Dinosaurs didn’t read. Now they’re extinct

Why are books a big part of our lives? Why is reading so important? We all have read a book at some point in time, some more often than others, but we rarely stop and think why we read.

Reading is an essential skill in life. There are many people who can’t read, this means that they lack an essential skill of communication. This also means that they won’t be able to read road signs or even the instructions on a medicine bottle, these are both very serious scenarios because in extreme cases it could lead to death!

Ok, that was a bit extreme. But reading also increases intelligence. A study shows that kids are exposed to 50% more words in children’s books than on TV or in a conversation with other people. With that exposure to new vocabulary that leads to higher scores on English literature tests and tests in general. Now, you might be thinking that reading e-books gives you the same result, but studies have shown that reading on a device slows you down by as much as 20% to 30%.

Reading also increases your brain power, reading regularly has been proven to improve the brain’s memory function. As you grow older memory functions start to decline but regular reading might help slow this process down. Also, reading non-fiction books makes you more empathetic. Studies published by http://science.sciencemag.org/ have shown that people that tend to read more fiction have become more empathetic and more understanding than people who read non-fiction. Being understanding is a crucial part of communication and building/maintaining relationships, this quality might also make you more likeable and it will definitely make you a good employee.

Reading has also been proven to relieve stress by up to 68%, you only need to read for six minutes before your heart rate slows down and the muscles in your body. Some say that this is because that your mind is so focused on the story and how the different characters interact with each other that it slowly begins to relax your muscles and slow your heart rate.

Adele Akpan said “I read to…take me to another place. When I’m sad or feeling down, I just grab a good book and just read. The moment you open the front cover it takes you on a wonderful journey.” “reading for me is important, well because I’m a student and I’m still in school, so it exposes me to new words and great vocabulary that I can use in my work therefore I embellish my ability to speak English.”

Amara Goodchild said “I don’t mind reading, fiction but I often read personal development books because I want to better and it facilitates a mind set shift."

Overall, we can all agree that reading is very beneficial and that we can all learn a thing or two from reading books!