In an article published in Friday's Washington Times, economist Tyler Cowen makes several interesting and provocative arguments about reading and books. In short, he suggests that we should be more easygoing about giving up on books we don't enjoy without finishing them.
I addressed Cowen's arguments - and the underlying assumptions of the article about the reasons we read - today in a post on my personal blog. You can find the post here - it is directly relevant to the discussions below about self-education and the case for reading good books.