Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World

This book really helped me to adjust to living now, with all the demands on our attention.Personally, I want to develop my own intelligence so that I get better and better at making a difference in the world, not only through my work, but also through my quality of attention in my personal relationships.Reading this book equipped me with knowledge to make more informed decisions about how I take in information and how I pay attention. So it's helped me improve in both ways. I think reading this book has set me on a path of making a bigger, stronger positive difference.I read more, and less distractedly. And though this isn't a big topic in the book, I am also less distracted when I'm with people. If there were habits about skim-reading the people in my life, I think some of those have been rooted out too.Thanks, Maryanne Wolf!

Assuming a counter-intuitive approach, Wolf theorizes that in order to appreciate the science of reading and the biochemistry that endows our neuroplastic brains with the ability to read, process information, comprehend, and adapt these skills to ever-changing and evolving stimuli—all of this requires compassion, empathy, and a profound sense of humanity.She draws upon thinkers and writers from Dietrich Bonhoeffer to Italo Calvino to Toni Morrison to help develop her point that reading is the foundation not only of human intellect but of our very survival as a species. While this may sound like a dire clarion call to action, Wolf resists the urge to be alarmist. Composing each chapter as a letter to the reader, Wolf quite sensibly advocates biliteracy for current and future children of the 21st century. Yes, she cites the requisite statistics and scholarship that, in more amateurish hands, might simply provoke dread. Quite expertly, however, she balances her realism with a strong sense of optimism as she acknowledges that we cannot stem the tide of digital literacy. In fact, we would be wise not to. She urges us instead to support both print literacy and digital literacy as part of her hypothesis that biliterate brains can develop much as bilingual brains do.Casting a wide net—this book will appeal to researchers, educators, and parents alike—Wolf has begun a dialogue in which we all must participate, whether we prefer to use a pen or a keyboard.

This book was tedious but important. With the digital age comes the increasing gaps between the information we read and the analysis and reflection we apply to it. Reading a book encourages understanding, empathy, and contemplation. Reading things online encourages skimming, reading without expansive thought. (Studies show we read differently between physical and digital.) Our reading circuits (yes this is a thing in our brains) can be changed with this skimming method in lieu of total immersion in a story. To truly take advantage of our increased connectivity, we need to be "fluent in both languages." That's basically the author's long-winded plea, to which she works up through a series of letters to the reader. She also makes very plain how lack of empathy or critical thought can have exceedingly negative consequences because people lose (or don't want to use) the ability to, for lack of a better term, sniff out the bullshit. Some important points, which I will paraphrase due to length:--threats to critical thinking: 1) when any powerful framework for understanding our world (e.g. political or religious view) becomes so impenetrable and strict that even evidence- or morally-based opposion is ignored; 2) absence of any developed personal belief system in due to lack of knowledge or interest-if info is perceived as surface-level entertainment, it stays at the surface and doesn't evoke deep thought or critical thinking-"the last thing a society needs is what Socrates feared: young people thinking they know the truth before they ever begin the arduous practice of searching for it"-when we retreat from the complexity of human life, we turn to what conforms to the narrowing confines of what we already know (and our existing prejudices), never kicking the tires-Reading allows us to understand "the other" (people unlike ourselves, characters with feelings or people we will never meet). Without it, we are vulnerable to people demonizing "the other." COUGH LOOK AROUND, COUGH-kids need physical books to develop a foundation for their future; introducing digital stuff like coding can be a great complement... If done correctly

This book should be required reading for all teachers!

This book was recommended to me by another faculty member at the liberal arts university where I work. It was, in turn, recommended to him by another faculty member. I will write a letter to the Deans suggesting that this book be the focus of some sort of larger discussion of the curriculum. That's how powerful I found this.Reader, Come Home is, simultaneously, a foray into brain science, a defense of the traditional skills provided by reading deeply in history, philosophy, and literature, and a contemplation of the costs and opportunities of technological change. Girded by both scientific research and broad reading in the humanities, virtually every page has insights and information worth noting down. It is an incredibly rich and clearly written work.I find her prescriptions a little less convincing than the descriptions she offers, but this is a work that anybody raising children, anyone engaged in education, and anyone who cares about technology and society should read. Highly recommended.

Nope. Definitely not my imagination. For a while, I thought because of my age (I'm an 80's kid), my impatience with all things tech and the place I'm at in my life, I felt a disconnect by people around me, particularly younger folks. People my age too, if they are very involved on social media. Even with myself and digital music. I found I don't have the same connection with music if I don't purchase the cd. I know, I know. But without liner notes to read, it's just become another song. Very interesting read.

The content doesn't have any weightage...no connection between sentences.Read reviews before buying this book and wasting money

An interesting non-fiction book with important content. Requires concentration and a high level of English competence. Fascinating research presented well ... causes me to reflect on my use of digital devices.A point made on the first page: ... "human beings were never born to read" - THAT's something to think about!

Borrowed '"Reader, Come Home" from local library. Read every day; have no patience with books not my cuppa' tea. Nose in a book all my long life; even so, sense the world it is a'changing. This book gently, artistically focuses on what I may be forever missing if I am not made more aware of the cost of change. Maryanne Wolf has beautifully, effectively expressed how books have impacted my life, she details what is at stake in the new world of readership. Definitely a " Keeper" in my home library. Condition of book A+; shipping prompt and on time.

This is a ‘must read’ for anyone who is interested in the reading process and what can go wrong. A bible for anyone who works with Dyslexia.

Item arrived quickly and was in great condition. Thank you