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I read 70+ books this year, a new personal record. If you're interested in reading more, here's what I recommend:

1. Throw your phone in the ocean. (Or, keep it in airplane mode.)

2. Carry a book with you at all times.

3. Have another book ready before you finish the one you're reading. (Make a stack of books to-read or load up your eReader.)

4. If you aren't enjoying a book or learning from it, stop reading it immediately. (Flinging it across the room helps give closure.)

5. Schedule 1 hour of non-fiction reading during the day. (Commutes, lunch breaks, and any contained period of idle time work well.)

6. Go to bed 1 hour early and read fiction. (It will help you sleep.)

7. Keep a reading log and share your favorite books with others. (They will send you even more books to read.)

I posted this list on Twitter, and tweaked it based on all the responses. It was inspired by Ryan Holiday.

If you liked this post, you'll like my books.
Above: My reading desk, designed to resemble a library study carrel.

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I read 70+ books this year, a new personal record. If you're interested in reading more, here's what I recommend: Throw your phone in the ocean. (Or, keep it in airplane mode.) Carry a book with you at all times. Have another book ready before you finish the one you're reading.

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With every New Year comes a batch of resolutions on how we can improve ourselves. Less junk food, more exercise. Less complaining, more volunteering. And for many of us, less television, and more reading.

We can't help you with the kale-eating or the gym-going, but here are five reasons why it's worth your while to stick to your resolve and get reading.

It's good for your job prospects

Our 2007 reportTo Read or Not to Read found a link between higher rates of voluntary reading and more advanced reading skills. Why is that important? Well, higher reading skills generally correspond with better professional prospects. According to the report, "More than 60 percent of employed Proficient readers have jobs in management, or in the business, financial, professional, and related sectors; only 18 percent of basic readers are employed in those fields." The study also found that proficient readers are 2.5 times more likely than those with basic reading skills to earn $850 or more a week. Seems like reason enough to crack the books and brush up on our reading skills.

It makes us more empathetic people

A 2013 study published in Science found that reading literary fiction elevated levels of empathy, a key factor in our development as compassionate human beings. As we read about the behaviors and thoughts of characters, we come to understand and appreciate their experiences and inner lives, even if they are markedly different from our own. Getting to know these characters bears none of the practical or moral constraints that it might in real life, giving us a safe place to explore the full range of what we're capable of feeling and understanding. When translated into the ways we perceive our peers, this level of empathy improves our ability to form meaningful relationships. Need more proof? Check out our collection of essays on literary translation,The Art of Empathy.

It protects our brains from dementia

In a way, reading is a like a neurological fountain of youth. Research has shown that lifelong engagement in intellectually stimulating activities, such as reading, can slow declines in memory loss and thinking ability as we age. However, there are benefits even if mental stimulation occurs only later in life. A 2013 study from the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago found that when people in their 70s and 80s took part in activities such as reading or puzzling, cognitive decline was reduced by 32 percent. Reciting poetry can also be an effective weapon against Alzheimer's disease, helping those suffering from memory less become more vocal and socially engaged.

It reduces stress

The bad news: most of us can't afford a beach vacation every time we feel stressed or overwhelmed. The good news: reading a book carries many of the same benefits (minus the tan) for a fraction of the cost-or none of the cost, if you use the library. In a 2009 study from the consultancy Mindlab International at the University of Sussex, testing found that reading reduced stress levels by 68 percent, making it a more effective means of relaxation than taking a walk, drinking a cup of tea, or playing video games.

It generally makes us smarter

In news that should surprise absolutely no one, reading can make you smarter. It can enhance your vocabulary, build your cognitive skills, introduce you to new ideas, and teach you all sorts of fun facts. The National Center for Education Statistics, cited in our To Read or Not to Read report, also found that students with more books in their households tended to earn higher math, science, and civics test scores, while students who frequently read for pleasure earned higher test scores in reading and writing than their peers who rarely read.

Need some ideas on where to start? Check out the titles in our Big Read library.

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With every New Year comes a batch of resolutions on how we can improve ourselves. Less junk food, more exercise. Less complaining, more volunteering. And for many of us, less television, and more reading. We can't help you with the kale-eating or the gym-going, but here are five reasons why it's worth your while to stick to your resolve and get reading.

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Reading Literature Makes Us Smarter and Nicer

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Reading Literature Makes Us Smarter and Nicer

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Getty Images

Gregory Currie, a professor of philosophy at the University of Nottingham, recently argued in the New York Times that we ought not to claim that literature improves us as people, because there is no "compelling evidence that suggests that people are morally or socially better for reading Tolstoy" or other great books.

Actually, there is such evidence. Raymond Mar, a psychologist at York University in Canada, and Keith Oatley, a professor emeritus of cognitive psychology at the University of Toronto, reported in studies published in 2006 and 2009 that individuals who often read fiction appear to be better able to understand other people, empathize with them and view the world from their perspective. This link persisted even after the researchers factored in the possibility that more empathetic individuals might choose to read more novels. A 2010 study by Mar found a similar result in young children: the more stories they had read to them, the keener their "theory of mind," or mental model of other people's intentions.

"Deep reading" - as opposed to the often superficial reading we do on the Web - is an endangered practice, one we ought to take steps to preserve as we would a historic building or a significant work of art. Its disappearance would imperil the intellectual and emotional development of generations growing up online, as well as the perpetuation of a critical part of our culture: the novels, poems and other kinds of literature that can be appreciated only by readers whose brains, quite literally, have been trained to apprehend them.

( MORE: Oprah as Harvard's Commencement Speaker Is an Endorsement of Phony Science)

Recent research in cognitive science, psychology and neuroscience has demonstrated that deep reading - slow, immersive, rich in sensory detail and emotional and moral complexity - is a distinctive experience, different in kind from the mere decoding of words. Although deep reading does not, strictly speaking, require a conventional book, the built-in limits of the printed page are uniquely conducive to the deep reading experience. A book's lack of hyperlinks, for example, frees the reader from making decisions - Should I click on this link or not? - allowing her to remain fully immersed in the narrative.

That immersion is supported by the way the brain handles language rich in detail, allusion and metaphor: by creating a mental representation that draws on the same brain regions that would be active if the scene were unfolding in real life. The emotional situations and moral dilemmas that are the stuff of literature are also vigorous exercise for the brain, propelling us inside the heads of fictional characters and even, studies suggest, increasing our real-life capacity for empathy.

None of this is likely to happen when we're scrolling through TMZ. Although we call the activity by the same name, the deep reading of books and the information-driven reading we do on the Web are very different, both in the experience they produce and in the capacities they develop. A growing body of evidence suggests that online reading may be less engaging and less satisfying, even for the "digital natives" for whom it is so familiar. Last month, for example, Britain's National Literacy Trust released the results of a study of 34,910 young people aged 8 to 16. Researchers reported that 39% of children and teens read daily using electronic devices, but only 28% read printed materials every day. Those who read only onscreen were three times less likely to say they enjoy reading very much and a third less likely to have a favorite book. The study also found that young people who read daily only onscreen were nearly two times less likely to be above-average readers than those who read daily in print or both in print and onscreen.

( MORE: Why Americans Need Spelling Bees and Vocabulary Tests)

To understand why we should be concerned about how young people read, and not just whether they're reading at all, it helps to know something about the way the ability to read evolved. "Human beings were never born to read," notes Maryanne Wolf, director of the Center for Reading and Language Research at Tufts University and author of Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain. Unlike the ability to understand and produce spoken language, which under normal circumstances will unfold according to a program dictated by our genes, the ability to read must be painstakingly acquired by each individual. The "reading circuits" we construct are recruited from structures in the brain that evolved for other purposes - and these circuits can be feeble or they can be robust, depending on how often and how vigorously we use them.

The deep reader, protected from distractions and attuned to the nuances of language, enters a state that psychologist Victor Nell, in a study of the psychology of pleasure reading,likens to a hypnotic trance. Nell found that when readers are enjoying the experience the most, the pace of their reading actually slows. The combination of fast, fluent decoding of words and slow, unhurried progress on the page gives deep readers time to enrich their reading with reflection, analysis, and their own memories and opinions. It gives them time to establish an intimate relationship with the author, the two of them engaged in an extended and ardent conversation like people falling in love.

( PHOTOS: Peter Hapak's Portraits of Authors)

This is not reading as many young people are coming to know it. Their reading is pragmatic and instrumental: the difference between what literary critic Frank Kermode calls "carnal reading" and "spiritual reading." If we allow our offspring to believe carnal reading is all there is - if we don't open the door to spiritual reading, through an early insistence on discipline and practice - we will have cheated them of an enjoyable, even ecstatic experience they would not otherwise encounter. And we will have deprived them of an elevating and enlightening experience that will enlarge them as people. Observing young people's attachment to digital devices, some progressive educators and permissive parents talk about needing to "meet kids where they are," molding instruction around their onscreen habits. This is mistaken. We need, rather, to show them someplace they've never been, a place only deep reading can take them.

MORE: Why E-Reading With Your Kid Can Impede Learning
This article is from the Brilliant Report, a weekly newsletter written by Murphy Paul

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Reading Literature Makes Us Smarter and Nicer

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Gregory Currie, a professor of philosophy at the University of Nottingham, recently argued in the New York Times that we ought not to claim that literature improves us as people, because there is no "compelling evidence that suggests that people are morally or socially better for reading Tolsto...

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Several years ago, I was given as a gift a remote session with a bibliotherapist at the London headquarters of the School of Life, which offers innovative courses to help people deal with the daily emotional challenges of existence. I have to admit that at first I didn't really like the idea of being given a reading "prescription." I've generally preferred to mimic Virginia Woolf's passionate commitment to serendipity in my personal reading discoveries, delighting not only in the books themselves but in the randomly meaningful nature of how I came upon them (on the bus after a breakup, in a backpackers' hostel in Damascus, or in the dark library stacks at graduate school, while browsing instead of studying). I've long been wary of the peculiar evangelism of certain readers: You must read this, they say, thrusting a book into your hands with a beatific gleam in their eyes, with no allowance for the fact that books mean different things to people-or different things to the same person-at various points in our lives. I loved John Updike's stories about the Maples in my twenties, for example, and hate them in my thirties, and I'm not even exactly sure why.

But the session was a gift, and I found myself unexpectedly enjoying the initial questionnaire about my reading habits that the bibliotherapist, Ella Berthoud, sent me. Nobody had ever asked me these questions before, even though reading fiction is and always has been essential to my life. I love to gorge on books over long breaks-I'll pack more books than clothes, I told Berthoud. I confided my dirty little secret, which is that I don't like buying or owning books, and always prefer to get them from the library (which, as I am a writer, does not bring me very good book-sales karma). In response to the question "What is preoccupying you at the moment?," I was surprised by what I wanted to confess: I am worried about having no spiritual resources to shore myself up against the inevitable future grief of losing somebody I love, I wrote. I'm not religious, and I don't particularly want to be, but I'd like to read more about other people's reflections on coming to some sort of early, weird form of faith in a "higher being" as an emotional survival tactic. Simply answering the questions made me feel better, lighter.

We had some satisfying back-and-forths over e-mail, with Berthoud digging deeper, asking about my family's history and my fear of grief, and when she sent the final reading prescription it was filled with gems, none of which I'd previously read. Among the recommendations was "The Guide," by R. K. Narayan. Berthoud wrote that it was "a lovely story about a man who starts his working life as a tourist guide at a train station in Malgudi, India, but then goes through many other occupations before finding his unexpected destiny as a spiritual guide." She had picked it because she hoped it might leave me feeling "strangely enlightened." Another was "The Gospel According to Jesus Christ," by José Saramago: "Saramago doesn't reveal his own spiritual stance here but portrays a vivid and compelling version of the story we know so well." "Henderson the Rain King," by Saul Bellow, and "Siddhartha," by Hermann Hesse, were among other prescribed works of fiction, and she included some nonfiction, too, such as "The Case for God," by Karen Armstrong, and "Sum," by the neuroscientist David Eagleman, a "short and wonderful book about possible afterlives."

I worked my way through the books on the list over the next couple of years, at my own pace-interspersed with my own "discoveries"-and while I am fortunate enough to have my ability to withstand terrible grief untested, thus far, some of the insights I gleaned from these books helped me through something entirely different, when, over several months, I endured acute physical pain. The insights themselves are still nebulous, as learning gained through reading fiction often is-but therein lies its power. In a secular age, I suspect that reading fiction is one of the few remaining paths to transcendence, that elusive state in which the distance between the self and the universe shrinks. Reading fiction makes me lose all sense of self, but at the same time makes me feel most uniquely myself. As Woolf, the most fervent of readers, wrote, a book "splits us into two parts as we read," for "the state of reading consists in the complete elimination of the ego," while promising "perpetual union" with another mind.

Bibliotherapy is a very broad term for the ancient practice of encouraging reading for therapeutic effect. The first use of the term is usually dated to a jaunty 1916 article in The Atlantic Monthly, "A Literary Clinic." In it, the author describes stumbling upon a "bibliopathic institute" run by an acquaintance, Bagster, in the basement of his church, from where he dispenses reading recommendations with healing value. "Bibliotherapy is...a new science," Bagster explains. "A book may be a stimulant or a sedative or an irritant or a soporific. The point is that it must do something to you, and you ought to know what it is. A book may be of the nature of a soothing syrup or it may be of the nature of a mustard plaster." To a middle-aged client with "opinions partially ossified," Bagster gives the following prescription: "You must read more novels. Not pleasant stories that make you forget yourself. They must be searching, drastic, stinging, relentless novels." (George Bernard Shaw is at the top of the list.) Bagster is finally called away to deal with a patient who has "taken an overdose of war literature," leaving the author to think about the books that "put new life into us and then set the life pulse strong but slow."

Today, bibliotherapy takes many different forms, from literature courses run for prison inmates to reading circles for elderly people suffering from dementia. Sometimes it can simply mean one-on-one or group sessions for "lapsed" readers who want to find their way back to an enjoyment of books. Berthoud and her longtime friend and fellow bibliotherapist Susan Elderkin mostly practice "affective" bibliotherapy, advocating the restorative power of reading fiction. The two met at Cambridge University as undergraduates, more than twenty years ago, and bonded immediately over the shared contents of their bookshelves, in particular Italo Calvino's novel "If on a Winter's Night a Traveller," which is itself about the nature of reading. As their friendship developed, they began prescribing novels to cure each other's ailments, such as a broken heart or career uncertainty. "When Suse was having a crisis about her profession-she wanted to be a writer, but was wondering if she could cope with the inevitable rejection-I gave her Don Marquis's 'Archy and Mehitabel' poems," Berthoud told me. "If Archy the cockroach could be so dedicated to his art as to jump on the typewriter keys in order to write his free-verse poems every night in the New York offices of the Evening Sun, then surely she should be prepared to suffer for her art, too." Years later, Elderkin gave Berthoud,who wanted to figure out how to balance being a painter and a mother, Patrick Gale's novel "Notes from an Exhibition," about a successful but troubled female artist.

They kept recommending novels to each other, and to friends and family, for many years, and, in 2007, when the philosopher Alain de Botton, a fellow Cambridge classmate, was thinking about starting the School of Life, they pitched to him the idea of running a bibliotherapy clinic. "As far as we knew, nobody was doing it in that form at the time," Berthoud said. "Bibliotherapy, if it existed at all, tended to be based within a more medical context, with an emphasis on self-help books. But we were dedicated to fiction as the ultimate cure because it gives readers a transformational experience."

Berthoud and Elderkin trace the method of bibliotherapy all the way back to the Ancient Greeks, "who inscribed above the entrance to a library in Thebes that this was a 'healing place for the soul.' " The practice came into its own at the end of the nineteenth century, when Sigmund Freud began using literature during psychoanalysis sessions. After the First World War, traumatized soldiers returning home from the front were often prescribed a course of reading. "Librarians in the States were given training on how to give books to WWI vets, and there's a nice story about Jane Austen's novels being used for bibliotherapeutic purposes at the same time in the U.K.," Elderkin says. Later in the century, bibliotherapy was used in varying ways in hospitals and libraries, and has more recently been taken up by psychologists, social and aged-care workers, and doctors as a viable mode of therapy.

There is now a network of bibliotherapists selected and trained by Berthoud and Elderkin, and affiliated with the School of Life, working around the world, from New York to Melbourne. The most common ailments people tend to bring to them are the life-juncture transitions, Berthoud says: being stuck in a rut in your career, feeling depressed in your relationship, or suffering bereavement. The bibliotherapists see a lot of retirees, too, who know that they have twenty years of reading ahead of them but perhaps have only previously read crime thrillers, and want to find something new to sustain them. Many seek help adjusting to becoming a parent. "I had a client in New York, a man who was having his first child, and was worried about being responsible for another tiny being," Berthoud says. "I recommended 'Room Temperature,' by Nicholson Baker, which is about a man feeding his baby a bottle and having these meditative thoughts about being a father. And of course 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' because Atticus Finch is the ideal father in literature."

Berthoud and Elderkin are also the authors of "The Novel Cure: An A-Z of Literary Remedies," which is written in the style of a medical dictionary and matches ailments ("failure, feeling like a") with suggested reading cures ("The History of Mr. Polly," by H. G. Wells). First released in the U.K. in 2013, it is now being published in eighteen countries, and, in an interesting twist, the contract allows for a local editor and reading specialist to adapt up to twenty-five per cent of the ailments and reading recommendations to fit each particular country's readership and include more native writers. The new, adapted ailments are culturally revealing. In the Dutch edition, one of the adapted ailments is "having too high an opinion of your own child"; in the Indian edition, "public urination" and "cricket, obsession with" are included; the Italians introduced "impotence," "fear of motorways," and "desire to embalm"; and the Germans added "hating the world" and "hating parties." Berthoud and Elderkin are now working on a children's-literature version, "A Spoonful of Stories," due out in 2016.

For all avid readers who have been self-medicating with great books their entire lives, it comes as no surprise that reading books can be good for your mental health and your relationships with others, but exactly why and how is now becoming clearer, thanks to new research on reading's effects on the brain. Since the discovery, in the mid-nineties, of "mirror neurons"-neurons that fire in our brains both when we perform an action ourselves and when we see an action performed by someone else-the neuroscience of empathy has become clearer. A 2011 study published in the Annual Review of Psychology, based on analysis of fMRI brain scans of participants, showed that, when people read about an experience, they display stimulation within the same neurological regions as when they go through that experience themselves. We draw on the same brain networks when we're reading stories and when we're trying to guess at another person's feelings.

Other studies published in 2006 and 2009 showed something similar-that people who read a lot of fiction tend to be better at empathizing with others (even after the researchers had accounted for the potential bias that people with greater empathetic tendencies may prefer to read novels). And, in 2013, an influential study published in Science found that reading literary fiction (rather than popular fiction or literary nonfiction) improved participants' results on tests that measured social perception and empathy, which are crucial to "theory of mind": the ability to guess with accuracy what another human being might be thinking or feeling, a skill humans only start to develop around the age of four.

Keith Oatley, a novelist and emeritus professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Toronto, has for many years run a research group interested in the psychology of fiction. "We have started to show how identification with fictional characters occurs, how literary art can improve social abilities, how it can move us emotionally, and can prompt changes of selfhood," he wrote in his 2011 book, "Such Stuff as Dreams: The Psychology of Fiction." "Fiction is a kind of simulation, one that runs not on computers but on minds: a simulation of selves in their interactions with others in the social world...based in experience, and involving being able to think of possible futures." This idea echoes a long-held belief among both writers and readers that books are the best kinds of friends; they give us a chance to rehearse for interactions with others in the world, without doing any lasting damage. In his 1905 essay "On Reading," Marcel Proust puts it nicely: "With books there is no forced sociability. If we pass the evening with those friends-books-it's because we really want to. When we leave them, we do so with regret and, when we have left them, there are none of those thoughts that spoil friendship: 'What did they think of us?'-'Did we make a mistake and say something tactless?'-'Did they like us?'-nor is there the anxiety of being forgotten because of displacement by someone else."

George Eliot, who is rumored to have overcome her grief at losing her life partner through a program of guided reading with a young man who went on to become her husband, believed that "art is the nearest thing to life; it is a mode of amplifying experience and extending our contact with our fellow-men beyond the bounds of our personal lot." But not everybody agrees with this characterization of fiction reading as having the ability to make us behave better in real life. In her 2007 book, "Empathy and the Novel," Suzanne Keen takes issue with this "empathy-altruism hypothesis," and is skeptical about whether empathetic connections made while reading fiction really translate into altruistic, prosocial behavior in the world. She also points out how hard it is to really prove such a hypothesis. "Books can't make change by themselves-and not everyone feels certain that they ought to," Keen writes. "As any bookworm knows, readers can also seem antisocial and indolent. Novel reading is not a team sport." Instead, she urges, we should enjoy what fiction does give us, which is a release from the moral obligation to feel something for invented characters-as you would for a real, live human being in pain or suffering-which paradoxically means readers sometimes "respond with greater empathy to an unreal situation and characters because of the protective fictionality." And she wholeheartedly supports the personal health benefits of an immersive experience like reading, which "allows a refreshing escape from ordinary, everyday pressures."

So even if you don't agree that reading fiction makes us treat others better, it is a way of treating ourselves better. Reading has been shown to put our brains into a pleasurable trance-like state, similar to meditation, and it brings the same health benefits of deep relaxation and inner calm. Regular readers sleep better, have lower stress levels, higher self-esteem, and lower rates of depression than non-readers. "Fiction and poetry are doses, medicines," the author Jeanette Winterson has written. "What they heal is the rupture reality makes on the imagination."

One of Berthoud's clients described to me how the group and individual sessions she has had with Berthoud have helped her cope with the fallout from a series of calamities, including losing her husband, the end of a five-year engagement, and a heart attack. "I felt my life was without purpose," she says. "I felt a failure as a woman." Among the books Berthoud initially prescribed was John Irving's novel "The Hotel New Hampshire." "He was a favorite writer of my husband, [whom] I had felt unable to attempt for sentimental reasons." She was "astounded and very moved" to see it on the list, and though she had avoided reading her husband's books up until then, she found reading it to be "a very rewarding emotional experience, both in the literature itself and ridding myself of demons." She also greatly appreciated Berthoud guiding her to Tom Robbins's novel "Jitterbug Perfume," which was "a real learning curve for me about prejudice and experimentation."

One of the ailments listed in "The Novel Cure" is "overwhelmed by the number of books in the world," and it's one I suffer from frequently. Elderkin says this is one of the most common woes of modern readers, and that it remains a major motivation for her and Berthoud's work as bibliotherapists. "We feel that though more books are being published than ever before, people are in fact selecting from a smaller and smaller pool. Look at the reading lists of most book clubs, and you'll see all the same books, the ones that have been shouted about in the press. If you actually calculate how many books you read in a year-and how many that means you're likely to read before you die-you'll start to realize that you need to be highly selective in order to make the most of your reading time." And the best way to do that? See a bibliotherapist, as soon as you can, and take them up on their invitation, to borrow some lines from Shakespeare's "Titus Andronicus": "Come, and take choice of all my library/And so beguile thy sorrow..."

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Several years ago, I was given as a gift a remote session with a bibliotherapist at the London headquarters of the School of Life, which offers innovative courses to help people deal with the daily emotional challenges of existence. I have to admit that at first I didn't really like the idea of being given a reading "prescription."

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The Ultimate Success Story: Why People Who Read Are Better Leaders

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The Ultimate Success Story: Why People Who Read Are Better Leaders

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Kurt Vonnegut described reading as a miracle.

He once wrote that "reading and writing are the most nourishing forms of meditation anyone has so far found," and "by reading the writings of the most interesting minds in history, we meditate with our own minds and theirs as well."

What Vonnegut is alluding to here is the connection shared between reader and writer. In effect, whenever you pick up a book, it's as if you're instantly granted access to the mind of whoever penned it.

For as long as you keep your nose buried in some story, you temporarily surrender control to its creator.

The world they create through their text, you begin to see. The characters they introduce, you come to know and understand. The lessons they set out to teach, you can't help but learn along the way.

As Vonnegut expressed, by reading the work of some of the most fascinating minds imaginable, you can develop an intimacy with not only authors, themselves, but all of the authors they read, as well.

That's the influence of reading and writing, alike. It tends to rub off on you -- it tends to change you.

And as it does, it will likely do so for the better. The more you read, the greater the perspective you'll begin to gain. Reading allows one to leave his or her own brain and become exposed to new ways of thinking.

And for that reason, I've always viewed avid readers as the people best fit to be leaders. It's impossible to lead a group of people if you're not willing to think outside the walls of your own mind.

Additionally, a lot of the same skills possessed by good readers overlap with those of successful leaders.

Readers are less stressed.

According to one study posted by The Telegraph, "Reading can help reduce stress."

As one submerges his or herself into literature and enters the world created by the text, psychologists believe the tension found in the muscles and heart can be relieved, thanks to the distraction of reading.

A study conducted by Mindlab International at the University of Sussex tested the calming powers of reading against other common stress-aids -- things like listening to music, playing video games or having a cup of tea -- and reading reigned supreme.

Reading relieved stress by as much as 68 percent, cognitive neuroscientist Dr. David Lewis reported.

He continued to say, "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."

Readers are better people-persons.

Although it may sound counterintuitive -- given the amount of time they likely spend reading quietly -- as Casey Imafidon explains, avid book-readers possess better people skills than those who rarely read.

The logic behind this belief revolves around the notion of empathy that readers demonstrate by trying to relate to characters in books -- whether they're fictional or not.

According to Imafidon, "By connecting with several characters of a book, we boost our emotional IQ and become more able to connect with people."

Naturally, these skills are crucial for anyone expected to lead a large group of people. At the end of the day, if you're unable to put yourself in another's place, how could you ever be expected to lead him or her?

Readers are extremely committed.

Good readers are committed to what they read -- case closed. Even if a given book isn't what they were hoping for -- and was a great letdown, at that -- most good readers will see it through from cover to cover.

Readers will feel a sense of loyalty to whatever it is they're reading. A good book is like a good album -- you know, like a Radiohead album -- one you absolutely need to ingest from start to finish to fully absorb.

Books are investments, far more than the money you may spend to purchase them. When readers start something -- they finish it. And that's a valuable habit to maintain when one is expected to lead a group of people.

Readers are better problem-solvers

According to Imafidon, those who read with regularity are more intellectually challenged than those who don't.

With the help of a study penned by Anne Cunningham and Keith Stanovich, Imafidon explains how "reading builds your intellectual capacity to reason and solve problems."

As readers maneuver themselves through a story's tangled plot in search of a resolution, they're, in effect, solving problems with each page they flip.

As a story unfolds, the reader is forced to constantly -- and intuitively -- react to the plot's twists and turns, which, in many ways, can keep the brain fit.

And, among leaders, the ability to react swiftly is imperative.

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The Ultimate Success Story: Why People Who Read Are Better Leaders

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Kurt Vonnegut described reading as a miracle. He once wrote that "reading and writing are the most nourishing forms of meditation anyone has so far found," and "by reading the writings of the most interesting minds in history, we meditate with our...

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Opinion | The Gift of Reading (Published 2015)

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Opinion | The Gift of Reading (Published 2015)

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Opinion | The Gift of Reading (Published 2015)

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Books are fundamental engines of advancement, illumination, wonder. Let’s get them in more children’s hands.

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Laura Boushnak: For these women, reading is a daring act

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Laura Boushnak: For these women, reading is a daring act

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Laura Boushnak: For these women, reading is a daring act | TED Talk

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In some parts of the world, half of the women lack basic reading and writing skills. The reasons vary, but in many cases, literacy isn’t valued by fathers, husbands, even mothers. Photographer and TED Fellow Laura Boushnak traveled to countries including Yemen, Egypt and Tunisia to highlight brave women -- schoolgirls, political activists, 60-year-old moms -- who are fighting the statistics.

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10 Benefits of Reading: Why You Should Read Every Day

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10 Benefits of Reading: Why You Should Read Every Day

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Before the electronic era, everyday reading was a ritual that almost everyone who wanted to gain knowledge adapted. The benefits of reading needed not to be reminded all the time.

Amongst other things, we have been so preoccupied with social media and the internet that hardly anyone contemplates reading books. While some maybe too busy to read, others merely don't care to read.

There are many benefits to reading, from making you smarter to improve your reading and writing skills. If you want to understand what benefits one could reap from developing the habit of reading, then we have enlisted the top 10 benefits here.

10 Benefits of Reading

1. Mental Stimulation For Your Brain

When you read every day, you stimulate your mental activity. Numerous studies have been conducted to understand the benefits of reading.

As per a study, one of the prime benefits of reading books is slowing down mental disorders such as Alzheimer's and Dementia It happens since reading stimulates the brain and keeps it active, which allows it to retain its power and capacity.

Every part of our body needs exercise to stay healthy, and the same goes for our brain. Reading gives it regular exercise and keeps it healthy and sound.

Even playing games like chess or solving puzzles results in cognitive stimulation

2. Good Habit For Stress Reduction

Everyday concerns will keep bothering you unless you do something to divert your mind. Reading gives you that mental space to occupy yourself with something more interesting.

When you read a great story, all your stress seems to slip away and relax you since you tend to travel mentally in a different realm. Sometimes while reading, you come across valuable advice or solutions to your problems.

3. Knowledge-Enhancement

Since the onset of civilization, we have grown and developed mentally. Many learned scholars give credit to the erudite tomes written by our predecessors for our knowledge. The importance of reading books is now more than ever since. Not everything is available in digitalized form.

There are numerous ways to learn more about life, from self-help books to reading fiction. Even when you feel demotivated, you can read an inspirational biography to lift your mood. One of the great benefits of reading books is that the knowledge you gain from them can never be taken away from you. Unlike worldly possessions, your knowledge will stay with you till the end of time.

4. Vocabulary Expansion

If you are not yet convinced on why reading books is important, this might interest you. When you develop the habit of reading, you enhance your vocabulary. Reading any type of book can improve your vocabulary to an impressive extent.

Having great command over the language is known to help many in their professional and academic life. Moreover, with better vocabulary knowledge, you get to fill yourself with self-confidence when sitting in a group with a knowledgeable audience.

You can also expect to learn new languages when you develop the habit of reading various books every day.

5. Improves Your Memory

Regular reading is a great exercise for your brain. If you read a fictional book, your brain is forced to remember the names and nature of various characters. Going back to their history and remembering events or plots is fun and improves your memory.

One of the greatest benefits of reading daily is that your brain becomes super powerful. An amazing fact about our brain is that it can retain a great amount of information, and with every new memory, your brain creates new brain pathways or synapses. .

Moreover, it strengthens your existing memory, helps to recall short-term memory, and stabilizes mood. . How cool is that?

If you are intrigued by this information, how about learning to boost your memory and become 10x smarter by checking out this technique!

6. Stronger Analytical Thinking Skills

If you are still wondering what other benefits of reading regularly are, consider this! One of the most amazing benefits of reading every day is that it can improve your analytical skills. Reading mystery novels helps you develop skills that can assist you in problem-solving.

While reading a novel, the disclosure is pretty slow, and your mind is forced to predict or make guesses. Upon disclosure, you get to connect the dots. It's fun to make your brain smarter and enhance your analytical skills.

Subconsciously the brain is trained to think more smartly and develop strong analytical skills. You can expect to gain from this in your personal and professional life.

7. Improves Focus and Concentration

One of the worst things that technology has done is make us lazy. Almost everything is available with ease. We hardly make an effort to focus on solving issues or concentrate on bringing about any improvement.

Want food? Just open your phone and order via the app!

Want Clothes? Again use an app and try on attires virtually!

You can see where we are going with this. You can agree that we even tend to get lazy and don't even put an effort to remember things. Simply put a reminder on the phone, and that's it!

While reading can bring back the lost power of focus and concentration. If you feel that using modern technology lowers our productivity, then develop the healthy habit of reading every day.

Keeping yourself occupied with reading for about 20 to 30 minutes can be great for your brain. It can help you with better focus and concentration. You may have been doing it wrong for those who still find it difficult to develop focus or concentrate properly

8. Better Writing Skills

If you read more, you will naturally become good at writing skills. Since your vocabulary and pronunciation improve by reading regularly, it eventually makes you a better writer.

We are not just talking about writing fiction, books, novels, etc. Even when writing something in everyday personal and professional life, your writing skills would have improved with regular reading.

The more you read, the better your writing skills will become. You would tend to focus on various aspects of writing that would allow you to write more effectively than others.

9. Tranquility

Don't you sometimes feel like just getting away from all the hustle and bustle of everyday nonsense? But it's not always cost-effective to plan a trip to get some time in solitude.

Reading a book allows you to gain similar tranquility. What's more interesting is that people suffering from high blood pressure or anxiety can find peace in reading.

Reading self-help or spiritual texts uplifts your soul and makes you feel better. Whereas people suffering from mood disorders can also feel better with reading habits.

10. Free Source Of Entertainment

We do spend on movies and music, but why? It is for entertainment, isn't it? Then why not simply read books with the same purpose? You would be surprised to know that some of your favorite movies or TV series were made after getting inspiration from some of the greatest novels.

What's more interesting is that reading books would cost a lot less and keep you entertained for longer. Just At to the local library can introduce you to numerous entertaining novels. You can find books on any topic that you find interesting and keep yourself entertained.

If you cannot go to the library or do not have access to any library nearby, you can even scout for them on online sources. Numerous online stores have free e-books to read.

Final Thoughts

From health benefits to getting smarter, there are numerous benefits that regular reading can offer. You can expect to enhance your knowledge about so many things if you just develop this habit of reading books regularly. It might appear boring unless you start, but once it is assured, once you get a grip of reading, you will be thanking yourself for this habit.

What to Read Next?

If you need some ideas about what to read next, here they are:

Featured photo credit: Unsplash via unsplash.com

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10 Benefits of Reading: Why You Should Read Every Day

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Before the electronic era, everyday reading was a ritual that almost everyone who wanted to gain knowledge adapted. The benefits of reading needed not to be reminded all the time. Amongst other things, we have been so preoccupied with social media and the internet that hardly anyone contemplates reading books.

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Amnesty’s poll for International Children’s Book Day reveals half of parents think reading a book is the best way to develop empathy - but do you agree with the books they chose?

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Is Listening to an Audio book "Cheating?"

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Is Listening to an Audio book "Cheating?"

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I've been asked this question a lot and I hate it. I'll describe why in a bit, but for now I'll just change it to "does your mind do more or less the same thing when you listening to an audio book and when you read print?"

The short answer is "mostly."

An influential model of reading is the simple view ( Gough & Tumner, 1986), which claims that two fundamental processes contribute to reading: decoding and language processing. "Decoding" obviously refers to figuring out words from print. "Language processing" refers to the same mental processes you use for oral language. Reading, as an evolutionary late-comer, must piggy-back on mental processes that already existed, and spoken communication does much of the lending.

So according to the simple model, listening to an audio book is exactly like reading print, except that the latter requires decoding and the former doesn't.

Is the simple view right?

Some predictions you'd derive from the simple view are supported. For example, You'd expect that a lot of the difference in reading proficiency in the early grades would be due to differences in decoding. In later grades, most children are pretty fluent decoders so differences in decoding would be more due to processes that support comprehension. That prediction seems to be true (e.g., Tilstra et al, 2009).

Especially relevant to the question of audiobooks, you'd also predict that for typical adults (who decode fluently) listening comprehension and reading comprehension would be mostly the same thing. And experiments show very high correlations of scores on listening and reading comprehension tests in adults ( Bell & Perfetti, 1994; Gernsbacher, Varner, & Faust, 1990).

The simple view is a useful way to think about the mental processes involved in reading, especially for texts that are more similar to spoken language, and that we read for purposes similar to those of listening. The simple view is less applicable when we put reading to other purposes, e.g., when students study a text for a quiz, or when we scan texts looking for a fact as part of a research project.

The simple view is also likely incomplete for certain types of texts. The written word is not always similar to speech. In such cases prosody might be an aid to comprehension. Prosody refers to changes in pacing, pitch, and rhythm in speech. "I really enjoy your blog" can either be a sincere compliment or a sarcastic put-down-both look identical on the page, and prosody would communicate the difference in spoken language.

We do hear voices in our heads as we read...sometimes this effect can be notable, as when we know the sound of the purported author's voice (e.g., Kosslyn & Matt, 1977). For audio books, the reader doesn't need to supply the prosody--whoever is reading the book aloud does so.

For difficult-to-understand texts, prosody can be a real aid to understanding. Shakespearean plays provide ready examples. When Juliet says "Wherefore art thou Romeo?" it's common for students to think that "wherefore" means "where," and Juliet (who in fact doesn't know Romeo is nearby at that moment) is wondering where Romeo is. "Wherefore" actually means "why" and she's wondering why he's called Romeo, and why names, which are arbitrary, could matter at all. An actress can communicate the intended meaning of "Wherefore art thou Romeo" through prosody, although the movie clip below doesn't offer a terrific example.

​So listening to an audio book may have more information that will make comprehension a little easier. Prosody might clarify the meaning of ambiguous words or help you to assign syntactic roles to words.

But most of the time it doesn't, because most of what you listen to is not that complicated. For most books, for most purposes, listening and reading are more or less the same thing.

So listening to an audiobook is not "cheating," but let me tell you why I objected to phrasing the question that way. "Cheating" implies an unfair advantage, as though you are receiving a benefit while skirting some work. Why talk about reading as though it were work?

Listening to an audio book might be considered cheating if the act of decoding were the point; audio books allow you to seem to have decoded without doing so. But if appreciating the language and the story is the point, it's not. ​Comparing audio books to cheating is like meeting a friend at Disneyland and saying "you took a bus here? I drove myself, you big cheater." The point is getting to and enjoying the destination. The point is not how you traveled.

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Is Listening to an Audio book "Cheating?"

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I've been asked this question a lot and I hate it. I'll describe why in a bit, but for now I'll just change it to "does your mind do more or less the same thing when you listening to an audio...

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What You Read Matters More Than You Might Think

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What You Read Matters More Than You Might Think

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A study published in the International Journal of Business Administration in May, 2016, found that what students read in college directly effects the level of writing they achieve. In fact, researchers found that reading content and frequency may exert more significant impacts on students' writing ability than writing instruction and writing frequency. Students who read academic journals, literary fiction, or general nonfiction wrote with greater syntactic sophistication (more complex sentences) than those who read genre fiction (mysteries, fantasy, or science fiction) or exclusively web-based aggregators like Reddit, Tumblr, and BuzzFeed. The highest scores went to those who read academic journals; the lowest scores went to those who relied solely on web-based content.

The Difference Between Deep And Light Reading

Recent research also revealed that "deep reading"-defined as reading that is slow, immersive, rich in sensory detail and emotional and moral complexity-is distinctive from light reading-little more than the decoding of words. Deep reading occurs when the language is rich in detail, allusion, and metaphor, and taps into the same brain regions that would activate if the reader were experiencing the event. Deep reading is great exercise for the brain and has been shown to increase empathy, as the reader dives deeper and adds reflection, analysis, and personal subtext to what is being read. It also offers writers a way to appreciate all the qualities that make novels fascinating and meaningful-and to tap into his ability to write on a deeper level.

Light reading is equated to what one might read in online blogs, or "headline news" or "entertainment news" websites, particularly those that breezily rely on lists or punchy headlines, and even occasionally use emojis to communicate. These types of light reading lack a genuine voice, a viewpoint, or the sort of analyses that might stimulate thought. It's light and breezy reading that you can skim through and will likely forget within minutes.

Deep Reading Synchronizes Your Brain

Deep reading activates our brain's centers for speech, vision, and hearing, all of which work together to help us speak, read, and write. Reading and writing engages Broca's area, which enables us to perceive rhythm and syntax; Wernicke's area, which impacts our perception of words and meaning; and the angular gyrus, which is central to perception and use of language. These areas are wired together by a band of fibres, and this interconnectivity likely helps writers mimic and synchronize with language and rhythms they encounter while reading. Your reading brain senses a cadence that accompanies more complex writing, which your brain then seeks to emulate when writing.

Here are two ways you can use deep reading to fire up your writing brain:

Read Poems

In an article published in the Journal of Consciousness Studies, researchers reported finding activity in a "reading network" of brain areas that were activated in response to any written material. In addition, more emotionally charged writing aroused several regions in the brain (primarily on the right side) that respond to music. In a specific comparison between reading poetry and prose, researchers found evidence that poetry activates the posterior cingulate cortex and medial temporal lobes, parts of the brain linked to introspection. When volunteers read their favorite poems, areas of the brain associated with memory were stimulated more strongly than "reading areas," indicating that reading poems you love is the kind of recollection that evokes strong emotions-and strong emotions are always good for creative writing.

Read Literary Fiction

Understanding others' mental states is a crucial skill that enables the complex social relationships that characterize human societies-and that makes a writer excellent at creating multilayered characters and situations. Not much research has been conducted on the Theory of Mind (our ability to realize that our minds are different than other people's minds and that their emotions are different from ours) that fosters this skill, but recent experiments revealed that reading literary fiction led to better performance on tests of affective Theory of Mind (understanding others' emotions) and cognitive Theory of Mind (understanding others' thinking and state of being), compared with reading nonfiction, popular fiction, or nothing at all. Specifically these results showed that reading literary fiction temporarily enhances Theory of Mind, and, more broadly, that Theory of Mind may be influenced greater by engagement with true works of art. In other words, literary fiction provokes thought, contemplation, expansion, and integration. Reading literary fiction stimulates cognition beyond the brain functions related to reading, say, magazine articles, interviews, or most online nonfiction reporting.

Instead of Watching TV, Focus on Deep Reading

Time spent watching television is almost always pointless (your brain powers down almost immediately), no matter how hard you try to justify it, and reading fluff magazines or lightweight fiction may be entertaining, but it doesn't fire up your writing brain. If you're serious about becoming a better writer, spend lots of time deep reading literary fiction and poetry and articles on science or art that feature complex language and that require your lovely brain to think.

Susan Reynolds is the author of Fire Up Your Writing Brain: How to Use Proven Neuroscience to Become a More Creative, Productive, and Successful Writer. She also coauthored Train Your Brain to Get Happy, and Train Your Brain to Get Rich.

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What You Read Matters More Than You Might Think

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A study published in the International Journal of Business Administration in May, 2016, found that what students read in college directly effects the level of writing they achieve. In fact, researchers found that reading content and frequency may exert more significant impacts on students' writing ability than writing instruction and writing frequency.

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Those Who Read Books Live Longer Than Those Who Don't, Study Finds

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Those Who Read Books Live Longer Than Those Who Don't, Study Finds

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Finally a study we can bury our nose in. Researchers at Yale University School of Public Health have found that book readers have a "significant survival advantage" over those who don't read books. While the study didn't address whether reading books on Kindle count, it did find that book readers in general lived an average of two years longer than those who don't.

The study, which appears in Social Science & Medicine, found that people who read for up to 3.5 hours a week were 17 percent less likely to die over the study's 12-year follow up period than those who read no books. Since book readers tend to be female, college-educated and in higher income groups, the researchers controlled for those factors as well as age, race, self-reported health, depression, employment and marital status.

Compared with those who did not read books, those who read for more than 3.5 hours a week were 23 percent less likely to die.

The study found a similar association among those who read newspapers and periodicals, but it was weaker.

"People who report as little as a half-hour a day of book reading had a significant survival advantage over those who did not read," said the senior author, Becca R. Levy, a professor of epidemiology at Yale, in a New York Times post.

But as a few astute commenters noted, since reading a book is a sedentary activity, maybe we shouldn't expect too much from it in the way of increased longevity. Although if reading means you aren't going out and thus exposing yourself to all the world's inherent dangers, maybe you will gain a few years. While we wait for the jury to decide, what'cha reading?

Related

voices Health Post50 reading reading books adds year to your life reading books longevity

Before You Go

Senior Reporter, HuffPost

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Those Who Read Books Live Longer Than Those Who Don't, Study Finds

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Finally a study we can bury our nose in. Researchers at Yale University School of Public Health have found that book readers have a "significant survival advantage" over those who don't read books. While the study didn't address whether reading books on Kindle count, it did find that book readers in general lived an average of two years longer than those who don't.

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51 Of The Most Powerful Pieces Of Advice From Books

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51 Of The Most Powerful Pieces Of Advice From Books

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4. "But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them."

- The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky
Suggested by rebeccab440d2ce80 and srmartinez523

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51 Of The Most Powerful Pieces Of Advice From Books

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4. "But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them."

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How Science Fiction Helps Make Sense of an Uncertain Future

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How Science Fiction Helps Make Sense of an Uncertain Future

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Why fiction? Glad you asked. We live in uncertain times. One of this publication's most important jobs is to see the big trends, spot important business models, and chronicle landmark innovations that show us where we're going. But right now, that is hard to do. In this rapidly changing, aggressively agitated moment, it's very difficult to discern what the future holds.

So we decided to consider things a little more obliquely. Sometimes to get a clearer sense of reality, you have to take some time to dream.

About

Scott Dadich is the editor in chief of WIRED.

To this end, we reached out to a number of our favorite fiction authors and gave them a simple mission: Pick a plausible innovation or change in the world and spin out a near-term scenario. Don't stick to the current moment. See where your mind goes. Imagine. Have fun.

That's not to say the stories themselves are all about fun. Many are quite dystopic. N. K. Jemisin-whose novel The Fifth Season won the 2016 Hugo award-spins a cautionary tale about resource depletion and interplanetary relations. The duo that goes by the pen name James S. A. Corey, creators of The Expanse, imagines a world with a universal basic income-and what we are left wanting. Charles Yu, who writes for HBO's examines what life will be like when machines can read our thoughts. Etgar Keret, the celebrated Israeli fiction author, writes about ... well, just read it. And in his refreshing "review," Glen David Gold, the author of Carter Beats the Devil, shows us what we will have to endure in the movie theater someday in the future.

Science fiction has a robust history of inspiring real innovation. Submarines, robots, and cell phones were all envisioned first in novels, plays, and movies. Thinking up all sorts of different futures, embracing our fears and our dreams, is part of the process of building a better tomorrow.

Ultimately, the goal of this first edition of 2017-our first-ever issue dedicated entirely to fiction-is to give you, the reader, something that helps you let your own mind wander. Think about what is possible, what is plausible, what is terrifying, what is hopeful. That said, we still want you to have fun. Because after 2016? Well, you deserve it.
This article appears in the January 2017 issue. Subscribe now.
The Fiction Issue

Tales From an Uncertain Future

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How Science Fiction Helps Make Sense of an Uncertain Future

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Why fiction? Glad you asked. We live in uncertain times. One of this publication's most important jobs is to see the big trends, spot important business models, and chronicle landmark innovations that show us where we're going. But right now, that is hard to do.

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How a kid who didn't read a book until he was 17 grew up to become a literary star

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How a kid who didn't read a book until he was 17 grew up to become a literary star

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October 23, 2017
Jason Reynolds can empathize with kids who don't like to read: He was 17 before he read a book cover to cover. It's a fact he's shared with thousands of kids in classrooms and auditoriums across the country, as a cautionary tale.

"It's not something I'm proud of. It's not cool," he told a group of seventh-graders in Stafford, Va. "The truth is, my life was made infinitely more difficult because I didn't read any books. But I didn't read any books. That's my story. That's my truth."

This week Reynolds will publish his ninth book - his third this year: a novel in verse called "Long Way Down" about a young man coping with the shooting death of his brother. It was longlisted for the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. At 33, Reynolds is a best-selling author with an array of awards, including multiple Coretta Scott King Book Award honors and an NAACP Image Award. He's been a National Book Award finalist, shared stages with Ta-Nehisi Coates and Rep. John Lewis and appeared in the pages of People magazine.

All of which asks the question Reynolds posed to his young audience: "How is it that a kid like me, a kid who grew up reading no books, eventually became a man who writes books for y'all?"

The tale of Reynolds's transformation from a nonreader living on the edge in Oxon Hill, Md., to a literary celebrity is the kind of relatable story he wished he'd read when he was a kid. "It's hard to be what you can't see," he said in an interview in the District, where he lives part-time.

When he was in school, teachers gave him the classics - Shakespeare, "Moby-Dick," "Lord of the Flies." They didn't click with him. As he explained to his middle-school audience, "The teacher was like, 'Read this book about this man chasing a whale,' and I'm like, bruh. . . . I don't know if I can connect to a man chasing a whale when I've never seen a whale," he said. "Nothing that's happening in these books is happening in my neighborhood."

Reynolds writes books about what's happening in his neighborhood. "Ghost" tells the story of a boy who joins a track team as an escape from the violence in his past. "The Boy in the Black Suit" tells the story of a city kid grieving the death of his mother. "When I Was the Greatest," tells the story of a group of friends navigating the streets of non-gentrified Bed-Stuy in Brooklyn. The voices are those Reynolds heard around him in the 1980s and 90s, in a neighborhood where drugs and violence were on his doorstep, but inside was a loving family - aunties and close friends, one of whom taught Reynolds how to crochet (which he still does).

Written for middle-graders and teens, Reynolds's books address difficult subjects, but they aren't scary. They reflect his understanding of the fears and challenges that all young people experience. They also reflect his awareness that today's kids face huge distractions: "The literary world has to compete with YouTube, Instagram, PlayStation, Xbox, Hulu" and so on, he acknowledges. When it comes to books and reading, "we have to get creative."

The finger-wagging and required reading lists of well-meaning teachers and parents can backfire, he says. Instead, Reynolds recommends books written in a "natural tongue," in comparative literature and the use of nontraditional materials - comic books and rap music, for example - "as a catalyst for literacy."

Reynolds recognizes the constraints that teachers face but hopes for greater creativity in curriculums. "We should say okay, let's watch 'The Handmaid's Tale' and then read it, draw comparisons," he says. Kids need to see the relationship between pop culture and high culture - the connections, for example, among Shakespeare, "West Side Story" and "Twilight," or between "Lord of the Flies" and "The Hunger Games." "Let's take a rap song and figure out how we can connect it to a piece of literature," he says.
[How to get kids to look away from their screens and take pleasure in books]
It was rap music, in fact, that opened Reynolds to the world of literature. As he likes to tell his middle-school audiences, one day back in Oxon Hill, he went to the store and bought a Queen Latifah cassette tape for $5. As he was listening and rapping along, he opened the liner notes and made a life-changing discovery: "This is also literature in the form of poetry, but it sounds like me."

The first book he read, just before he turned 18, was Richard Wright's "Black Boy." "The mischief in that book," he says, "reminded me of the mischief that my friends and I had done." Reynolds, then a student at Bishop McNamara High School in Prince George's County, Md. (the same school, coincidentally, that "Wimpy Kid" creator Jeff Kinney had attended years earlier), delved into the works of Toni Morrison and other African American authors. But he confesses that he was by no means a stellar student or an avid reader.

What it sparked in him, though, was a love of language, and so he began writing. As a student at the University of Maryland, he and his best friend wrote a book together called "Self." A collection of poetry and art, it's something Reynolds laughs about now. He and his friend went into debt printing it, and after graduation, they brought it to New York, expecting to get a deal. What they got was an agent and an editor: Joanna Cotler at HarperCollins, who took them under her wing and encouraged them to write books for reluctant young readers. It was a demographic Reynolds knew well.

The result was "My Name Is Jason. Mine Too" (2009). It was not exactly a commercial success. A broke and disheartened Reynolds returned to the D.C. area, put aside his literary dream and went to work for his father, the director of a mental health clinic. Being a caseworker and helping clients get medicine and shelter taught him "true empathy," he says. "I learned just how interesting stories can be, how complex humanity really is, how necessary it is sometimes to humanize those who have been vilified."

After a year, Reynolds returned to New York but not to be a writer. He needed money, so he began working in retail, becoming a manager of a Rag & Bone clothing store in Manhattan. And he'd still be there, he says - he'd been rejected three times by graduate schools because of his poor grades - were it not for the intervention of an old friend, the writer Christopher Myers.

Myers encouraged Reynolds to write in his own voice and to tell stories about "the neighborhood kids, the black and brown kids who need to know that they exist, that they are special and valuable." So that's what Reynolds did, often while standing at the cash register when business was slow. "When I Was the Greatest" came out in 2014. The book was a critical success and gave Reynolds the confidence to embrace his identity as a writer. Nearly a decade since his publishing debut, he says with a smile, "Here we are, rockin'."

Reynolds says he hopes that his books can serve as both a mirror of a life and a window into another. "All I want kids to know is that I see them for who they are and not who everyone thinks they are," he says. He is committed, he says, to getting their stories right - "and putting that on the page with integrity and balance, to acknowledge the glory and the brokenness. That's all I want to do. It's a lot, but so are they."

Nora Krug  is an editor in Book World.

At 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jason Reynolds will be at Politics & Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW.

Read more:
Read more Three books to inspire young readers to bravery Three books to inspire young readers to bravery Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's advice for living boldly Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's advice for living boldly
Long Way down

By Jason Reynolds

Atheneum/Caitlyn Dlouhy. 320 pp. $17.99

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How a kid who didn't read a book until he was 17 grew up to become a literary star

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October 23, 2017 Jason Reynolds can empathize with kids who don't like to read: He was 17 before he read a book cover to cover. It's a fact he's shared with thousands of kids in classrooms and auditoriums across the country, as a cautionary tale. "It's not something I'm proud of.

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Entrepreneur | How Reading Books Reduces Stress and Makes You Smarter at the Same Time

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Entrepreneur | How Reading Books Reduces Stress and Makes You Smarter at the Same Time

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

When I was a little kid, I spent more than a few nights under the covers with a flashlight reading books like Enders Game and Little House on The Prairie.

Were you the same way?

As working adults, we long for those special nights, but it's hard to carve out the time to make a sandwich, never mind read a book.

But now that you're building a company, reading is essential. There are scientifically-backed reasons to read entrepreneurial books.

You'll find new perspectives.

You can't learn everything from attending events and reading blog posts. The experiences, perspectives, and knowledge of other entrepreneurs can help shape how you think about running a business. The best place to get knowledge from the source is from books, especially if you have a tight budget. When you read a book, your attention is focused on what you're doing-- you're not distracted by a smartphone or a computer screen. An author can tell you their whole story with all of its moving parts.
Related: The Psychological Benefits of Writing: Why Richard Branson and Warren Buffett Write Regularly
Books make you smarter.

Yep, it's scientifically proven that books are good for your brain. With a business to run, you need your noggin' in tip-top shape.

According to psychologists, there are a few different types of intelligence:

Emotional intelligence is the ability to understand and respond to the feelings of yourself and others.

Fluid intelligence is the ability to solve problems.

Crystallized intelligence is the knowledge you have.

Reading can foster and improve all three types of intelligence and is good for your memory, too. According to research in an online version of Neurology, people who participated in mentally stimulating activities (such as reading books and completing math problems) had better memory retention later in life, no matter if they read as children or adults.

You'll clear your head and chill out.

Building a business eats up your energy and concentration. Even when you're not working, it's impossible to take your mind off of what you should be doing. Books are a respite from the wild entrepreneurial ride. You can pick up a book, get transported to another planet, and get totally lost in it.

Researchers at the University of Sussex found that reading is a more effective way to beat stress than listening to music or taking a walk.

"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," Dr. David Lewis, the study's researcher, told The Telegraph. "This is more than merely a distraction but an active engaging of the imagination as the words on the printed page stimulate your creativity and cause you to enter what is essentially an altered state of consciousness."
Related: Bill Gates' 5 Favorite Books of 2014
Self-help books actually help people.

Running a business is demanding. You might be suffering from problems with friends and family, while struggling to take care of yourself. Before you walk past the self-help aisle in your local bookstore, consider this: those books actually work.

It's been proven that these types of books can help those suffering from depression. The University of Manchester published a report that concluded that those who are severely depressed can benefit from these books as much as others. Psychologists call this "bibliotherapy" and it appears to help those in need.

Here are four business books to get you started on regular reading.

1. Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely.

As business owners, we are faced with making decisions every day. What we don't realize is that many of our daily decisions aren't very rational. In Predictably Irrational, Dan Ariely explains how the mind works and why we are often prone to irrational decision-making. When you're finished you'll understand what motivates your customers, as well as what compels you.

2. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.

Think and Grow Rich is one of the first books to ever ask "what makes a winner?" It's an extremely motivational book about leadership, winning personalities, and historical successes. Napoleon Hill's 1937 book focuses on such entrepreneurs as Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and Andrew Carnegie. The historical lessons still ring true today, making "Think and Grow Rich" well worth a read.

3. The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande.

Every entrepreneur wants to be successful. Turns out, there's no way to do this without a team. The Checklist Manifesto details how to organize and empower teams so they can be way more awesome. As a surgeon, Atul Guwande knows a great deal about procedure and the various outcomes-he uses anecdotes from various industries to illustrate how a checklists can help organize and improve teams.

4. Good to Great by Jim Collins.

In the world of business there is always room for improvement. In this book, Jim Collins takes a look at twenty-eight companies that have gone from good to great and even better and the steps they've taken to do so. This book will prove that companies don't have to be "born great" but with strategic steps they can make it to the top just the same.
Related: 5 Uplifting Books You Should Read This Holiday Season
So, delight yourself with reading, there's nothing in the world quite like it, so pick up a book. It's now or never!

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Entrepreneur | How Reading Books Reduces Stress and Makes You Smarter at the Same Time

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Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own. When I was a little kid, I spent more than a few nights under the covers with a flashlight reading books like Enders Game and Little House on The Prairie. Were you the same way?

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Why 'getting lost' in a good book is the break your brain needs right now

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Why 'getting lost' in a good book is the break your brain needs right now

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Whether you're the reader who rips through a new book each week or the one still slogging through that bestseller your friend recommended months ago, psychologists (and their research) say your time is being well spent.

And if it's been a while since your last date with a good book, the experts have a few reasons that might convince you to give it another go.

"One of the benefits to reading fiction is simply that it provides enjoyment and pleasure," Melanie Green, PhD, associate professor in the department of communication at University at Buffalo, tells NBC News BETTER. "It can provide an escape from boredom or stress."

Plus, reading has been shown to help us better understand and interact with other people, keep our brains sharp, expand our world views and grow as individuals, Green says. "Stories allow us to feel connected with others and part of something bigger than ourselves."

Green researches the idea of "transportation" - or what makes it possible to get "lost in a book." She says it's more likely to happen if you're reading a high-quality text, but "quality" in this case is subjective and something that gets determined by you. For some it's a quick-moving plot that's critical, while for others engaging characters or a poetic writing style is most important if you want to get lost in the storyline. And some people are just more interested in one type of story ( romance, for instance) versus another (thriller), she adds.

Regardless of the specific volumes that suck you in the most, here are just some of the things that can happen when you get lost in a novel.

Stories about other people teach us to be the types of people we want to be

Reading makes us think and feel in new and different ways, explains Keith Oatley, PhD, professor emeritus in the department of applied psychology and human development at University of Toronto. "You give up some of your own habits and thoughts, and you take on your own idea of being a different person in circumstances that you might otherwise never had been in."

Back in 2009, Oatley and his colleagues found that after reading one of two different versions of the same story - one an original piece of fiction and the other a retelling of the same story written in a non-fiction style - participants who read fiction changed in their personality traits more than those who read the non-fiction version of the story, and reported feeling higher levels of emotions.

Objectively, Oatley and his colleagues haven't measured whether these changes might be labeled as "good" or "positive," but he says to think about it in terms of personal growth akin to how we want kids to grow and develop in their own ways (not because society is telling them to be one person or another).

"It is very important in the social world to understand others, to understand ourselves, and not just get stuck," he says.

Reading helps provide that sense of belonging that all humans need

Reading can give us a sense of belongingness that we all instinctively want as human beings, according to Green.

Researchers at the University at Buffalo showed in an experiment that reading actually satisfies that need for human connection because it can mimic what we feel during real social interactions. A group of 140 undergraduate students were asked to read either "Twilight" or "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" for a half-hour. Afterward the students reported (psychologically-speaking) becoming part of the characters' worlds during that time and having some of the same feelings of satisfaction and happiness that we get from real-world social interactions.

"Social connection is a strong, human need," the study's author Shira Gabriel, PhD, associate professor of psychology at UB, said in a press release shortly after the research was published. "Anytime we feel connected to others, we feel good in general and feel good about our lives."

It bolsters all sorts of social skills

Reading fiction also helps us better understand, connect with and interact with others in the real world (after we put that book down).

"We get to enter the minds of these other people. And in doing that we understand other people better," Oatley says. Research from he and his colleagues showed that people who reported reading the most fiction scored higher on both empathy tests and social ability tests.

If you can identify with a character in some way, you actually get to lead a different life (temporarily and, of course, in a limited way), says Oatley. Multiple studies have replicated these findings, Oatley says. And data suggests the same area of the brain actually gets fired up when people read and comprehend fictional stories, as gets activated when we're in the process of understanding other people.

Think of learning how to fly an airplane by using a flight simulator in addition to flying an actual plane. You get to encounter a lot of different scenarios where you're completely safe, but you can learn a lot about what to do in an emergency, unusual weather conditions, and more. "Fiction is the mind's flight simulator," Oatley says.

And importantly, the research shows it's reading fiction that improves empathy and not the other way around, Oatley adds. (It isn't that people who are empathetic happen to prefer to read more.)

Reading is good for our brains and may even help us live longer

We've all heard from countless grade-school teachers that reading improves our vocabulary. But neuroscience research shows it's good for other cognitive skills, too, by stimulating the neural networks in the brain that improve our social cognition and conceptual processing of abstract content. And evidence suggests that may have measurable benefits in terms of health.

"Reading, by engaging the brain, may keep the brain active enough to prevent cognitive decline that is associated with a variety of diseases associated with earlier mortality," explains Avni Bavishi, an MD candidate at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University.

A 2013 study found that people who reported reading and doing other similarly cognitively stimulating activities throughout their lives had less cognitive decline compared with people who didn't read or engage in other such stimulating activities as much. And a subsequent study by Bavishi and colleagues showed that people who report reading more actually live longer on average compared with individuals who didn't report reading.

Getting lost in a good book provides the good kind of escape

And finally, if you need a break from the daily grind or everyday stressors, reading can take your mind away from what's worrying you - in a good way - by letting you temporarily escape, Green says. "People who are absorbed in a story world aren't ruminating on their own personal concerns."

Studies show that several types of media, from books to TV shows to music, can definitely help with mood management.

Of course, ignoring a problem in the real world isn't the answer, but spending too much time thinking about things that are out of your control (like current events, a pending job offer or family squabbles) isn't good either, Green says. So the next time you're feeling anxious or stressed, use it as an excuse to dust off the novel on your bedside table.

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Why 'getting lost' in a good book is the break your brain needs right now

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Whether you're the reader who rips through a new book each week or the one still slogging through that bestseller your friend recommended months ago, psychologists (and their research) say your time is being well spent.

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Toni Morrison Taught Me How to Think (Published 2019)

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Toni Morrison Taught Me How to Think (Published 2019)

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Toni Morrison Taught Me How to Think (Published 2019)

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When I was 11, my mother told me I wasn’t ready. Not for Toni. I tried anyway.

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How I (barely) Passed 11th Grade English

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How I (barely) Passed 11th Grade English

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How I (barely) Passed 11th Grade English

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Don't Just Read About Racism-Read Stories About Black People Living

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Don't Just Read About Racism-Read Stories About Black People Living

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It's official! According to science, reading fiction makes you nicer.

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It's official! According to science, reading fiction makes you nicer.

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The headlines about the benefits of reading just keep coming. If you spend enough time online, you know reading purportedly makes you a better entrepreneur, happier, less stressed, and "more human." It also apparently makes you more socially adept: the idea is that fiction reveals truths about human interactions and interiority, which readers internalize and apply to their lives. Sure!

Though many of these links are merely anecdotal-"How reading Long Day's Journey Into Night made me a better dad" and the like-several scientific studies have established a link between reading fiction and understanding other people. A 2013 study showed that reading a few pages of literary fiction improved participants' immediate ability to discern people's emotions from pictures of their eyes and faces, and those participants sometimes performed better on a Theory of Mind test where participants used visual and verbal cues to determine what someone was thinking or wanting. A 2006 study found that readers who knew more names of novelists demonstrated more social awareness.

But there's been controversy over these studies' legitimacy. The 2006 study only proves correlation, not causation; the 2013 study's methodology was criticized in print. Researchers David Dodell-Feder and Diana I. Tamir set out to check the validity of existing research on the topic. They ran a meta-analysis on fourteen studies to check whether fiction reading causally improves social cognition-and they discovered that reading fiction has a small, statistically significant impact on social-cognitive performance. In other words, reading fiction makes you a little nicer and more socially aware.

Dodell-Feder and Tamir noted that the nature of the link between fiction and social awareness is still not fully clear; they recommended that future research investigate fiction's impact on real-world and day-to-day social functioning. But in the meantime, keep reading that literary fiction and nailing that small talk. Let's create that feedback loop.

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It's official! According to science, reading fiction makes you nicer.

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The headlines about the benefits of reading just keep coming. If you spend enough time online, you know reading purportedly makes you a better entrepreneur, happier, less stressed, and "more human." It also apparently makes you more socially adept: the idea is that fiction reveals truths about human interactions and interiority, which readers internalize and apply to their lives.

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There is no magic fix to "figuring out" Shakespeare. Use a combination of strategies. swagger First, some misconceptions... After all, he invented so many words.... like... "Hang him, swaggering rascal!" Henry V, Act 2, Scene 4 MYTH Shakespeare wrote in Old English or Middle

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For Instant Happiness, Grab a Book and Head Outside

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For Instant Happiness, Grab a Book and Head Outside

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Photographers from The New York Times visited beaches, parks and cafes to capture readers indulging in a timeless pleasure.

Enjoying a book alfresco is one of summer's simple, iconic joys, right up there with running through a sprinkler, spotting the evening's first firefly or scraping a flat wooden spoon across a freezer-burned cup of Italian ice.

This year the practice has been complicated by sweltering, record-breaking heat, leaving many of us with the sense of reading inside a toaster oven. It's hard to concentrate on a novel when your back is throwing off as much liquid as Niagara Falls.

Still, there are few voyeuristic pleasures more satisfying than stepping outside and spotting someone lost in a book. You have the thrill of recognizing a kindred spirit, the impromptu eye test of deciphering a title from afar, plus the potential of having a new mystery, biography, memoir or graphic novel to add to your own list. It's like getting menu ideas from a stranger's shopping cart, minus the sheepishness about your own unwholesome snacks. Luckily there's no judgment in public displays of literacy - just the casual hand-visor of one book lover saluting another.

So what makes reading in the great outdoors more memorable than cracking a book in the privacy of your own home? Certainly a couch cushion is more comfortable than a headrest made of sand, and you don't have to keep an eye on the weather or scope out the nearest facilities. Why do we get a sudden rush of peace from flopping down on a hot park bench, a splintery deck or a dandelion-dotted lawn with a paperback in hand? Why do we subject our backs to the unforgiving bark of a tree?

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"Little House on the Prairie" found its way into the hands of a young bookworm in Central Park. Credit... Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times

The answers depend on a Choose Your Own Adventure of tiny decisions: Beach towel or chair? Barefoot or flip-flops? Sunglasses or baseball cap? Picnic basket or measly plum? Do you read with earbuds or trust the birds and the ice cream truck to provide your soundtrack? Most importantly, what book did you bring along for company? Will it energize you for a round of paddle ball or provide a prelude to a long summer's nap?

In San Francisco, a student from Turkey lost herself in "Down the Rabbit Hole" by Juan Pablo Villalobos. Credit... Jim Wilson/The New York Times

There are only a handful of non-negotiables when it comes to plein-air reading: sunscreen, hydration, repeat. You don't want to stand up and see stars - those belong between the covers. Also, the polite reader leaves speakers at home. Nobody wants to hear your Jimmy Buffett playlist, even in Key West.

This summer, The New York Times sent photographers to beaches, parks, courtyards and cafes across the country - from New York City to Minneapolis to Seattle - to document our intrepid tradition of enjoying words and nature at the same time. Their pictures are a reminder of the magnificence and magic of this combination.

This reader kicked back with some casual fare: "The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity," by David Graeber and David Wengrow.

Credit... Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times

Spotted in Brooklyn's Prospect Park in Brooklyn: the best kind of light and a recumbent bibliophile transfixed by "Trans Care," by Hil Malatino. Credit... Hiroko Masuike/The New York Times

Produced by Rebecca Halleck

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For Instant Happiness, Grab a Book and Head Outside

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Photographers from The New York Times visited beaches, parks and cafes to capture readers indulging in a timeless pleasure. Enjoying a book alfresco is one of summer's simple, iconic joys, right up there with running through a sprinkler, spotting the evening's first firefly or scraping a flat wooden spoon across a freezer-burned cup of Italian ice.

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Why reading matters | Rita Carter | TEDxCluj

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Why reading matters | Rita Carter | TEDxCluj

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Why reading matters | Rita Carter | TEDxCluj