reading can take you anywhere

i had a most interesting conversation with husband's eldest this evening. she is consciously cultivating an interest in reading. she joined a book club, she went to a book forum (bookcon?), and has even already bought tickets to next year's edition of the same. she had a terrible teacher early in her primary school years, so this is a brand new interest and one she's choosing intentionally. i admire her for that. 

she asked me what i like to read. i said, "everything." and that's mostly true. of course, i have things i like better than others. i can reread/re-listen to the mrs. pollifax novels endlessly. but i did study russian literature, so reading has always been a very big interest for me. 

still, i found it hard to recommend books to her. she said what she likes best is what's called "fagliteratur" in danish. which means non-fiction, specific topic-related stuff. she was reading a book called "tarme med charme" (which means, loosely translated, "the charm of the intestines," which oddly rhymes in danish). she admitted she wasn't keen on the style of the book. i could have told her that from the overly cutesy title. ugh. 

i recommended murakami, some of the james bond novels written post ian fleming, but sanctioned by his estate (anthony horowitz and kingsley amis come to mind), danish author solvej balle, who just had a great feature in the nytimes, and gabriel garcia marquez. i tried to describe some of the books to her, but then she said she had trouble with fiction because, "what should i use that for?" 

i was stymied by that response. what can i say? there's nothing you can't use it for. you can use it for everything. you can use it for how to live your life. you can use it to open you to the world and experiences you wouldn't otherwise experience. you can use it to cry, to laugh, to process what you think about the world. i tried to express that to her, but it wasn't easy. and it oddly sounded a bit vague. 

how can you tell someone that books can transport them to worlds they would never have imagined if that part of their imagination isn't turned on? what book would it take to turn it on? how do i take her from the charms of the intestines to lincoln in the bardo or quichotte? or the wind-up bird chronicle? 

it's so encouraging that she wants to read to expand her horizons, but what's the best way in that takes baby steps, but opens up a world that hasn't previously been open?