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Reviews
(4/5)November 18, 2025
October 19, 2025
Good book, left me wanting more
This book covers a history of reading as a hobby in Japan post-Meiji. It was interesting to read about the trends in the reading public across the years, the changes in themes of books, and how reading connects to self-improvement. A few more thoughts:
- I'm not sure it ends up answering the titular question, aside from "yeah, reading isn't as popular anymore as a form of distraction".
- It's really waffley at the beginning about "what counts as reading", broadening the meaning to any "good" us
July 5, 2024
*Review contains general spoilers about topics discussed in the book
Why can’t we read for pleasure when we’re busy with work? After experiencing a reading slump in the first half of the year mostly due to work-related reasons, I started reading this book, hoping it would give me insight into why. Initially, I expected a pop-science book about the brain and concentration limits based on the somewhat misleading vibe of the title and cover. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find it was more
August 9, 2025
July 23, 2025
June 13, 2025
February 27, 2025
Gradings
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It isn't your fault if you stopped reading
Since Bungakushôjo's review already covers the content of this book thoroughly, I'll focus on what I felt was missing from it.
She never touched on the 読書史 of people who didn't work, namely women. In the book, they suddenly appear in the 1980's as if they hadn't existed before... If you want to fill in the blanks, there seems to be a wonderful book on the topic:『女性と図書館―ジェンダー視点から見る過去・現在・未来』.
Another issue, is the absence of concrete steps for getting out of the "grind" mentality (全身全霊) . This l