8 Fabulous Reasons To Read More Books

By Julia Dunn on August 21, 2016

These days, it seems more and more and more people are forgetting about the benefits of reading.

While there’s still a huge part of the population that embraces reading 24/7, the increasing popularity of technological devices has people compulsively checking the same Facebook feed every two minutes instead of catching up on a juicy chapter.

For those of you who’ve forgotten about how great books are, here are eight reasons to make more time for reading in your life:

Image via Pixabay

1. Expand your worldview.

People write books about everything, anywhere and anytime. This is why books are so special — they capture moments you may never have experienced. You can learn about virtually anything from a book: another culture, different perspectives on one issue, and the realities of people across the world from you.

Reading is great for developing your opinions on the world and helping you analyze issues that affect your society.

2. Develop stronger empathy for others.

When you get attached to a book character, be it the protagonist or a more minor character, you might start feeling pain when they feel pain or excitement when they feel excitement.

You may not realize it, but reading can actually increase your ability to empathize with others! The more you read, the better you’ll get at considering perspectives different than your own, especially if you read a lot of character-driven fiction.

3. Develop your writing skills.

You’ve probably heard this many times as a college student: “If you want to be a better writer, spend more time reading.”

It’s true — you will become a better writer if you read more often. Consciously and unconsciously you will internalize new styles of writing, new types of sentence structures, and other aspects of a text that could influence your future writing.

4. Expand your vocabulary.

Challenging yourself to read books that might be more “advanced” than your reading level is great for expanding your vocabulary. You’ll earn word meanings from context clues, and then be able to look them up for exact meanings.

Knowing more words is a plus all around; you’ll be better able to describe scenarios, express your feelings more exactly, write stronger and more powerful essays, as well as become a stronger test-taker for pesky standardized exams such as the Graduate Records Exam (GRE).

Image via Pixabay

5. It’s healthier than spending time with screens.

There have been plenty of studies on the detrimental effects of staring at TV screens and iPhones too long and at the wrong times. For example, too much screen time at night has been linked to worsening insomnia.

Luckily, studies show that reading before bed makes it easier to fall asleep!

Making a habit out of reading is a much healthier activity than wasting away on your Twitter feed for hours. It’s also easier on your eyes than a laptop or smartphone, and it’s arguably more productive than browsing social media (at least, productive in a different way). You might find yourself more at peace when reading than doing anything else.

6. Calm down/reduce your anxiety.

What’s more soothing than laying in bed with a book you’re really into? Books pair well with a nice cup of tea and honey, a cup of coffee, or a few pieces of chocolate in the afternoon. If you feel stressed or anxious, get absorbed in a book you love and live in that world for an hour or two.

7. Step away from real life.

Depending on their content, books can be escapes from your real life. Alternatively, books can help you work through problems you’ve had lately or take your mind off of something bothering you. You can use books to your advantage and even manipulate your mood (if you’re frustrated, reading a book can diffuse your irritation).

Sometimes a certain scene in a book can trigger a new idea you’ve been searching for, or you might find a solution to a conundrum that has gotten to you recently. Your creativity sparks when reading, so you never really know what you might think of!

8. Connect with friends.

Holding a little book club with your friends is an awesome way to motivate yourself to finish books (so many people never finish books they start), and it adds a great social element to reading that you might really enjoy! Connecting with friends over books is quite fun, as it allows you to share your favorites with one another and even discuss them critically.

Basically, there’s no reason not to read. If you don’t want to spend money on books, grab a library card from your local library and go as often as you can to see what’s new! Make use of library services that allow you to request books from different branches. It’s free, and the library will take care of getting your book to their branch for your to pick up.

If you’re a college student, you probably already read a lot of assigned texts, but if you don’t enjoy them, make sure to spend a little part of your day reading something you are interested in! Reading is the best addiction to have — it can only help you!

Follow Uloop

Apply to Write for Uloop News

Join the Uloop News Team

Discuss This Article

Back to Top

Log In

Contact Us

Upload An Image

Please select an image to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format
OR
Provide URL where image can be downloaded
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format

By clicking this button,
you agree to the terms of use

By clicking "Create Alert" I agree to the Uloop Terms of Use.

Image not available.

Add a Photo

Please select a photo to upload
Note: must be in .png, .gif or .jpg format