Reading in the gaps: Why we return to books that broke us

There are books we finish and put down, and for a while, we are unable to speak. These are books that pull the air from our lungs. That leave us raw, like skin rubbed thin. And yet, somehow, we return to them.

Not immediately, of course. Often, we need time. Months. Years. Distance to recover from the ache they left behind. But they are on our minds, and the pull is there. Like gravity drawing us back to earth.

The annotated life: Why marginalia is back in style

Marginalia, you either love it or hate it. Once considered the mark of a disrespectful reader, someone scribbling on the pristine pages of novels, marginalia has returned with an unexpected flourish.

Instagram is full of annotated pages, complete with underlines, post-its, and impassioned scribbles. On TikTok, readers film themselves reacting in real time, pen in hand. Even published authors are weighing in, sharing how marginal notes shaped their early reading lives.