10 Rights of the Reader

In its preface, the book by Daniel Pennac called Comme un roman (Paris: Editions Gallimard/Folio, 1992), lists 10 Rights of the Reader:

• The right to not read,
• The right to skip pages,
• The right to not finish a book,
• The right to reread,
• The right to read anything,
• The right to mistake a book for real lilfe (or, the right to escapism),
• The right to read anywhere,
• The right to dip
• The right to read out-loud, and,
• The right to be silent.  

My take: I've seen #5 translated as "The right not to have to defend your taste," which I like better. I think we readers spend too much time being sheepish about what or how much we read.

With neat illos by Quentin Blake, a poster of the rights can be found on the web