#Our Reading Lives

Our Reading Lives features stories about how books and reading have shaped who we are and how we live.

How Comics Have Helped My Daughter Embrace Her Inner Superhero

"Once, one young child insisted that my daughter was not a superhero. Still, Em remained undeterred. After all, she knew the truth."

Giving Up Perfect for My Students

A teacher thinks sets about bulking up her classroom library and arrives at a revelation about her personal library and its pristine collection of books.

How the American Girl Series Shaped My Reading, Imagination, and Humor

A reader on discovering the American Girls series based on the dolls, and what those books taught her about history, imagination, and more.

Reading Through Heartache

What do you do when you're suffering from heartbreak? Some turn to books, finding ways to heal and inspiration to forge new paths through words.

Remembering and Pining for the Scholastic Book Fair

"Come with me, and you'll be in a world of pure imagination" -- that is, the Scholastic Book Fair. Shiny new paperbacks and all, reminisce with us.

Why I Stopped Doing the Goodreads Reading Challenge at Midyear

The Goodreads reading challenge may be good for when you need motivation, but it didn’t work out for me. And so, I quit at midyear. Here’s why.

How Ling Ma’s SEVERANCE Helped Me Change My Work Life

Ling Ma's SEVERANCE is a novel that explores capitalism, millennial anxieties, and workplace politics. Here's how it helped me quit my job.

The Struggle to Balance Rereading With the TBR

Struggling with feelings about not rereading nearly as much as she'd like, this reader asked people on social if they’re revisiting books.

On Moving a Large Quantity of Books and Comics—and No Budget

A reader goes into the process of moving house, including a large quantity of books and comics, with little to no budget to work with.

True Life: I Inherited a Private Library

How one reader came into the inheritance of a personal library, and on the process of receiving the books and going through them.