Read To Be Different

Books are perfect for people on so many levels. They can lower your stress through laughter or tears, help you get better sleep, provide an escape from reality, and offer exposure to perspectives different from your own. Researchers at the University of Edinburgh and King’s College London tested 1,890 pairs of twins five times from ages 7 to 16 for reading ability and IQ. They found that the kids with better reading ability–compared with their twins–also showed higher verbal and nonverbal cognitive ability. So if you have children at home, start them early so that they fall in love with stories from a young age.

That’s not all. Josie Billington at the University of Liverpool surveyed 4,164 adults and found several interesting differences between people who read regularly and those who do not read. Readers reported being less stressed and less depressed and have higher levels of self-esteem and a greater ability to cope with challenges. Compared with non-readers, they also scored higher in terms of feeling close to friends and their community and had a stronger awareness of social issues and cultural diversity. Like GRRM rightly pointed out, A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.