Allowing yourself to stop reading a book – at page 25, 50, or even, less frequently, a few chapters from the end – is a rite of passage in a reader’s life, the literary equivalent...

How do you choose your books?’ my friends had asked. Less than a week into my project, I can now tell them the beginning of the truth. I don’t always choose the books, I’ll say....

Reading’s ability to beam you up to a different world is a good part of the reason why people like me do it in the first place—because dollar for dollar, hour per hour, it’s the...