Ask Me Something: Benefits of reading for adults

The discussion around banned books has heated up in recent years, while shifts from physical to digital reading and a preference for shorter, more-fragmented content has transformed how people engage with texts. What does this mean for our relationship with reading and the value we place on it?

According to Dr. Kit Dobson, PhD, a professor in the Department of English, the importance of reading — and reading these challenged books — cannot be overstated. Dobson, author of We Are Already Ghosts, recently explored the topic of book bans in the Globe and Mail.

Now, he shares his thoughts on why what we read matters and why reading remains essential at all stages of life. He offers insight into how we can develop our own reading practices in a world that’s rapidly evolving.

What are some good reading practices to have?

People are really hard on themselves about reading. People think that there's some magic way they're supposed to read and they're not doing it right. I'm probably a very slow reader, but I read for a living. A lot of the students I teach also think they read really slowly and actually they're doing great. I'm really hard on books. I tend to write on them all year, shred them, destroy them. My students are horrified because I come in class and I literally rip a page out of a book because I'm excited about it, and that's okay. The best reading practice is really whatever works for you; find something that feels right.

Are there certain genres or types of books that are better to read than others?

I read a lot of poetry, fiction and non-fiction. I read the work from my students. I think all kinds of reading are fantastic. What's most important with reading is enjoying it, finding things that are meaningful, and finding ways to be in dialogue with the world around you, whatever way you find it. 

Should we be reading banned books?

The U.S. data for 2023 just came out and the American Library Association caught more than a 65 per cent year-over-year increase in challenges to books; and these are moves to have individual titles suppressed — banned. One of the things I think is absolutely key in this environment is to actually be reading the books. Reading the contents of these books will allow us to have meaningful, thoughtful dialogue and exchanges, so I'm a strong advocate for reading banned books. I am currently teaching a course that I organize around the theme of banned and challenged books. There's so much to say about banned books. Books are being challenged and banned all of the time now in increasing frequency, and I really do strongly encourage you to read the books and engage the ideas that are in them.

Why is it important to read in your adult years?

Books are a way to have a conversation with people you may never meet. Having the possibility to exchange ideas with each other, to figure out what it means to live a meaningful life, learn about what it means to exist in another time and place, or to see experiences from somebody else's perspective, one you might not share, it's a tremendous opportunity. I really think reading throughout one's life is part of maintaining a sense of curiosity about the world, curiosity about oneself, and curiosity about the possibilities of what it might mean to be alive.

Is reading at work or school enough, or should I also be reading for leisure?

I read a lot at school and work — so we could ask the same thing in my case, I suppose; for me, at the end of the day, I'm tired and I don't always want to read, and that’s ok. If it feels like reading is an imposition, if it's a punishment, it’s not pleasurable, then of course you aren’t going to want to do that. At such times there are other ways into texts that are full of possibilities and potential, like a film adaptation of a novel, say. Almost by definition, if we are asking “Should I be reading for my leisure?” then that “should” in the question almost eliminates the possibility of leisure. There is no longer leisure if you should do it. It’s up to you.