How do we make reading, writing, remembering, and friendships fun again?

Many a man lives a burden to the Earth; but a good Booke is the precious life-blood of a master spirit, imbalm’d and treasur’d up on purpose to a life beyond life.
— John Milton, Areopagitica ¶3
  • What are the common qualities of books that enable us to attend to our thoughts, feelings, and outward world more intimately? The ones that address our entire quality of well-being.

  • What makes a person feel an anticipatory tingle of wanting to read a book when it's easier to scroll?

  • What digital papercuts cause us to leave (good) books unfinished, and why have book completion rates dropped so precipitously?

  • What scaffolded discussion prompts help children articulate their thoughts about books in increasingly sophisticated ways with a deep rigor for their own thinking? How do we shift from reactions to deep thinking that feels humane?

  • How do the most insightful reading groups transform individual interpretations into collective wisdom that enriches everyone’s shared understanding of a material, as well as the material of our lives?

  • How do deep friendships congeal via reading together?

  • In an age where algorithms can shape our inner and outer worlds, in what forms do we want to nurture and grow the voice of human writing and communication?