Reading a book is like dreaming with eyes open. No matter where we are, with who we are, and how we feel, there’s always something in a book that can makes us feel better, feel special and stronger. In this article I will tackle thirteen reasons why you should right now take a book and start reading it.
Living in Neverland, where dreams never end, is it possible ? With books, absolutely yes ! Each word has the capacity to trigger an entire story within your brain. Each line has the power to make you imagine different details in the book such as characters and plot. This requires readers to think and – hence- improve the thinking process.
Improve your writing skills
Not only reading improves your vocabulary and grammar skills, but also gives you the opportunity to explore successful writers’ style of writing. From Allan Poe and Stephen King to J.K Rowling and Cassandra Clare, each genre holds keys to uniqueness and to a complete different universe.
Live a thousand lives
With books, you will no longer remain just a normal person with a normal life. You will experience every aspect of each story you read. You will find yourself among different characters with different ways of thinking and you will – at some point- identify yourself with one of them. Their quest will become yours, and you will be led to a fictional world that would embrace you with all its elements.
Develop yourself
Who said that fictional characters cannot teach us anything ? Books are the living proof that characters and mere situations can be the main development in our life. As a matter of fact, by learning from others’ experiences, we are able to face the world and stand for the values we fight for.
Have a faithful best friend
Low battery ? Long journey ? Boring class ? No worries ! a book is your solution for every crucial situation. Books can be a faithful friend at the most darkest moments, for they are able to make us feel better and are the best option to full free time without wasting it.
Learn new things through stories
Reduces stress
Research conducted in 2009 at the University of Sussex showed that reading was the most effective way to overcome stress, beating out old favorites such as listening to music, enjoying a cup of tea or coffee and even taking a walk, The Telegraph reported when the findings were released. Measured by evaluating heart rate and muscle tension, it took the study participants just six minutes to relax once they started turning pages. “It really doesn’t matter what book you read, by losing yourself in a thoroughly engrossing book you can escape from the worries and stresses of the everyday world and spend a while exploring the domain of the author’s imagination,” study researcher Dr. David Lewis told The Telegraph.
Escape the mundane life
Have you ever wondered what would it be like to experience a life of a serial killer ? to live as a wizard, a detective, a shadow hunter or divergent instead of just spacing out at class or having a boring job ? Have you ever wondered what would it be like to live in the eighteenth century ? to travel between the past and the future ? Reading a book gives you the opportunity to be everything you ever wanted without even moving from your sit. Books can release you from the constraints of your own reality. They take you beyond the world and into someone else’s real or imaginary one. They satisfy the curiosity of the elusive “What if?”.
Many sleep experts has agreed that reading a book is a good sleep inducer. As the reading tires the brain, the reader doze off while still book in hand. Who would have guessed ?
Boosts the concentration level
A lifetime of reading might just help keep your brain in shape when you reach old age, according to research published in the online issue of the journal Neurology.
“Our study suggests that exercising your brain by taking part in activities such as these across a person’s lifetime, from childhood through old age, is important for brain health in old age,” study author Robert. S. Wilson of the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago said in a statement. “Based on this, we shouldn’t underestimate the effects of everyday activities, such as reading and writing, on our children, ourselves and our parents or grandparents.”
Get you ready to the real life
Reading is an exercise in perseverance, in which you constantly challenge yourself to achieve more than you did with your last book. It’s also a way to step out of your comfort zone and try new things.
It was better in the book
More details, more character developing, more space to imagine what the character looks like, more events, and a more sophisticated plot; every single word holds an unlimited path of interpretation, every tiny description is expanded into our mind. The movie ? Nah, the book is way better.
Makes you question your whole existence
When I first read “Journey” by Robert and Suzanne Massie, I found myself stuck for a moment, and I realized how lucky I was for being born safe and healthy. When I first read “The Year of Living Biblically by A.J Jacob, I started thinking about how strong religion can affect our life and how it can change it once and for all. When you finally realise that every book is a story of values that embraces a message for its reader, you just can’t help it but grow a strong desire to devour the book and find out what kind of book it is and what ethic does it tries to convey.
Ilhem Ksouri
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