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Most people now turn to their smartphone for entertainment while waiting in line or commuting, but scrolling through Facebook or Twitter is rarely an enriching experience. Meanwhile, 70 percent of Brazilians didn’t read a single book last year. Tackling both issues simultaneously, Leitura de Bolso — or Pocket Reading — is a new initiative, which offers five minutes long reads for free via Whatsapp.

The campaign was recently launched by design agency Isobar Brazil and author Mario Prata. To begin, readers register on the website and leave their phone number. Then, each Wednesday, subscribers are sent a literary extract via Whatsapp, which can be read in five minutes or less. Each season sees one author invited to contribute and the writing is accompanied by multimedia elements such as illustrations, videos and music.

Could popular ‘read later’ apps such as Pocket incorporate reading speed into their platform?