- Stress Reduction:
Daily life can be unbelievably stressful, in terms of work, school, personal relationships and many other issues. However just opening a good book and losing yourself in a great story can help this slip away. You can be totally distracted by a gripping novel or interesting article, which will allow tension to drain away so you can relax properly.
- Knowledge:
As you read your brain will absorb new bits of information which can come in handy at a later date – knowledge is power, after all! The more knowledge you have, the easier it will be to tackle future challenges.
- Vocabulary:
Reading helps to expand your everyday vocabulary – the more you read, the more words you gain exposure to. Being well-spoken and eloquent is vital in any profession – it will make you more self-confident and increase your self-esteem.
- Memory:
Reading helps improve your memory – when you read a book you have all sorts of things that you need to remember about the characters, such as their backgrounds, history and various sub-plots – things that your brain can remember with ease. In addition every new memory you create forges new synapses (these are brain pathways) and strengthens existing ones. These help with short-term memory recall.
- Thinking Skills:
Many of us often get to the end of a mystery novel, having already solved the mystery – this is due to our critical and analytical thinking which has sorted through all the details provided. This skill also helps to critique the plot to evaluate whether the novel was well-written with developed characters, so you can discuss the book with other people effectively as you have considered all of the aspects involved carefully.
- Focus and Concentration:
We find ourselves multi-tasking through every aspect of the day – workng on a task, checking email, chatting via social media, checking our smartphones and interacting with those around us. This type of behaviour lowers our productivity and causes our stress levels to rise. However when you read a book all of your attention is focused on the story – you can fully immerse yourself in it so the rest of the world fades away. Starting the day by reading for 15-20 minutes will make you far more focused for the rest of the day.
- Writing Skills:
We all know that reading expands your vocabulary, but exposure to well-written books has an impact on your own writing style, which will be influenced by the ‘voices’ of other authors
- Free Entertainment:
Libraries are an excellent source of reading material, as well as our own school library which boasts a fantastic selection of fiction books. Libraries have books on every subject imaginable, and since they rotate their stock and constantly get new books, you’ll never run out of reading materials. There are many different genres to choose from, whether you prefer classical literature, comics, biographies or crime novels – there’s something out there to capture your curiosity and imagination!