WHO READS ANYMORE?

(Miss Auras by John Lavery is in the public domain)


American adults have low (and declining) reading proficiency:
http://www.latimes.com/books/jacketcopy/la-et-jc-american-adults-have-low-and-declining-reading-proficiency-20131008,0,3562742.story#axzz2kCiyEfTa

The reading skills of American adults are significantly lower than those of adults in most other developed countries, according to a new international survey. (2013)

What’s more, over the last two decades Americans’ reading proficiency has declined across most age groups, and has only improved significantly for 65-year-olds.

So what?

So reading is good for you.  How?

1.) Adult readers tend to learn more new things than non-readers -

Anne E. Cunningham wrote a paper called, “What Reading Does For The Mind,” and discovered that being an avid reader actually does make you smarter. It not only helps you retain information, but also helps you maintain that knowledge through old age.

It never hurts to discover how to tell if your cat is plotting to kill you.

2.)  Reading can help prevent Alzheimer’s.

A study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that older people who read regularly are two and a half times less likely to have Alzheimer’s.

While that doesn’t mean reading alone will prevent Alzheimer’s, it does suggest that there’s a correlation between intellectual pursuits, like reading, and prevention.

3.) Reading a book reduces stress, and puts you in a better mood.

A 2009 study found that reading for just six minutes can reduce stress levels up to 68%. Read on, anxious ones!

4.) Reading enhances your memory.

Every time you read, you create a new memory of what you’ve read—essentially exercising your memory muscles. With each new memory, your brain forges new synapses, strengthens existing ones, and helps to keep your memory sharp.

5.) Opening a book makes you a better writer.

A study at the University of California, Riverside, found that when you’re exposed to a great novel, the writing of that author will inevitably rub off on your own skills. The same way that listening to music can influence your own style, so does a great book.

6.) People who read are more likely to get ahead when it comes to their careers, and life in general.

Honor Wilson-Fletcher, Director for the National Year of Reading, said that reading “opens doors and makes life easier, so at the end of the day it doesn’t matter what you read. What’s more, it really can make you feel good!”

7.) Reading expands your vocabulary, and the more words in your mind, the more flexible and sharper it is.

The more books you crack open, the more words you’ll be exposed to. Those words will help open vistas in your mind to better grasp the world and the problems before you. 

Despite the survey quoted at the start of this post:

"For hundreds of years, when readers heard about a book they wanted to read, they had to go find it.  

In an digital era, everything, or most everything, is instantly available.

That appeals to readers such as Jamie Groves, 45, a prosecutor in Huntington, Ind., who reads about 30 books a year — 

double his reading before buying a Kindle five years ago and adding an iPad three years ago.

A fan of novelists such as Brandon Sanderson and Stephen King, Groves likes both the cheaper prices of e-books and "having something to read even if I forget to bring a book. 

I like to read to fill in the gaps, like waiting in the dentist's office or having lunch."

Why do you read?

For information?
For pleasure?
For your children?

Do you read more than you did last year
or less?