Occasionally the magic can happen in a classroom of young adults. A high school teacher in France brought around a class of under achieving teenagers simply by reading aloud from a novel. At first the students thought it was a joke that this was all their new teacher intended on doing. But after a few days they were hooked, and yearned to talk about the book and how it related to their lives.

But mostly, reading aloud among adults is an intimate affair.

Let me pass on (with their permission) what some readers of the Well-Read Life columns have shared with me.

The good husband
My husband starts his workday about an hour after I start mine. While I put on my makeup and get dressed, he reads to me. We take turns choosing the book (he likes history, I like biographies; he likes physical science, I like biological). We are opposites who are somehow compatible, and this is a big part of our bonding.—S. Davis

Thought you didn't care
My husband and I travel nearly an hour for church every Sunday. Early on, we established the pattern of he driving and I reading. I select a book that I believe he will find interesting and which I think might stimulate conversation. Yesterday morning, I did not bring a book with me. I was concerned that this might be something he merely tolerated. Before we had gone far, he asked, 'Where's your book?' When I replied that I hadn't brought one, he said, 'What in the world will we do?' I guess I'll bring a book next week!—L. Bergstrom

Love me, love my books
Not having come from the same type of large, close, ethnic family I have, it was difficult for my new husband to understand just how much holidays meant to me. Christmas was especially important. I had a small collection of Christmas books that I would unpack along with the decorations. I started reading them to him before going to sleep, or while on a long car ride to share my strong feelings, my history, and the joy and wonder of the season. It has helped him understand and come to love this precious season that we have celebrated some 27 years together as husband and wife. —D. Ford

The good word
A few years ago, my wife and I began reading The Bible out loud to each other every morning. By reading approximately five chapters a day, yes, even including the genealogies and the hard-to-pronounce names and places, we can finish the entire Bible in one year. We have repeated this, year after year and have found these reading and this quiet time together a great joy and blessing.
—J. Gray

The grass is always greener when you're reading
My husband and I struggled a lot in our early years. He was active duty military and we were very low income. We would take 30 minutes when we went to bed taking turns reading to each other. We didn't read novels or classics but humorous works, such as Erma Bombeck. These books gave us an opportunity to laugh together and share our experiences with each other. We've been married for over 34 years and have three children and eight grandchildren.—K. Meyer

Seize the day
In 1959 when I first started dating my wife, we began reading to each other. We married the next year. We continued reading to each other until 1999 when she died. I miss those times so much. I find it difficult to read without her presence and our discussions of the books. Reading together is truly the love that binds.—L. Matteson

Sheherazade saved her life by telling a thousand and one nightly tales. I wonder how many thousands of relationships have been saved the same way? I also know of a family that enjoys circulating the same copy of a novel among all family members before finally returning it to its original owner. There's something nice about knowing everyone in the family cradled the same good book.

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