I always knew that reading is good for the soul, and the creative spirit, and just plain fun, but I didn’t know these other benefits before reading Kristy Woodson Harvey’s Newsletter the other day. She’s the author of a number of wonderful books, and she graciously gave permission for me to share what she found out about how reading is so good for us.
- Reading reduces stress by up to 68% in just six minutes. That’s even more quickly than a hot cup of tea or listening to music (University of Sussex).
- Readers are more empathetic. (American Psychological Association)
- Reading may decrease dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease risk. Readers that read into their old age were found to have up to 30% less memory decline than non-readers. (Journal of Neurology)
- Want to raise a reader? Be a reader! Children whose parents read to them—and see their parents reading—are much more likely to choose to read for pleasure than those who don’t. (Scholastic)
Okay. I lied. I did know that last one. We are a family of avid readers, always have been. I loved reading to my kids, which is probably why I still enjoy children’s picture books so much. My husband and I were always reading for our own enjoyment, too, and the kids, as they grew older, were very aware of our love affair with books.
Now, all my children read, as do their children.
I’m happy.
And even though that nasty Ramsay Hunt Syndrome took a big bite out of my ability to read in the past 4 years – yes it is 4 years now, starting year 5 – I have managed to read books or listen to them in audio.
In addition to Kristy’s books, here are a few more that I’ve enjoyed very much in the past ten years.
Lippman never disappoints me.
A wonderful story of a father/son relationship told with heart and humor.
This was one of the first books I’ve read by McKinty, but it won’t be the last. A really good mystery.
That’s it for me for today folks. I was late getting a blog post done today, Friday, as I was actually working on the third book in the Seasons Mystery Series. It felt good to be back in the groove after a few weeks off.
Please do share some of your favorite reads in the comments. By the way, these are not all of mine for the past ten years by any means. Maybe I’ll share more next Friday, so let me know if you’d like to see more book recommendations.