Professor Faber, the bibliophile in Ray Bradbury’s classic dystopian novel, “Fahrenheit 451,” sniffs a book and says: “Do you know that books smell like nutmeg or some spice from a foreign land?” His simple observation embodies our love affair with traditional books, which endures because of how they feel in our hands and also how they smell.

The third-person omniscient point of view (POV) is common in 19th century novels, British mysteries, and European fiction, but many American book editors and writing teachers dislike it. There are literary agents who will flat out reject manuscripts with an omni POV. This literary tool leaves no gray area. People either love it or hate it. Here are 10 books that have used it effectively.

For book lovers everywhere, the sheer pleasure of reading is motivation enough for them. Those who are less inclined to read should listen up! A new study revealed that books empower readers to take positive actions, such as traveling, starting a new hobby, and even getting over a break-up.

Most companies encourage employees to read nonfiction books to gain knowledge, but research shows reading literary fiction can be more valuable for employees because novels help cultivate an elusive trait in the workplace: high emotional quotient.

Want to be a writer? Read, read, and read some more. It’s the first requirement for writing well. Don’t take my word for it, take Stephen King’s. He said: “You have to read widely, constantly refining (and redefining) your own work as you do. If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write.”

The competition for a reader’s short attention span starts in the opening sentences of a novel. Readers today are not only distracted most of the time, they’re also conditioned to judge a book or an image or a post within minutes. If you write fiction, it’s especially crucial to make the reader care about your story as soon as possible.

The word bookworm, dating back to 1592, refers to “a person unusually devoted to reading,” according to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. It also means the larva of any wood-boring insect that feeds on paper in books. We avid readers are indeed a special kind of tribe! If you feel misunderstood for being a bookworm, rest assured there are many of us who share these 12 common traits.

Summer is here, stretching out as far as the eye could see, but it’s unlike any other because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. There won’t be any trips (at least not to foreign destinations). Social distancing is a must. In these challenging times, books offer a safe way to celebrate summer.

COVID-19’s far-reaching impact on our lives extends to our reading habits. The pandemic has caused bankruptcies, job losses, and varying degrees of lockdown in most states, and it’s also changing our reading preferences and behavior.

A recent study by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) shows that 55 percent of Americans read for pleasure—if you add their use of e-books and audio books to print books—contradicting a misperception of a decline in book reading in the U.S.