Posted on 08/29/2019 2:27:35 PM PDT by CondoleezzaProtege
Up until the last thirty years or so, reading was the most common form of entertainment. These days, technology has been steadily replacing the entertainment of reading a good book. According to a statistic from the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Center for Educational Statistics, fewer than half (48 percent) of adult Americans read literature for pleasure.
Reading on a regular basis, however, provides amazing benefits to the health of our brain and our mental well-being.
Reading has the power to reduce stress, whereas other forms of media tend to increase stress. TV and the Internet require short bursts of attention and come with tons of distractions, noise, and fast-paced visuals...Dr. David Lewis-Hodgson, of the Mindlab at University of Sussex in London, conducted a study that demonstrated how reading impacts our stress response. Subjects’ stress levels and heart rates were increased through a variety of tests and exercises, and then they read for a mere six minutes. The results showed that reading reduced stress levels among participants by 68 percent, with some seeing stress levels lower than before they had started the experiment.
Reading also enhances our creativity. As we read about new concepts, ideas, and information, we engage our imagination and are more creative in the real world. Although a book or story may provide lengthy descriptions of characters, plots, and scenery, our imagination and creativity bring them to life in our minds. From a social standpoint, reading makes you a more informed and engaging person. No matter the genre you enjoy—novels, biographies, nonfiction, self-help, or any other—you always gain new knowledge and insight and something new to talk about with others.
(Excerpt) Read more at chroniclebooks.com ...
WE have over 6000 books. My wife is also a voracious reader, and I couldn’t say for sure which of us has the most books. Me, I think, but it’d be close.
Yep.
What’s everyone’s favorite e-reader?
TIA.
We had a Bookmobile.
Our library on a bus...would go to the different areas of town, on different days.
What a GLORIOUS day Bookmobile day was.
I still have my original library card, from summer before kindergarten.
Thanks for reminding me.
I was doing a little research on writing fiction, and I stumbled upon that thread.
Eliminating watching tv shows and sports, in conjunction with meditation, has helped me slow the mind and be able to read for much longer.
I know you didn’t ask, but I know how much it helped me and want others to notice the same benefits.
Take care.
The Oracle - Jonathan Cahn
The Soul of Science (Christian Faith and Natural Philosophy) - N. Pearcy/C. Thaxton
From Manassas to Appomatox - General James Longstreet
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain
Let's Roll - Lisa Beamer
Kingdom Calling - Amy L. Sherman
Saving Christianity - Michael Youssef
A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
Kim - Rudyard Kipling
Starship Troopers - Robert Heinlein
People's Republic - Kurt Schlichter
Midieval Biblical Interpretation - Ian C. Levy
One Second After - W.R. Forstchen
What's So Amazing About Grace? - Philip Yancy
Indian Country - Kurt Schlichter
Animal Farm - George Orwel
Quiet - Susan Cain
Nice list, and diverse.
Where diverse is actually something good in this case.
I also read Animal Farm(again) this year.
1984 got me back into reading in 2003.
I’m a big RAH fan.
If you like Sci-fi, check out Philip K. Dick.
Uncanny, isn't it?
I have been a lifelong big reader. Thousands upon thousands of books over my lifetime.
Screen reading supplanted and eventually replaced it. Recently I have gone back to book reading. What a pleasure.
I place 9 or ten books at bedside. I go through them methodically.
I have read too much in my lifetime to put up with mediocre books.
In EMDR eye movement is lateral and it relaxes and helps people reprocess memories . I believe reading books has that feature.
Agree with everything that you said
Yeah audible. I like it because sometimes I have trouble going to sleep so I listen to an audible book. Also sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night so I also listen to an audible book then. Of course, I often fall asleep a chapter or two in so the next time I have to adjust it to go back to where I last remember hearing.
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