about in a book.

While she should read well and wisely, the girl should not turn into a
bookworm. Unless our reading fits us for better thought and better action,
we should examine into what we are reading and change it for something
better. Reading should never be a hindrance to work, but a help. Nor should
we put reading in the place of people. It is a poor plan for any girl to
prefer books habitually to intercourse with her friends.

A number of fine books deal with social and economic questions. These
subjects appear also in many novels. The girl who wants to see conditions
improved for the sick, the poor, and the unfortunate may again ask advice
from the librarian. The biography of a woman like Miss Nightingale, or such
a book as Ruskin's "Sesame and Lilies," will interest girls of this class.

A few rules will help us in our reading. Whatever book we read should be a
good book of its class. Suppose we want to read a light and entertaining
book for amusement and relaxation, then it should be good entertainment,
well written, well planned, delightfully easy and gay in style. Do not read
books which make you wish that you had not read them. Shun books which make
one feel that life is not worth living. We can always judge the character
of a book by the importance it gives to life. A book that has a great
vision of life is a great book. In the same way we should not read books
that make us think poorly of people. The finer the book the more clearly
it shows how worth while every individual is. Any book that separates us,
or turns us away, from the highest, happiest things is not worth the time
which we might spend in reading it. There is something wrong with a book
which leaves us indolent and listless. Books that we should choose,
therefore, are those which make us feel that life is worth living, that
people are worth while, and which keep us in love with the highest things
in life.

CHAPTER XXVII

NECESSARY WORK

There is a question which everyone should ask herself about her work:
"Is the work that I am doing adding anything to the wealth and well-being
of the world? Is it necessary work--that is, is any one single person
dependent to any extent for his or her existence on what I do?"

Necessary work has to do with providing the necessaries of life. These are
food, clothing, shelter, light, heat and every other service or commodity
which helps to keep us alive and adds to our efficiency as human being