File photo: Children reading

Reading is an imaginative activity. Try being one of the producers of a movie, now having to picture how best every scene will roll out: and that is how reading actually is. It employs every aspect of one’s creativity.

It is said that reading forces your brain to think critically and makes connections from one chapter to another, and to the outside world.

A study in 2013 showed that people who read fiction books showed more empathy (understanding) and emotional intelligence as compared to those who didn’t. This leads to more positive human interaction, which can reduce stress levels.

Reading also helps one to disengage oneself from the tasks of your day and to have a better sleep.

It helps to make one more open minded and tolerant about things around us. Imagine how you would react to poverty after reading a book which paints clearly the struggles of life for someone in an impoverished area.

The most recognised importance of reading is that it helps to enrich one’s language quite significantly through encounters with new vocabulary. This makes one’s mind robust. Scientific research proves that this helps to build what is called a cognitive reserve which acts as the brains ability to adapt to mental damage like the Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive disease which gradually causes memory loss and affects other important brain functions.

The next time you want to pick a book to read, remember that there are many types and genres, to suit your interest in life. There are fiction and non-fiction books. Non-fiction books contain factual information for example biographies.

In contrast to the aforementioned type, fiction books are stories normally conjured in the creative mind of the author, although they may sometimes contain some smithereens of truth, fabricated, and used to enhance into a new story.

These books may include action, children’s books, drama, crime, fantasy, mystery, romance or satire as fictional book genres and encyclopaedia, science, cookbooks and textbooks as non-fictional book genres.

 It is recommended that one reads at least a book a week. So now the question is, when was the last time you took a break to read a book?

Source: Adomonline | Beatrice Nyarko