Jennifer Chiaverini

My event tonight at Mystery to Me in Madison, WI is sold out, but you can join us online via Crowdcast! Reserve your spot and join the program at 6 PM CT! https://www.crowdcast.io/c/-patchwork-players-

I found this article on "the reading crisis" compelling and concerning. In a speech at the London Book Fair, Joanna Prior, CEO of Pan Macmillan, attributed the decline in reading to "a 'neurological shift' caused by children being raised on short-form algorithms 'designed to dismantle the capacity for sustained attention.' A generation has been 'rewired for the scroll over the page,' and with that loss of literacy and inability to pay attention, Prior asserted, 'critical thinking is the first casualty.'"

I've heard other reports of how students are no longer reading entire novels in some English lit classes in the US, but merely excerpts instead. As a novelist but also as a reader—and as someone who understands that sustained concentration is important to cognitive development—this troubles me deeply. What are your thoughts?

London Book Fair 2026: Pan Macmillan CEO Joanna Prior on the Reading Crisis  "The decline of reading is a greater challenge to our industry than AI could ever be," said Joanna Prior, CEO of Pan Macmillan