I flipped over the last page of Beyond the Mountains of Cultrion and let out a soft sigh of relief. Finally done. I closed the book, marking the end of my journey through the travelogue Joshua had assigned me a week ago.

At first, I couldn’t have been less excited. It took me hours to get through just twenty pages, and by the time I’d finished, I’d taken four naps, with 60% of the pages circled out.

That night, when it came time for our “review session,” I was ...