The latest report from the Centre National du Livre (CNL), published in April 2024, highlights a significant decline in reading among young French people aged 7 to 19. Around one in five never reads for leisure, with this figure rising to one in three among 16- to 19-year-olds. Boys are particularly affected by this downward trend.

Time spent on screens far outweighs time dedicated to reading, with young people spending ten times more daily hours on screens than on books.

When they do read for pleasure, young people favor comics and manga. Nearly half have already read an e-book, primarily on a smartphone.

Despite the positive values associated with reading, over a third of young people prefer to spend their free time on other activities.

These trends emphasize the need to rethink strategies for promoting reading among younger generations.

This is precisely the focus of Clémentine Beauvais’ Comment jouir de la lecture (How to Enjoy Reading), which delves into the complex and sometimes taboo pleasures that reading provides. She questions why reading is often tied to moral or intellectual enrichment but rarely to physical or emotional enjoyment.

By blending personal anecdotes, literary analysis, and philosophical reflections, Beauvais deconstructs biases around reading, especially in educational contexts. She celebrates diverse reading styles: savoring slowly, devouring passionately, or nibbling at random. She also addresses the guilt that can accompany “easy” or “guilty pleasure” reads, asserting that all forms of reading enjoyment are valid.

This manifesto invites readers to free themselves from societal expectations and rediscover the pure, uninhibited pleasure that reading can bring.