obsessing over reading is truthfully something I go through in phases - when the concentration on school deadlines increases, my priority for reading books for fun slowly drops, but when we have a break or I'm ahead of the things I need to get done, reading is the first thing I look forward to doing. I can sometimes get through 5-7 novels in a single week! It's a hobby and skill that we can all improve on, and I personally find it handy in my daily life.
Why you should read more:
the ability to increase our reading speed/words per minute (wpm) read is such an important skill. When reading and comprehending abstracts from research articles, the news, and even informative social media posts, we want to be able to get through them efficiently while still getting the full benefit out of them. Even reading newsletters or blog posts like this can be super valuable, but without excessively spending too much time from your day spend doing that, so you can instead focus on applying what you learned to your life, instead of only trying to comprehend it.
The value of prioritizing reading for fun & why I love reading:
I think personally one of the most considerable impacts reading has had on me is that it propelled my writing abilities to another level. writing became so much easier in school and I developed the ability to articulate my thoughts better. part of that may just be because I'm exposed to a more developed range of vocabulary when I read books that challenge me to a suitable extent, but also being able to immerse my mind in such well-written thoughts improved my general writing skills.
also, the range of perspectives on countless experiences that I learn about through reading gives me an advantage in terms of how I go about my own future experiences in life. that gave me more confidence when understanding the feelings and perspectives of people around me which basically helped me strengthen my relationships with those people. to summarize, reading almost gives me a prerequisite of information on so many situations and ways they can be handled, which I subconsciously remember and use in real life.
- an example of that was when I was at the mall and saw a little girl having a panic attack because she had pretty much lost her mom and was obviously freaked out. I touched more on that encounter in my email newsletter if you want to read more about it. but in short, I was able to help her out because I had somewhat of an idea of how to calm someone down when they're having a panic attack from one of the chapters in 'The Cheat Sheet' by Sarah Adams, a young adult novel I read a couple of months ago. I had previously never intentionally researched the best way to help someone out in a situation like that, but that part between the two characters in `The Cheat Sheet' was all I needed to calm the little girl down until the security guards brought her family to her.
now I'm not saying that stuff happens to me every day, but when it does, little things I remember from books come in handy so unexpectedly and lowkey makes me feel so good afterward.
on an academic level, strengthening my skill of reading essentially allows me to understand texts for school better, like literature I have to read and analyze for English, but also sources like biology textbooks and case studies for psychology. in terms of research, the process of going through articles and journals frequently for research papers has become so much more efficient, without sacrificing how much knowledge I'm understanding and am able to use.
My favorite books as of recently:
& linked all of them so you can read more about them if you want to
1) Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
this book felt like escapism - reading it genuinely took me to another world. and, it was the most unique book I've read in terms of perspectives and had a group of characters and personalities so different from what I normally read.
2) The Player's Plate - Emily Cole
as the title states, this is a book about how to fuel yourself optimally as an athlete. but, I think everyone should read this book regardless of whether you call yourself an athlete or not, because what she talks about can be applied to so many people, such as balancing electrolytes and micronurients, and having fun with cooking. she includes a recipe at the end of every chapter as well, so I found it to be such a fun book to read. Emily Cole is also a Duke athlete I've followed for years so I was so happy to read it when she published it.
3) Surrounded by Idiots - Thomas Erikson
you've definitely seen this book before, but I never picked it up because I thought it was so popular that there was no way I didn't already know what it discusses. but, my sister got it for me for Christmas this year and I can genuinely say it changed me. it allowed me to navigate difficult times with people because, despite our difference in opinions and stances in a situation, I can now understand where people come from and that helps me address everyone in a more beneficial way without damaging any relationships.
4) Remember - Lisa Genova
this literally explains what memory is and how it works, plus breaks stereotypes about memory problems and explains what they actually are with real experiences. she also discusses how to methodically increase your ability to remember certain things. enough said - read this book. the time you spend reading it is a great investment.
5) Chasing a Cure - Greg Player
this book was all about biology and medicine which is probably why I loved it so much. its simplicity combined multiple interests of mine into a storyline and I had lots of fun with it. from the very beginning, the introduction alone felt so abstract compared to typical fiction I read and so much of it stood out to me.
6) Ghosted - Emily Barr
this was a complete mind game to say the least. I was confused but invested until the very end and that's what Emily Barr does with all her books I've read. it makes them so interesting and addicting. the satisfaction of figuring everything out in the end is insane and makes me want to read them again and again.
important note:
all that being said, overdoing it with trying to read faster just to 'get through a book' can also have its limitations. when you're trying to read something informative, like a self-development book (the player's plate for example), trying to get through it as quickly as possible can be counterintuitive if you want to remember details from it. for example, in this case, it would be trying to remember all the micronutrients Emily Cole mentioned to incorporate for balancing your electrolytes, etc. Spacing out the time that you spend reading books similar to that is my advice for reading something if you want to remember it. With 'The Players' Plate', I actually read it over the course of a month, so that I could apply each chapter's knowledge and tips to my life, and that way I can get through the book while enjoying it without missing out on crucial information that I would have otherwise forgotten/looked past. this also applies to 'Remember' by Lisa Genova, which is actually where I learned that information. her book was non-fiction and discussed the ways you can increase memory by spacing things out, rather than cramming it all into a short time period where most of the information would be shortly forgotten and in need of review during the near future.
on the other hand, when reading young-adult fiction like 'The Cheat Sheet', or 'Daisy Jones and the Six', it's more of a story that I want to experience every bit of, and so spacing it out too much would lead to procrastinating and feeling disconnected to the story, which is why I tend to go through those novels much quicker (within a couple of days). that way I can finish the book with the bigger picture in mind, and I stay connected to the characters and storyline for the entirety of the book, which is essentially one of the key factors that increase enjoyability. but also, with books like 'Daisy Jones and the Six', (or literally anything by Taylor Jenkins Reid, I physically could not let go of the book and so I ended up uncontrollably reading it at every chance I could.
A few books on my wishlist (a snippet of my 'TBR' list):
& let me know what you think of them if you've read any
'Jellyfish Age Backwards' - Nicklas Brendborg
'Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow' - Gabrielle Zevin
'How Emotions are Made' - Lisa Barrett
'The Art of Impossible' - Steven Kotler
the takeaway:
reading has so many benefits but it's also a form of escapism and enjoyability, where you can experience understand deeper concepts in the world without physically going anywhere. while you might experience the paradox of choice when trying to find which book to read, my advice is literally pick anything you gravitate towards.
it's hard to go wrong when all around us, were're saturated with the world's best-selling and most loved authors and books in every corner of a bookstore. so just try to read whenever you can - for fun and for its benefits that you can translate to countless aspects of life.
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