I always find it strange that people need to be convinced to read. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love books. For me, books have always been magic, gateways to other worlds, other lives. They’re adventures and dreams, knowledge and potential, all packed into conveniently portable packages. Forget apps–no matter what you want or need at any given moment in life, there’s a book for it. How could anyone not instantly see the value in that?
And yet… According to the Pew Research Center, 26% of American adults have admitted to not reading even part of a book in the last year (and I’m sure the numbers are similar in Canada). Clearly a lot of people don’t realize they’re missing out.
If magic, knowledge, and adventure aren’t enough to get you interested, maybe I should also mention that:
Yale researchers found that people who read books for 30 minutes a day live longer than those who read magazines or who don’t read at all.
(This reminds me of an old Twilight Zone episode where someone was reading a book in parts to their elderly relative, always leaving the story on a cliffhanger to keep the person hanging on well beyond a normal lifespan. #goals)
Successful people read (and they share some of their favourite books here).
People who read short stories are more open-minded and creative, according to a University of Toronto study.
Need a short story to get you started? How about “Tooth & Claw,” available free here, and at other online booksellers…
And “Blood Magic,” available free here and at other online booksellers!
You can read more about the benefits of reading books here, or you can just pick up a book and find out for yourself.
What’s your favourite thing about reading? Share in the comments…
Cheers,
Aspasía S. Bissas
Aspasía S. Bissas 
Fascinating facts! Thanks for sharing!
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Glad you enjoyed 🙂
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What a great post! I agree that folks don’t seem to read much these days. Perhaps it was always that way though? (Kinda like when people say …”in my day ….” and you just know that human nature hasn’t really changed even if the gadgets have). You do hear some say that they just haven’t the time to read but I can’t imagine that there are many who are genuinely so time poor that they can’t read for quarter of an hour. I do appreciate that some just don’t enjoy reading and that’s fine but I do wonder why they don’t try reading something on a topic that does interest them?
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I think people probably did read more before the internet, and also before TV. I don’t know why people choose not to read–it makes no sense to me, and I think “no time” is a really silly excuse. But I appreciate all the people who still do read ❤
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Quite possibly. I wonder how big an impact TV has actually had overall, Surely, some TV adaptations have encouraged people to read the “original”? 😉
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I didn’t think of that–you could be right. I was thinking more historically, that people read more before TV came into everyone’s homes. But TV and movie adaptations probably are getting people interested in reading the books.
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Does make you wonder, doesn’t it?
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