by Claire Buss

1. Reading is stimulating! Remember the last time you read a great book? It probably got your heart racing in some way or made you think differently about something. Perhaps it scared you, made you laugh or cry. Either way, it got your brain working out and that is always a good thing.

2. It’s stress-free. Unless you are the author on a deadline to write the story of course, lol. Reading takes you away from the stresses of daily life and helps you to relax.

3. You learn things, probably without even realising it when you’re reading fiction. Your stimulated, stress-free brain is able to soak up little tidbits and share them later with other book lovers.

4. Your vocabulary expands – strictly speaking, that comes under learning but this is in addition to facts and such-like so it gets its own bullet point. That stress-free, stimulated learning brain is acting like a sponge and the ability to articulate is a handy skill throughout your life.

5. Reading a book isn’t just a matter of looking at groups of letters on a page. You’ve got to remember characters, plots, sub-plots, locations, descriptions made all the more complicated if you enjoy reading sci-fi and fantasy novels with their other-worldly names, a large cast and multiple books. It’s a great memory workout for that stimulated brain – looking good!

6. The more you read, the better you become at critiquing, reviewing and discussing books with others. The more likely you are to write a review and the more an author loves you.

7. It helps you focus. In our social-media fuelled world of hashtags and emojis, everyone can agree that news feeds – no matter the platform – run too fast to keep up with and continually scrolling is a massive time waster. So instead of losing focus and being distracted every five seconds by new posts and notifications, why not lose your concentration in a book and feed your beautiful brain.

8. One of the most well-known maxims within the writing community is that to write you must read and every writer I know is a huge reader too. These writers tend to devour their favourite genres and most will dabble in others too. You can’t write well if you’re not well-read.

9. Inner peace. Well, maybe not if you’re reading gloriously dark horror or a terrifying thriller but enjoyable reading can lead to tranquillity and calm in that happily stimulated, unstressed brain of yours.

10. Free entertainment – well, mostly free. Love your local library and indulge your reading habit. Follow favourite authors, explore your genre and get free e-books from new writers. That’s right – we indies will give you free books to help keep your brain healthy and happy.

Claire is an award-winning indie-author, Pen to Print alumni and Online Features Editor for Write On! Magazine. Find out more about her and her books at her website.