This would be a terrible time for us to abandon books.

Every time I read another story about students asking ChatGPT to summarize a novel or high school reading scores hitting a new low or books disappearing from classrooms, I worry not just for our attention spans and critical thinking skills and ability to keep charming little bookstores open. (Although I worry a lot about those things, especially charming little bookstores.)

I worry most for our empathy.

Books are little empathy gardens, feeding and growing the stuff that makes us feel, makes us care, makes us human.

If you’re a reader, you know this. If you’re not, the science tells us; study after study links fiction-reading to increased empathy and prosocial behaviors.

“The Canadian cognitive psychologist Keith Oatley calls fiction ‘the mind’s flight simulator,’” Claudia Hammond wrote in a BBC article examining how reading changes our brain structure. “Just as pilots can practice flying without leaving the ground, people who read fiction may improve their social skills each time they open a novel.”

And yet. The data consistently points to a decline in reading, especially among young people.

Book sales remained stable in 2025, according to industry data. But young adult fiction sales dropped sharply. In 2024, only 14% of young........

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