Read these books or else,

Visit these museums or life

Has been wasted, just squandered

And don’t forget musical theatre,

The ballets and classical music,

See it and hear it before you die

Or suffer the wrath of the masses

And know you’ll be seen after your death

As one of the plebs, the meaningless scum.

I often see those lists of 100 books you must read before you die and I start to panic that I have only read maybe 30 of them. I completely disregard the fact that I normally read about sixty books a year, and just focus on the fact that I’m obviously not reading ‘quality’ literature.

But really, who cares? I want my students to love reading and I think that putting pressure on people to read a set list of books that has probably been compiled by a Cambridge educated man, is wrong.

Books open the doors to new worlds and it doesn’t matter if you are reading War and Peace or one of the Shopaholic series; you are still entering somenody else’s life and learning from that experience. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read something that is considered to be chick-lit, and ended up educating myself.

And there are lists for all sorts of things that I think should be absolutely ignored. Most people don’t have the money to go to London and see 100 West End shows, so are these people less valuable to society than those who have been lucky enough to have access to these experiences?

Life is beautiful because it is so varied, and I really wish that people would be encouraged to appreciate their journeys. Make sure you do educate yourself, but don’t worry if you’d rather not read 1000 pages written by a long dead Russian guy.

Much Love

Rachel xx