As monks, we would have all meals in silence, but at lunch and dinner, one of the monks would be assigned to read a book. Part of being a monk is about constantly bettering yourself, learning, and being more cultured. It was always emphasized in the monastery to learn constantly. You would think that all the books that monks read were always spiritual but that was not always the case. We would certainly read books about monastic life and spirituality but we would also read books with inspiring true stories as well. We would never read fiction books at meals. For your future meals you should turn on an audiobook, it's amazing how much you can learn in 15 minutes a day. https://MonkMindset.com