Recently, Chris and I interviewed author Matthew Quick for the second time on If You’ve Come This Far. As we started the show, Matthew mentioned a couple of book clubs that had endorsed his new memoir, Dad, Love, Me. One of us joked that he should start a book club focused on men who aren’t big readers. We laughed it off, but Chris and I couldn’t get the idea out of our heads.
Part of the reason it stuck is what’s happened to reading.
A lot of us have stopped. The American Time Use Survey found the share of Americans reading for pleasure on a given day fell from 28% in 2004 to 16% in 2023 — a drop of more than 40% in twenty years.
Men have stopped faster. Fewer than three in ten men read a novel or short story in 2022, per the National Endowment for the Arts. For women, it was closer to half. And men don’t cross the gender aisle: women read a roughly even split of books by men and women, while men read about four books by men for every one by a woman.
Yikes.
In the August 2026 Atlantic cover story, The End of Reading Is Here, Rose Horowitch wrote: “Reading books is a workout for the attention span. The more you read, the easier it is to read, and the more you’re rewarded with new understanding. Eventually the process is more pleasurable than it is challenging. But as with physical exercise, the converse is true as well: The less you read, the more difficult it is to read, and the rockier the path to acquiring knowledge.”
So, is it too much work?? If we aren’t reading, what are we doing? We scroll through social media and watch short-form videos, often for hours on end. These habits cripple our attention spans and make us worse readers.
You might be wondering why we care so much.
Growing up in the classic “Reading Is Fundamental” era, Chris and I developed a love for books—in fact, half of our podcast guests are authors. Books have been a catalyst for our connecting with authors we might never have met, with our listeners, and with each other. And, the “data” shows that long-form reading leads to more effective brain processing, more creative minds, and deeper empathy.
But we don’t want to lecture anybody about what they’re missing. We want to help. So, we’re starting a couple of new initiatives:
The Come A Little Further Book Recommendation (For Everyone): Every other week, one of us or a guest reviewer will put a book in front of you, tell you why we liked it, and explain why it’s worth your time. Give it a read, then jump into the Substack comments to share your thoughts. Open to all.
The Book Club For Men (In Partnership with MenLiving): Kinda sounds like the Hair Club for Men, right?! Well, it’s nothing like that except for the name and the men. No hair plugs here. Just books, men, and connection. We’re doing this men-focused club because it seems men need a little more encouragement to read. Maybe we read some fiction? A few female authors? And then a space to gather and talk it out.
Both launch soon. But first, we have two favors to ask:
- If you think someone in your life might dig some fresh book recommendations, forward this post with them (we have other good stuff going on here too, right?!).
- If you know a man who would enjoy some reading (or needs to enjoy some reading!) and some connection. Maybe it’s your brother. A friend. Your dad. Your son. I’m happy to put his name on an invite once we get started. Simply email me @ shaun@menliving.org
Let’s read a little more together. Thanks!
Shaun
