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.
Most successful people tend to have one thing in common: they read a lot. A young Elon Musk reportedly read for up to 10 hours a day, working through science fiction, encyclopaedias, and whatever he could find.
Science fiction is the future, and it always has been. Whether it’s focusing on artificial intelligence, aliens, technology, time travel…
For almost as long as we’ve been writing, governments and religious groups have attempted to censor what we read.
We may be watching more Netflix than ever, but global reading remained strong through 2018. Global English Editing has compiled this mega infographic on world reading habits in 2018, following on from our 2017 edition.
Editor's note: This article was updated in June 2026. Key statistics, references, and examples have been refreshed to reflect more up-to-date information.
“So often, in the past too, a visit to a bookshop has cheered me and reminded me that there are good things in the world.” – Vincent van Gogh Books make everything better.
