Reading isn’t Something to Fall In Love With

Mary Beard is a hoot.

She was also Chair of the Booker Prize 2026 judging panel, and during the Booker Prize 2026 shortlist livestream (provided courtesy of the Southbank Centre) she said some really cheeky and brilliant things about why reading is important. 

In paraphrasing, I’ll say it’s not because it’s just something we love to do. Reading is, she indicates for example, more essential than, say — golf. Or baking brownies. Or a pile of Squishmallows. Instead, reading is about figuring out how to be you in the world. Relegating it to “fun” is underestimating and dismissing its power.

Not all books will make you “feel better” after you’ve read them, she says. But they will make you see the world differently.

And that’s why I think it’s so great.

See the Instagram clip of her video here.