The article made this reading list seem like a good thing, but I looked at the reading list itself and it has a weird vibe. It is literally a checklist: "Check off the books as you read them." You're also supposed to rate each book from 1 to 5 stars, which is a weird way to engage with the books. At the end, you have to make a tax-form-like attestation that you have read "a complete and unabridged version of all the books and that this record is true", co-signed by an adult.
As for the list, it's basically a "Great works of Western literature" list that you'd expect to see in the 1970s. The concept seems to be that you must slog through the official important books (including The Fountainhead!) to prove your Mensan superiority, rather than encouraging a joy of reading.
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The article made this reading list seem like a good thing, but I looked at the reading list itself and it has a weird vibe. It is literally a checklist: "Check off the books as you read them." You're also supposed to rate each book from 1 to 5 stars, which is a weird way to engage with the books. At the end, you have to make a tax-form-like attestation that you have read "a complete and unabridged version of all the books and that this record is true", co-signed by an adult.
As for the list, it's basically a "Great works of Western literature" list that you'd expect to see in the 1970s. The concept seems to be that you must slog through the official important books (including The Fountainhead!) to prove your Mensan superiority, rather than encouraging a joy of reading.
The list: https://www.mensaforkids.org/achieve/excellence-in-reading/e...
At what point can you just read about a book instead of reading the actual book?
The Fountainhead seems like a good place to start...