Everyone is a Reader

Those of us who do read know why we do it: reading brings us to another place, introduces us to characters we otherwise wouldn’t have had the privilege of meeting, it brings us into the mind of another human being in a way unlike any other. Through Harry Potter, we see the devastation of the loss of a parent and the positive consequences that result despite it. Through The Hardy Boys we live out our innermost desire for adventure, and with Good Night, Moon, we learn to look at our surroundings as each playing its own part in the interconnectedness that we all crave. 

Those of us who don’t read, might have had a negative experience with reading: perhaps a teacher was hard on us when we couldn’t read properly, and so we pushed the book away and connect reading with embarrassment and punishment; perhaps we were forced to read a book that we didn’t like because someone else thought we should and we now associate reading with boredom or loss of choice.

Whatever the reason, and no matter how long it takes, I believe that you will find the right book that speaks to you as you already possess the tools with which to develop into a reader.

The other day, somebody asked me: “Well, what’s the point of this website?" 

Answer: I have a passion for reading, and I saw that some students had a passion for reading, so I started Book Talks at the high school I teach at: the trick was not preaching to the choir but trying to find a way to bring teenagers into the discussion who were not ‘by nature’ readers, or at least didn’t see themselves as such. What started off as a small group eventually grew to encompass eighty or so students who were all excited by a communal conversation about books.

By watching friends reacquaint themselves with reading, and seeing the pleasure it brings to them, I realized my passion in connecting the right books to the right readers.   

The point of this website is to feed your passion for reading if you have one, and to ignite it if you don’t.

Through working with both adults and teenagers, The Book Dumpling takes into account people’s different personalities and tastes that lead to distinctive criteria for choosing the right book one requires: the book that gives you that sense of accomplishment upon completion; the read you relish or battle over with the opinion of a friend, over a cup of coffee or glass of wine (or juice…).  

To say everyone would appreciate and like the same book is like saying that everyone in a room will have the same taste in food, movies, or music.

It just doesn’t work that way.

By creating The Book Dumpling, I hope you will peruse the pages to find something you like. Something that makes you think. That leaves you with a sense of community that there are other people out there who also loved this character, this idea, that turn of a phrase. That you can use when you want to contribute your opinion to a discussion at a party, or when you’re looking to answer a question on Jeopardy! 

Graphic novels to plays, magazine articles to op-ed pieces, prose to poetry, there really is something out there for everyone.

The only rule here at The Book Dumpling is: 

Everyone is a reader: you just need the right book.