Unread : a memoir of learning (and loving) to read on TikTok

Author

Oliver James

Call Number

• 921 J285 (CEN, EAS, MBL, OSH, POW, WSQ)

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Edition

First edition.

Publication Information

New York : Union Square & Co., 2026.

Physical Description

x, 242 pages ; 22 cm

Summary

As a result of childhood learning disabilities and educational neglect, Oliver James graduated from high school and became one of approximately 45 million functionally illiterate Americans. However, at age 32, with big dreams and few tools to actualize them, he dedicated himself to learning the key skill that had evaded him his entire life: reading. Oliver has become a TikTok/BookTok sensation for the way he's candidly documented his decision to learn to read as an adult, and his struggles and triumphs along the way. Here, he tells the full story behind his journey for the first time through the 21 key books that shaped and informed his experience. His story reveals the ways in which reading can teach each of us how to be better, more empathetic people. In just 365 days, Oliver went from barely being able to read a restaurant menu to closing in on his goal of finishing 100 books in a year. Unread is a moving reminder to all of us that words and stories have power, and that, no matter our past, it's never too late to grow.

Contents

• Prologue
• Reading is a beginning
• Reading is a kingdom
• Reading is freedom
• Reading is help along the way
• Reading is love
• Reading is wild
• Reading is change
• Reading is yours
• Reading is community
• Reading is a drug
• Reading is sobering
• Reading is the question Why?
• Reading is for fathers
• Reading is therapy
• Reading is 100
• Reading is magic
• Reading is now
• Reading is for inner children
• Reading is a mirror
• Reading is the beginning
• Acknowledgments
• Recommendations.