I can’t remember a time in my life when books were not a large part of it. My mother read to me and my sister from a very early age. I started reading on my own when I was four years old. On average I read about 3 to 8 books a month. I mostly read fiction because I love stories and how they can transport you to experience other lives and worlds. Reading is one on my favorite pastimes, and it is also a great way to relax your mind by giving it a break from stress.
In a 2006 study published in the journal NeuroImage, by researchers in Spain who documented that the body does not make much of a distinction between reading about an experience and encountering it in real life; in each case, the same neurological regions of the brain are stimulated.
This study confirmed what I had suspected for a very long time; our imaginations are very powerful tools we can use to shape our perspective, emotions and social understandings. Reading really can make you a better person, and reading good writing can also make you a better writer.
Reference
Reading Fiction is Good For Your BRAIN!: By Dr. Dan Pezzulo posted 03-02-2015
How Reading Improves Your Writing: by Jennifer Wilber 09-09-2021
P. A. Harper writes about sustainability in all its many forms, is the founder of the Brooklyn Writer’s Exchange, loves to read, drinks too much tea, and writes fiction.
Hire or stalk her online at PAHarper.com, Goodreads, on Facebook @AuthorPAHarper, Twitter @AuthorPAHarper, or Instagram @P.A.Harper