enjoyment and ideas; it can be stress-relieving and a way to step back from work and daily life challenges. It fosters a sense of possibility. It can offer a meaningful escape and a deeper way to learn about life, with benefits similar to those of meditation.
Reading is a time for me to get into my own headspace, to spark new ideas or kill others, and to learn more about myself and my relationships with others. Cat videos can only go so far. No wonder 12th-grade reading scores are at historic lows, and colleges are increasingly seeing students struggle to engage with lengthy or complex texts.
This underscores the long-standing debate over whether to focus on teaching students to pass tests or on deepening their understanding. It’s also about whether to help prepare students for standardized tests or to develop them into knowledgeable, thoughtful adults. The pressure to boost students’ scores is intense, as these scores impact local real estate values, education funding, and college admissions.
We need high expectations. I remember my senior English class, where grades depended on how many pages you read. Because of this incentive, I read books like Tolstoy’s War and Peace, developing a deep respect for war, power, relationships, personal pain, and macro-level strategy. I recall Mrs. Weiss, my seventh-grade teacher, who read Uncle Tom’s Cabin aloud all semester, and my ninth-grade English teacher, who made us read A Tale of Two Cities silently in class—I thought she was just lazy; maybe she was smarter than I had believed.
How different is my addiction from those hooked on social media or headline-only news? Many books will outlast current trends. Social media might disappear. TikTok videos, microdramas, and TV shows come and go quickly. We won’t make much progress if we focus on sound bites.
Fiction is essential for children to nurture imagination and creativity, not just for academic reasons but also to explore the complexities of good and evil, moral imperatives, and social realities. It can portray complex characters—everyone is complicated. Movies and episodics can come close, but rarely do they allow me to understand what the actors are thinking.
Life isn’t simple. While some see only in black-and-white terms, the most important things are filled with shades of gray. Like many books, I hope we focus more on the gray areas.
Books also help build connections or understand connections with colleagues. They enable me to go beyond artificial intelligence (AI), generating thoughts or messages. Telling or reading a story is the most effective way to learn and communicate. That’s why AI is “taught” with thousands or millions of stories. Great books with compelling stories can motivate me to explore new directions, helping me get through difficult times.
Books help me see people or processes as a whole, rather than as sound bites. Reading is not just transactional; it allows us to build on each other’s ideas.
Books can depict lives I’ll never live and provide more information than can be gathered from reading the daily news. They remind me of what people are capable of, drawing on years of thought, and emphasizing creativity, discipline, and craftsmanship.
Although I don’t see book reading as a cure for the loneliness epidemic, it can serve as a good conversation starter. I usually ask, “What book are you reading, and what message are you taking from it?” Or it could be discussed at your monthly book club.
Reading a good novel or truth-telling nonfiction book has helped me grow. It can also reveal my mistakes. Things become easier when my mental library is larger.
There’s nothing like sitting in a comfortable chair, finding my bookmarked place in a print or digital book, listening to an audiobook while doing a repetitive chore, or starting a book I haven’t read. (I haven’t begun re-reading books, but I might, still; there are soooo many of them yet-to-be-unread on my bookshelves!).
Sam Gutterman is chairperson of the Social Security Committee and member of the Retirement Practice Council.