I love reading! Reading is my hobby, my
passion, my love. It allows me to grow, become a better person, and at the same
time live multiple lives on different levels, through different characters.
This is why Mark Zuckerberg's
commitment to reading a new book every fortnight this year was great news for
me!
Such a powerful public
figure taking up reading as a regular activity is bound to inspire more people
into the habit, right? And so it did! The first book of the year - The End of Power, a 320-page non-fiction tome by Moisés Naím, the former editor of
Foreign Policy magazine - is said to have already been sold out. And this is
where the tricky bit comes in.
This year, reading up alongside the 30-year-old
billionaire is going to be expensive! The book is £ 7.19 to download on Kindle
and £ 17.59 on paperback (although don't hold your breath, it's already soldout on Amazon!).
While a wonderful initiative, close to my soul, it
will only reinforce the belief that growth and development through reading is a
privilege. It becomes the habit of the
white middle class person, and these books will not be accessible to those who
would benefit the most - people trapped in the welfare system, criminal
justice, unemployment, lack of education, aspirations and opportunity.
I don't want to simply point out a negative, complain
about it, and walk away. I would like to ask Mark Zuckerberg to work with Amazon and make the books on this year's
list free. Not for the duration of the year, but the duration of the time he is
reading them (ie. make The End of Power free for two weeks, and
them move to the next book).
Alongside him, millions of other people will read them and grow their love of
books. Amazon will only have to benefit
from hundreds of thousands of new readers. Come on Mark, don't leave reading to
the white middle class guy. Help make it accessible to every person!
