What Americans Enjoy Reading

Another newspaper has just cut out book reviews. While this may hurt many well-read Americans, most Americans won't notice. To me, too many esoteric books with little appeal to the average reader received most of the reviews. So while it's a shame, I'm not sure the impact will be felt that far or wide. To me it's a matter of who is reading what. If you grow up hating everything from Beowulf to The Sound and The Fury because you were forced to read this "fine" literature in school, you may have missed out on all the fun of reading. And you may never willingly pick up another book again. So if English teachers and book reviewers have hurt your love for books and what they have to offer, remember, bookstores on and offline, have a lot out there which you might enjoy. It's like those Harry Potter books. Because they were fun and exciting, children fell in love with them and read them as fast as they were printed. Reading doesn't have to feel like you're drinking a laxative before a colonoscopy. There are mysteries, romances, biographies, and everything else under the sun to fall in love with. So take a chance. If the book reviewers at major newspapers had done so, they might still be in demand.