Curl Up With a Good Book: It's Basically Self-Care

I have news that lets you feel great about that cozy reading nook. A new University of Cambridge review found that reading for pleasure may boost memory, empathy, and mental health; reduce stress; and help reduce cognitive decline.

Even better, the researchers say it can improve health and wellbeing at any age, regardless of reading material. Romance, thrillers, graphic novels? All count! One of the study's authors points to the secret ingredient: pleasure. Read for enjoyment, and you'll read more often and for longer. Translation: no guilt, no homework, no "shoulds."

The research also found that reading for pleasure early in life was linked with better attention and memory, and with more sleep and less screen time. And Sahakian says it's never too late to start.

So swap a doomscroll for a chapter tonight. To get you going, here are some of the fall releases we're most excited about.

Fall Reads to Add to Your Stack

• Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel

• Music Against the Night by Yiyun Li

• Fair Ones by Lydia Millet

• Heavy Cream by Sarah Blakely-Cartwright

• Family Friends by Chloë Ashby

• Hollywood, Ending by John Green

• The Undercover Bookshop by Katherine Reay

• The Oxford Guide to Scandal and Lies by Kate Westbury