Thanksgiving

We at Wisdom House Books have a lot to be thankful for this year. We’ve had the privileges of publishing interesting books and working with talented writers. We’ve attended and hosted fun bookish events, with plenty more planned. The Wisdom House pets are as cuddly as ever, and the cat even let me photograph her for Halloween.

Yes, it’s been a good year for good books—but publishers aren’t the only ones grateful for good stories.

Barnes and Noble recently conducted a survey on holiday reading. They’ve concluded that Thanksgiving Eve is the biggest day of the year for reading. The holidays in general are a good time to read.

There are plenty of reasons for this. Even with so many other distractions available, people like to read when they travel. Audio books make even the worst traffic jams more bearable, and reading is a classic way to pass time during layovers.

Holiday reading isn’t just a time-killer. Traveling, visiting family, hosting friends—all this can be stressful. Reading is the perfect escape to give your frazzled nerves a break.

The survey also revealed another, more positive trend: People see the holiday season as an opportunity to chip away at their to-be-read pile. Even people who enjoy reading don’t always make enough time for it. With work to do and bills to pay and Game of Thrones to stream, we don’t always prioritize our reading. The holidays are a great time to catch up on your GoodReads goals.

This is also the season of book recommendations. I’m not the only reader in my family, so Thanksgiving dinner discussions inevitably turn to what books are on our nightstands. I usually leave the table with a title or two to look up. It’s just as well—talking books with family is better than talking politics these days. Worst-case scenario, someone gets a paper-cut.

Whatever their reasons, it’s good to see so many people making time during the holidays to read. We can save the gloomy predictions about the death of literacy for the rest of the year. When I take a break from traveling or making small talk to read another chapter of my book, I know that countless other Americans are doing the same thing. We’re all grateful for the good books in our lives.