I also read a few books I otherwise would’ve never picked up that ended up very interesting.

Ultimately, sacrifices get made to try and get mass education working; the current system is barely scalable, so anything even more personalized is pretty much out of the question.

There’s a number of classics I read at the time that I didn’t enjoy until adulthood. Reading them early on gave me a framework for understanding them later on in life.

For me it was axctually the first novel I read. My aunt gave me The Malloreon. I was bored in winter break in the late 80s and I felt guilty I hadn't used my aunt's gift. So I read it. Now I recall spending an entire day curled up with a quick trip insulated mug in our breakfast nook when it was below freezing out reading the next book next to my mom. It'd take about 3 hours to finish that herbal tea.

Shortly after my dad gave me unlimited allowance for books. It was a smart but mildly costly move.

Perhaps the solution is to not force specific books on anyone. If kids want to read Twilight for class, let them. Maybe it’s more important (and effective) to have them read anything and enjoy it than cramming “high literature” down their throats.

I posit that a person who enjoys the experience of reading a bad book is likely to later on pick up several good ones, while someone who was forced to read a handful of ostensibly good books they weren’t ready for is likely to never pick up a book again.

We had two separate classes in school, one for English, and one just called "reading". In it, we could read whatever we wanted, as long as we read for the entire period. Sometimes we'd discuss our books. It was great.

If they instead taught students easier books in schools, student would never develop the reading skills to tackle the classics, and a much smaller percentage of adults would ever bother rereading the classics or even acknowledge their power.

Of course, the teaching has to be improved so that students never hate it.

The issue is that performance arts, or the arts in general, usually are the first on the chopping block at schools that are either facing budgetary pressures or need to improve standardized test scores.

Stuff like: "What was the meaning of the yellow curtains?"

They pretty much ruined my enjoyment of every book I had to read, even though I did and still do love reading. For books required by classes, I just read the cliff's notes.