Does reading literary fiction actually make us more empathetic, or are we just telling ourselves a comforting story? I've been part of a book club for five years, and while I've heard countless members claim that novels like 'To Kill a Mockingbird' changed how they see others, the research is surprisingly mixed—some studies show a short-term boost in empathy tests, but the effects often fade within weeks. For me, certain books have lingered, but is that the text or just my own disposition? If the goal is to genuinely improve social understanding, maybe we should look at how we discuss what we read rather than the act of reading itself. What do you think—does fiction really have that power, or are we overvaluing it?