9 cities that inspired the world's most famous novels
The real cities behind literary masterpieces often matter more than the imagination that wrote them.
Reading & Books
Strong writing is shaped by strong reading. Here you’ll find articles on reading habits, books, literary culture, and the ideas, authors, and traditions that influence how people think, write, and communicate.
Why rereading a favourite book can feel like reconnecting with an earlier version of yourself
A randomised study linked rereading a favourite novel with greater nostalgia and social connectedness; other research describes rereading as intentional reconsumption.
South Korean students post some of the world's highest reading scores in PISA, yet surveys of adults have repeatedly found unusually low levels of book reading and reading time in South Korea, showing that teaching a population to read well and getting it to keep reading for pleasure are two different achievements
A country that teaches teenagers to read brilliantly watches them stop doing it altogether.
More than 600 new independent bookstores opened in the US in 2025 alone — a sign readers want something screens still can't give them
A quiet rebellion is reshaping American retail: independent bookstores are thriving where chains once dominated, suggesting readers crave something the algorithm cannot replicate.
U.S. audiobook revenue has grown for more than a decade, while listeners keep debating what counts as reading
As millions listen to books while driving, exercising, or doing chores, the publishing industry faces a question it never expected to answer: what actually counts as reading anymore?
The readers bringing back slow, immersive reading aren't rejecting technology — they're often the ones who quietly burned out on skimming everything
The most devoted readers aren't romantics rejecting technology—they're burned-out skimmers reclaiming their ability to focus.