One important thing about being a reader is understanding the meaning of the words one reads. And it looks like Daniel Pennac -- along with so many others -- might not have understood the word "inalienable".

People think it means that the right cannot be taken from you. That is not what it means. It means the right cannot be contracted away. And I don't like that. By calling the right not to read inalienable, Mr. Pennac is saying that I cannot make an agreement with someone: "I'll read every day if you pay me."

So, sure, they're rights. I'm fine with that. But let's not call them "inalienable".