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Today‘s Booking through Thursday question is:

What is your response when somebody tells you “I don’t read.”


My first response, of course, is to think „Oh, I feel sorry for you“, but I would never say that out loud.
What do I say to them? I guess it depends on their tone.
If they are clearly looking for a confrontation I shrug and say „That‘s okay. Everyone has a right to their own preference,“ but if I‘m in the mood for talking I might add „By the way, I don‘t watch TV/play computer games/engage in sports,“ or whatever I judge to be likely to result in a good argu..., excuse me: discussion.
If they seem sad about it, I ask if they are looking to do something about it and engage them in a discussion about their interests and then I recommend a book or two.
If they are...
But this list could go on indefinitely.

The thing is this: When someone says something like this to me, it‘s generally in response to finding out that I read a lot. Making such a statement can be so many things: a passive aggressive way of telling a reader she doesn‘t have a life; a way to tell her that she is admired by the speaker; to give her the information that the speaker would like to read but can‘t – for lack of time, because of eye-strain or migraines, because of a lack of decent books, etc.
The response needs to be tailored to the person and the situation.
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