the Evil Line

You can't teach "reading" by itself. Reading is always about something, and you can only teach the "something":

Reading is not an abstract transferable skill (except at the most basic levels of literacy). Hirsch and Pondiscio note that “poor readers” do well when faced with a passage whose subject matter is familiar to them, “outperforming even ‘good readers’ who lack relevant background knowledge.” The problem is that knowledge in one area usually doesn’t help you to comprehend a text covering a different area.

Which brings to mind the last two books I've read.

One, Anathem by Neal Stephenson, is about a group of robed monks who live in a clock and band together to deal with a nuclear-powered alien starship.

The second, The Beautiful Struggle by Ta-Nehisi Coates, is about a kid growing up in Baltimore.

And I found the first one much, much easier to read. Sad as it is, I've read enough cheezy speculative fiction to have the relevant background knowledge - I know about the different worlds such writers create, and I can pick out the things that are important in that kind of story.

On the other hand, I know nothing about black culture. What's a dashiki? What's dap? Or bop? Why does a recent haircut protect you from gang violence? None of it makes any sense.