What’s the key to reading pleasure? Well, ahem, it appears to be…books:
“In examining the average 2005 math scores of 12th graders who lived in homes with fewer than 10 books, an analysis of federal Education Department statistics found that those students scored much lower than those who lived in homes with more than 100 books. Although some of those results could be attributed to income gaps, Mr. Iyengar noted that students who lived in homes with more than 100 books but whose parents only completed high school scored higher on math tests than those students whose parents held college degrees (and were therefore likely to earn higher incomes) but who lived in homes with fewer than 10 books.”
This is an intriguing tidbit from a story in the New York Times. The story also goes on to say that (also not surprisingly) people who read for pleasure develope other skills.