2 . If you want to fill your shelves with the best books of all time, you’re in the right place.

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein (1974)

The imagination of Shel Silverstein is on full display in this classic collection of short stories and poems. The book is truly one of the best poetry books of all time because of its staying power for children. The stories of this American poet, author, singer and folk artist have something for everyone.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (1878)

Most critics regard it as one of the most typical literary love stories. The author’s Russian tale of unfortunate lovers is filled with fascinating quotes like, “He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.” This one belongs on any book collector’s shelf.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1943)

It is a timeless tale of a prince’s journey in search of adventure. What he finds, however, are interactions with adults who leave him so upset. It’s one of the most appealing short books we’ve ever read and also one of the most widely read children’s classics all over the world.

The Shining by Stephen King (1977)

The master of mystery must be included in any list of books you should read in a lifetime. That’s why you will find it here. Horror fans take note: This is one of the scariest and best Stephen King books of all time.

4 . Reading can make you feel less alone and more connected with the world at large. It can open your eyes to issues, successes and challenges. Here are the top books all teens should read before they turn 18.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

Though this book recently became popular again because of the movie based on it, the movie is not a substitute (替代物) for this beautiful story about family and the process of becoming who you truly are.

Wonder by R. J. Palacio

Auggie was born with a facial difference that kept him out of school for years. In the fifth grade, he discovered what was like to long for normalcy (常态) and also learned that difference could be the most meaningful teacher.

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

The author shares beautiful poetry that will speak to teenagers about her experience of growing up in the South as an African-American in the 1960s and 1970s. The poems enjoy the themes of self-awareness and identity.

The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz

The attractive advice given in this book is perfect for teens going off to college or beginning a new stage of independence. It is a book that can be reread all throughout life without losing its power.

5 . There are numerous benefits of reading good books.     1    . Whatever your field might be, it’s very important to create a good habit to read beyond your horizons. Here are tips to help you cultivate a better and consistent reading habit:

Determine your reading goal.     2    . This goal should be clear and backed up with a purpose. Start by thinking about how a consistent reading pattern can help you grow indifferent areas of your life-spirit, academics, career, relationships and more.

    3    . Once you’re done setting your reading goal for the year, you’ll need a list to back it up. Write out a list of the amazing books you want to read. Ask for recommendations from friends and instructors. It’s important to keep a journal listing the books you’ll like to read for each month.

Get a responsible reading partner to promote your reading. Goals need to be backed up in order to help put a check and encourage you during times you don’t feel motivated.     4    , and create a plan to help you achieve your reading goals.

To develop a reading culture, you must first analyze your current reading habits. Do you read at all?     5    ? In order to truly achieve your reading goals and build a consistent reading habit, you’ll need to set up simple systems, find responsible partners, and generally be hungry to grow beyond your comfort zone.

8 . For many people, bookstores are wonderful places. That’s because the books on the shelves can take you away to magical lands, help you learn a foreign language, or cook a delicious meal. But when your community is too small to house a brick bookstore, you have to come up with another idea. A mobile bookstore was the result. That is the case for Rita Collins, 70, who dreamed of opening a used bookstore after retiring from teaching.

A business planning class from the American Booksellers Association convinced Collins to give up her idea of opening a bookstore in the small town where she lives. Her town, Eureka, Montana, only has a population of 1,517. Collins asked her instructors about a traveling bookstore on wheels and they doubted her idea. But she insisted on it.

Collins was inspired by Dylans Mobile Bookstore, a traveling bookstore in Wales run by Jeff Towns. She contacted Jeff for advice but she was largely on her own when it came to building her bookstore. First, she had to find a vehicle large enough to stand in. Then she had to have it refitted with shelves that would hold the books at a 15-degree angle so that they would stay in place while traveling. Collins named her bookstore St. Rita’s Traveling Bookstore, which has been on the road since 2015.

At first, she drove through Montana and then she made her first cross-country trip in 2016. After she retired in 2017, it became a full-time job. Collins and her bookstore have visited 30 states, stopping at festivals and events along the way. Collins loves meeting people and making connections. While she loves what she does, Collins doesn’t think she can keep doing it. In several years, she hopes to pass her traveling bookstore onto another book lover who shares the same interest and will keep it on the road.

10 . Technology seems to discourage slow, immersive reading. Reading on a screen tires your eyes and makes it harder for you to keep your place. Online writing tends to be more skimmable and list-like than print. The cognitive neuroscientist Mary Walt argued recently that this “new norm” of skim reading is producing “an invisible, game -changing transformation” in how readers process words. The neuronal circuit that sustains the brain’s capacity to read now favors the rapid absorption of information.

We shouldn’t overplay this danger. All readers skim. From about the age of nine, our eyes start to bounce around the page, reading only about a quarter of the words properly, and filling in the gaps by inference. Nor is there anything new in these fears about declining attention spans. So far, the anxieties have proved to be false alarms. “Quite a few critics have been worried about attention spans lately and see very short stories as signs of cultural decline,” the American author Selvin Brown wrote. “No one ever said that poems were evidence of short attention spans.”

And yet the Internet has certainly changed the way we read. For a start, it means that there is more to read, because more people than ever are writing. And digital writing is meant for rapid release and response. This mode of writing and reading can be interactive and fun. But often it treats other people’s words as something to be quickly harvested as fodder (素材) to say something else. Everyone talks over the top of everyone else, desperate to be heard.

Perhaps we should slow down. Reading is constantly promoted as a social good and source of personal achievement. But this advocacy often emphasizes “enthusiastic” “passionate” or “eager” reading, none of which adjectives suggest slow, quiet absorption. To a slow reader, a piece of writing can only be fully understood by immersing oneself in the words and their slow comprehension of a line of thought.

The human need for this kind of deep reading is too tenacious for any new technology to destroy. We often assume that technological change can’t be stopped and happens in one direction, so that older media like “dead-tree” books are kicked out by newer, more virtual forms. In practice, older technologies can coexist with new ones. The Kindle has not killed off the printed book any more than the car killed off the bicycle. We still want to enjoy slowly. formed ideas and carefully-chosen words. Even in a fast-moving age, there is time for slow reading.