Android/iOS: My six-year-old has started reading YouTube videos, and I’m cool with it. She’s using a free children’s reading app called Rivet, which was just released. Rivet has a digital library of more than 2,000 books, ranging from a mythical tale about Pegasus to a guide to clouds.

My 6-year-old and I have been enjoying a children’s book series called “You Read to Me, I’ll Read to You.” These books are formatted for two people to take turns reading different parts, like a script. We sit side-by-side, playing different characters and doing all the silly voices (I’m expecting a nod from the Academy for my role as the Big Bad Wolf). It’s been fun, and it got me thinking that eventually, we should start reading real scripts.

Some kids are natural bookworms, happy to spend hours of their day curled up in a comfy chair with a stack of chapter books. And some kids are, well, not.

You've seen the boxes around your neighbourhood. Many look like one-room schoolhouses. Others look like mini replicas of their owners' homes. Since 2010, book lovers have set up more than 60,000 Little Free Libraries in 80-plus countries across the world, designed simply to be free exchanges that, according to Margret Aldrich, a media and programming representative with LFL, "inspire a love of reading, build community, and spark creativity."

We all need a little area where we can decompress after a long day, when we’re in a bad mood or when we just need a little alone time. For you, that might mean relaxing in a hot bath or reading a book in your favourite quiet spot. For kids, a dedicated calming area can be an oasis amid overstimulation, power struggles and sibling rivalry.

Parents of multiple children have long admitted that as each additional child comes along, the parenting standards get lower.

Reading to your kids is important however you do it — at bedtime or during the day, with picture books or novels, on your own or with zany sound effects.

But if you’re feeling as though your readings are becoming a little lacklustre, or you just want to up your game, here’s some advice from those who make a living out of reading aloud: Audiobook narrators.

Billionaire Bill Gates has said he reads about a book a week. Our friends at Business Insider sifted through years of Gates' book recommendations to find 12 that made especially strong impressions on him and then collated them into a handy infographic.

A reading survey by Scholastic revealed something they’re calling the “decline by nine.” According to the report, the percentage of kids defined as frequent readers—those who read books for fun five to seven days a week— drops from 57% among 8-year-olds to 35% among 9-year-olds.

Between ages eight and nine, the number of kids who say they love reading plummets from 40% to 28%. What happens during this year, and more importantly, what can parents do to keep their young readers reading, willingly?

If you’ve been waiting for a sign that it’s time to introduce your kids to The Baby-Sitters Club, Netflix has generously decided to oblige.

Video: At Brooklyn’s Books Are Magic, as at most bookstores, the books are organised sensibly.

I have a few rules for choosing non-fiction books: I won’t read a book promising to reveal the “insider secrets” of an organisation or field. (The author only knows 1 per cent of the secrets, and they’ll oversell them.) If I find a book too broad or challenging, I go down a reading level — or even find a comic book version with a reliable co-author. And I don’t commit the way I do to fiction — sometimes I only need to read one chapter.

My husband and I like having the captions on while we’re watching a TV show so we can keep the volume down without missing any dialogue. Because of that, the captions are almost always on when my son takes over the TV — a fact that frustrated him for years.

“How do I build a steady reading habit?” asks redditor 6hlooo on r/TrueAskReddit. “I was always the kind of person to read a book and stop reading after a few pages. I know what the benefits of reading are, but I just can’t seem to motivate myself to read consistently. What do I do?”

Redditors answer with great tips for getting into the habit. The secret is in letting yourself read what you like, and taking practical steps to make it easy to pick up a book. Out of 60+ comments, here are the very best.

I’m so sorry but we’re still talking about Marie Kondo. The popularity of her Netflix show Tidying Up caused an uptick in donations to charity shops and used bookstores, according to CNN, the New Yorker, and Stranger. Now’s the time to take your “want to read” list to a used bookstore and stock up, while everyone else is cleaning house.

New parenthood is equally exciting and overwhelming, joyful and terrifying. There’s no shortage of advice out there: If you search for “parenting books” on Amazon, more than 60,000 results will appear. On one hand, it’s nice to live during a time in which information is so readily available. On the other hand, how would you possibly know where to start?

I usually have about 90 articles in my Instapaper, and I’m OK with that. I get around to articles a month after everyone stopped talking about them. I look through my queue like it’s a ten-page diner menu, ignoring certain articles for weeks until I finally decide to read or delete.

It could be worse; once I had 500 unread articles. But if your reading list bums you out—if you wish you could declare bankruptcy on Pocket or Instapaper—then you should try the new competitor, Reading Queue.

Australians flock to the beach over the summer holidays: Bondi alone had 2.9 million visitors in 2017 – 2018. But while tourism campaigns often portray the beach as an idyllic, isolated haven, many of our beach stories depict it as a darker, more crowded and complex place.

Here are ten Australian beach stories (in no particular order) worth reading this summer.

I am something of a memoir junkie. I don’t exclusively read parenting memoirs (if you haven’t read The Shepherd’s Life or The Night of the Gun yet, I’m sad for you), but 2018 seems to have been The Year of the Parenting/Family Memoir for me.