"Two or three hours every few nights were hardly enough. I began finding ways to outwit the system during my day job. Books were too conspicuous, so I printed out magazine articles, essays, and book chapters in what was surely unauthorized use of military computers. I shuffled these printouts in with my translation tasks, all practicing, in Gulag slang, tufta — "the art of pretending to work." As long as the papers were in English, the officers didn't notice. Once I'd finished, off to the shredder they went."

Really enjoyed this essay from Sheon Han, "Reading Lolita in the Barracks," about his attempt to turn his mandatory military service into a reading retreat.

https://asteriskmag.com/issues/12-books/reading-lolita-in-the-barracks

#Bookstodon #WhyRead #ReadingNotes

Why do woman read more than men? Why are we reading less?

A few facts:
• The fiction gap: Men account for only 20 percent of the fiction market.
• The typical American read only four books last year, and one in four adults read no books at all.

Whatever the reason(s), there are so many benefits from reading...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRTWFqhEDeo

#whyread #benefitsofreading #readmore #readmorebooks #stressreduction #empathy #knowledge #brainhealth