Hayley Mick wrote an article earlier this year on fiction's impact on social skills. Researchers are conducting studies that show fiction readers score higher on tests of empathy and social reasoning. This absolutely makes sense to me, because what is fiction but the answer to the "what if....." part of the equation. What if...the children turned the tables and outsmarted the parents who left them out in the woods on their own? What if...all your wishes were granted? What if...you lived in another part of the world? Really great fiction allows you to enter in to the story and be a part of another experience outside your own.
This is all fine and well, but it made me realize how unsocial my personal reading has become. I used to be part of a book club that met once a month to talk about fiction selections. A mentor and I used to spend hours over wine talking about more spiritual choices in books. I used to volunteer in a literacy program where I could compare notes with the other tutors. Now, I post on my blog the titles of what I've been reading and I signed up for good reads to keep a running list of titles. Put that's completely output: what's missing is the exchange of thoughts.
Hence, lagitanareads.blogspot.com. I'm doing some web 2.0 experimentation at work and this seems like an opportunity to make it a whole life experience. I see this blog as a chance to share my thoughts on what I'm reading: fiction, non-fiction, magazine articles. I'm not necessarily seeing this as a "book review" once I'm done, but as a way to share thoughts as I go--I might do posts on chapter 1. I invite you to share your thoughts and questions and suggestions on what to read next via the comments feature.
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