Need a Powerful Panacea, Cure-All, Elixir, Wonder Drug? How About...Reading a Book?

I love to read. Reading is a wonderfully fun thing to do.

But reading is more than than fun. It's important, folks: Reading changes us. Dramatically. For the better.

I'm probably preaching to the choir, but I've recently done a little research and here's a list of all the fabulous, somewhat arcane benefits of reading....


People who read live longer.

People who read have a slower rate of cognitive decline.

People who read lower their levels of stress.

People who read boost their vocabulary.

People who read have more empathy for others.

People who read sleep better.

People who read have higher self esteem.

People who read have better relationships.

People who read are happier.

People who read work to improve the world.

People who read are smarter.

People who read focus better.

People who read are more creative.

People who read have better communication skills.

People who read make better decisions.


What else is going to give you this list of amazing benefits?

What I Finished This Week Darby comes to New York City's Barbizon Hotel for Women to stay while she attends classes to become a secretary. It's 1952 and Darby doesn't have much...more Twelve-year-old Florian has moved again and, to cope, puts into play the technique he calls TOAST, Theory Of All Small Things, looking closely at all...more Good grief, it's about time I read this book. The author has since written ten more in this series, and has started a new (oh-so-similar) series with...more So I just finally got around to reading Dork Diaries, and then I move on to this new series, Max Crumbly. It's by the same author as Dork Diaries, and...more A group of Parisian women got together to write this book, a collection of essays and photo essays and stories and quotes, all aimed at getting to wha...more Great quotes. Clever illustrations. A haiku here seems appropriate. Completely worth your time. What I'm Reading Now Honestly, I don't know. I went crazy over Labor Day and requested right and left from my library. Here's what came in for me.  What should I read first?

What are you reading today? Have you read any of these? Any recommendations?

What is the Sunday Salon? Imagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them,and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....That's what happens at the Sunday Salon, except it's all virtual. Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon get together--at their separate desks, in their own particular time zones--and read. And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs. Think of it as an informal, weekly, mini read-a-thon, an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities and fall into a good book. Click here to join the Salon.

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's a chance to share news and recap the past week.

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page. We share books that we found in our mailboxes last week. 

 It is now being hosted here.

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews in which you can share the books you've acquired.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is where we share what we read this past week, what we hope to read this week…. and anything in between!  This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from! I love being a part of this and I hope you do too! It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is now being hosted at The Book Date.