Super readers

In April LitHub brought us a study of super readers, defined for the purposes of this piece as people who finish a hundred or more books in a year. I wonder if such marathon activity is worthwhile: if you’re reading at least two books a week, are you taking much benefit on board? After all, we read to learn and to enjoy, not to compete with other word athletes, don’t we? Ted Gioia reveals himself to be something less than a super reader, as he reports on his participation in a program to read all “the Great Books” in 52 weeks. His solution to the problem — just read part of the book. OK I haven’t counted all the books Mr Gioia counts as Great, so it may not be 100. If he means “The Great Books of the Western World” series, as I dare say he does, then we’ll include him in the list of starters in the super readers race, though lots of the “books” are Greek plays. Not quite the same kind of superbness, but The New York Times brings an account of a Page Break reading retreat. Over a 48…