How You Can Have an Extraordinary Life—Read!

Shay CU3

Remember all those tiresome lectures from teachers and parents telling you to read, read, read?  Turns out they were right. 

One of the necessities for an extraordinary life is to be able to think well into your declining years.  And research in the journal Neurology confirms—and helps explain why—people who habitually read, write, and process heaps of information are less likely to decline mentally late in life.  

As reported in Pacific Standard, an opinion and think journal, a lifetime of reading slows decline in cognition, even providing protection against the impacts of common old-age neurological disorders.  (See http://tinyurl.com/lwcxd7r)  

As a writer, I value any snippet of information that encourages people to read, no matter how protean* the subjects of the reading material may be.  Right now, I’m concentrating on romances in my work, although I write in many areas.  So, hey, if you read romances, sports, mysteries, zombies and vampires, instruction manuals for computers, limericks, or the backs of cereal boxes, all to your own good.  Just do a heck of a lot of it. 

Maybe eventually you’ll pick up some of my publications.  Even better, you’ll be able to understand what’s written there.  

*Protean: Exhibiting considerable variety or diversity

Something to Think About

What’s going on with readers today? A Goodreads member survey has surprising insights into reading habits. Social media isn’t as influential as thought; readers frequently look for works by favored authors; many read books on smart phones.