There are many hobbies that could provide you with quality time. The right choice depends on your nature. But regardless of who you are or what you do, unless you already tried it and disliked it, reading is what you should definitely give a chance.
Table of Contents
- Why Should I Allow Reading To Become My Hobby?
- How Reading Affects Your Brain?
- What Should You Read?
- How To Pick The Right Book?
- Don’t Let Reviews And Recommendations Blind You
- Don’t Force Yourself To Read What You Don’t Like
- You Can Read One Same Novel Multiple Times
- Conclusion
Why Should I Allow Reading To Become My Hobby?
First and foremost it’s funny. exciting and is going to relax you and help you escape from the everyday world. But this is not just some vanity claim. There is a whole list of scientifically proven benefits of reading:
- Mental stimulation
- Stress reduction
- Knowledge
- Vocabulary expansion
- Improved cognitive abilities
- Improved memory
- The advancement of focus and concentration
- Improvement of writing skills
- Increase in creativity
- Increase in empathy
- Improved communication skills
How Reading Affects Your Brain?
Briefly explained, reading strengthens your brain producing dozens of additional positive effects. It is because reading involves complex circuits and signals in the brain. In 2013 MRI scans (Magnetic resonance imaging) were used to measure the effect of reading a novel on the brain. Participants were reading Pompei over the course of nine days. As the tension in the book increased so did the brain activity. What was especially interesting is that after four days the part of the brain in charge of responding to physical sensations like movement and pain encountered a rapid increase in connectivity. Another thing that was noticed is a significant reduction in the level of stress.
Reading can also enhance your communicational skills and allow you to lead wealthier conversations and make a better impression on your listeners. In addition to that, when you read stories of other lives you will get close with its characters. You will get to know their life, secrets, fears, and desires. This kind of experience is very likely to increase your empathy and make you both a better listener and a friend.
What Should You Read?
As you might expect the answer to this question is that you should read what you like. If you are new to reading then we recommend that you start with shorter books. If you get in a fuss with time or get bored the lower number of pages will not discourage you to stop reading. Genre is completely up to the points of your interest. However, if you have no particular inclinations, you can also check the list of the craziest books ever written.
How To Pick The Right Book?
First and foremost the most important thing when you get a book into your hands is to feel a certain degree of magnetism. There should be a certain amount of attraction between the reader and the content. Everything starts with the title. However, the appealing name does not necessarily mean you are going to enjoy it. We recommend reading the first few pages of the book to check if the style of writing suits you. If it does, you should buy it. If however, you don’t feel pleasant and have a hard time digesting sentences then you should look for another title.
Don’t Let Reviews And Recommendations Blind You
Whether you are buying on amazon on which one-star to five-star reviews are going to do all recommending or you are in a book store reading recension of big names on the back cover of the book, don’t be a blind believer. While art and culture are the first things you get on your mind on the mere mention of books and reading you must understand that it’s all business. And where is business, there are commercials attempting to persuade you in what sellers would like you to believe and perceive. This statement does not, by any means, neglect the fact that prominent titles are bad. Many of the famous books deserved their place in prominent parts of book stores and top of Amazon’s search engine but they are not the only splendid books you can stumble upon. If you feel that a certain title of the anonymous author that even has bad reviews attracts you then by all means be free to read it.
Don’t Force Yourself To Read What You Don’t Like
When we say books people usually think of Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, Exupery, Kafka… But you don’t really have to read any of those titles if you don’t feel like it. Just because something achieved great success does not mean it has to be a part of your library.
You Can Read One Same Novel Multiple Times
This approach to reading is very interesting. There are whole groups of people that read one title over and over again. What is interesting about this way of reading is that every time you read a book it gets deeper meaning. You spot a detail you missed a previous time, etc… And if you allow your imagination to be free the book can inspire you to create many theories about the plot and meet and interpret characters in a completely different manner.
One of the most popular books known for the habit to make readers addicted and induce them to read it more than twice is “Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint Exupery. The beauty of this title is the simplicity of writing, brief content, and incredible depth of story that allows readers of all ages with kids included, to devour pages until the end and extract a strong lesson. Little Prince produced many theories amongst his reading fans. One of the most usual interpretations is that the little prince symbolizes a child within us that we neglected while growing up. However, some readers also claim that the Little Prince is actually a symbol of Jesus Christ. They explain this with the fact that the writer invented character as a child due to its innocence and that the boy’s belief in the afterlife is an implicit declaration of the little prince being the messiah. But these are not all theories. Not by far. In the upcoming title “Chasing Little Prince” a whole plot revolves around the little prince is a real boy writer really did stumble upon in the desert when his plane crashed.
This is just an example of beautiful features that reading one title over and over again can produce.
Conclusion
Reading is fun and beautiful if you approach it the right way. Bear in mind that it must relax you and provide you with positive feelings. Otherwise, it is not for you and you should try looking for another hobby.
In addition to reading, you could also try writing something on your own. It does not have to be a novel. It can be a short story. But it doesn’t have to be a story either. Or any kind of plot. You can write a few descriptions of what you see below the window. Or put a thought that just fell on your mind on some little piece of paper. Or was inspired by a book you read. Or you can even write a review about the novel you finished. With time, your thoughts on books can turn into a lucrative job because there are many respectable readers on the internet that get books for free and even charge the writers to write their honest opinion.