Mr. Giles is a novelist and the former executive Hollywood editor of Vanity Fair. Anyone who’s published a book or tried to has had even indispensable friends and family tell them why they’re not ...

I acquire far too many books, usually under the theory that I will get to all of them someday, “someday” being the most elastic of reading time frames. Some of my somedays have lasted decades, and ...

You’re reading Open Questions, Joshua Rothman’s weekly column exploring what it means to be human. What do you read, and why? A few decades ago, these weren’t urgent questions. Reading was an ...

I hated my assigned reading in middle and high school. Hated All of it. I mean, I did it. I read every single book, story, or poem I was assigned throughout my many years of education, up until my ...

I research and write about happiness, so every year before Jan. 1, I ask people, “What resolutions will you make this year?” With reliable frequency, people tell me, “I want to read more.” Perhaps ...