Eight Tongue in Cheek Reasons to Read Outside Your Comfort Zone

I’ve read dozens of books about heroes and crooks and learned much from both of their styles.–Jimmy Buffet

1. Learn what your opposition thinks. Have you ever wondered why someone can support Trump or Biden or neither? Read a book to explore the other side’s point of view.
2. Do well on a Jeopardy quiz. A recent show had a question about Colson Whitehead. The Underground Railroad is a book I might never have read except for a book club I joined.
3. Discover a new favorite author or genre. I discovered Amor Towles (Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility) from that same book club.
4. You already know you are not a huge fan of a particular author. At my last library, several of the librarians were huge Carl Hiaasen fans so I read a few books too. While I found him moderately entertaining, I did not become a fangrrrl.
5. You wonder what all of the hype is about. In the 1990s, J.K. Rowling had at least three Harry Potter Books on the Best Seller List. I read the first one and got hooked.
6. Rediscover a new book format. Another blogger recommended Isabelle Allende’s Long Petal of the Sea. I listened to the first one on CD and have since listened to two more titles. To me, it brings the novel alive that reading it in print, might not.
7. Decide which is better–the movie or the book. I loved the both the Lord of the Ring movies and books. I could never get into the Hobbit book but I loved all three Hobbit movies.
8. You’ve seen the movie so you want to re-read the book. Little Woman has been remade several times as a movie. It is now for sale on the paperback racks. Don’t people know that they can read for free on Project Gutenberg?