@fundevogel : I’m sorry you had such a bad experience with someone from St. John’s, and I hope I haven’t made any claims about it on Fluther or in any conversation that I can’t back up. Come to think of it, this is only the second question on Fluther that I’ve ever mentioned the place. In any event, if I’m part of your discontent with it, please, forgive me. For my part, I love the school and the program.
I believe that @Jeruba is correct. Being well read is a compliment given to a person. I can’t claim to be well read, since I know that there are three books sitting by my bed, all in various stages of being read, and I have a stack of another three waiting. Once those are all consumed, I’ll find more. It’s never ending, and I’m thankful for that.
@YARNLADY rightly pointed out that there are many lists to go by to judge whether or not a person is well read. I googled “reading lists” and got 334 million hits. It’s a hard subject to narrow down. Here is a list of lists.
I love books, and I love reading. I was attracted to this question for that reason. If anyone wishes to start reading in order to one day be called well read, I applaud them and would do anything I could to encourage them.