“The quantity of books in one’s home was the most important predictor of reading performance. The greatest effect was seen in libraries of about 100 books, which resulted in approximately 1.5 extra years of grade-level reading performance.” Maybe loading their Kindles isn’t enough. Teddy Wayne in the NYT on the importance of lining your shelves with books.

+ The Guardian: “From Kapuscinski to Knausgaard, from Mantel to Macfarlane, more and more writers are challenging the border between fiction and nonfiction.” (Political pundits have been doing this for years.)

+ Quartz on the books that most critics seem to agree are the best of 2015.