Unread

Reading this book made me realize the value of something I had always taken for granted.

I’ve never not known how to read. I’m sure as a baby, I couldn’t, but even in my earliest memories, I’ve been able to at least sound out words. I’ve been a voracious reader since childhood but reading Oliver James’ book, about his life as one of the millions of functionally illiterate adults living in this country and his decision in his mid-30s to learn to read in front of his online audience, was eye-opening for me. 
James writes candidly about topics from how he fell through the cracks of a school system that was ill-equipped to handle a student with both dyslexia and ADHD, to how he got caught up in a criminal operation and spent some time in prison, to his own mental health and mindfulness journeys. He talks about how much he had to rely on other people at every turn to accomplish basic tasks, even cooking boxed pasta, because of his illiteracy and how much that impacted his self-esteem and his personality.
Reading this book was inspiring: to see someone make the decision to turn their life around and follow through on it, of course, but also to see them acknowledge the power of words in one’s life - the ability to name your own emotions, put your thoughts into words that other people can understand, to step into someone else’s shoes and see the world through their eyes and experience empathy for their situation even if you yourself will never experience it that way. It’s easy to take reading for granted when you’ve had it all your life; this book made me pause for a moment and reflect on what its given me.