#books

An NPR Life Kit episode with cognitive neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf on why deep reading isn't innate to the brain, how screen-driven skimming disrupts it, and practical ways to rebuild the skill — reading print for material that demands attention, practicing in short daily increments, letting pace be set by the reader and the book, and taking notes to aid retention.

NPR reports on "immersive reading" — reading a book's text while simultaneously listening to its audiobook — which TikTok search volume shows rising sharply in 2026; cognitive neuroscientist Maryanne Wolf notes it can deepen engagement but doesn't necessarily produce the slower, print-driven cognitive patience of true "deep reading."

Tim Ferriss shares his own book sales data showing a roughly 80% collapse in print copies sold between 2022 and 2026 — a drop that tracks almost perfectly with LLM adoption. He argues prescriptive nonfiction is the canary in the coal mine for AI disruption of information-based businesses, and that the only durable moats left are voice, taste, and transformation — not information transfer.

I recently asked library staff at my local library if they have seen lending similarly go down, and they indicated they have not yet seen a noticeable difference, which might indicate that libraries are not yet being impacted. Maybe because of the lack of cost associated with lending compared to purchasing books.