If we want to make America smart again (Courant, 11/7/2025) , we could make it a practice to ask people what they’re reading and say a few words about what we’re reading. We’re told that we don’t read much.

If that’s true, we put our country at risk. With rare exceptions, people are embarrassed to admit that they’re not reading anything. Repeated episodes of what-are-you-reading challenges could prompt some of them to pick up a book.

What might be the result if people issued the challenge routinely for five or 10 years? Would there be an epidemic of reading?

If so, could this make America great at last? Couldn’t hurt.

Stephen Fournier, Hartford

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