Why Everyone Should Read

This week I stumbled upon a really great article that detailed all of the reasons reading shouldn’t just be a hobby.  There are so many more benefits to reading than most people realize, and I really enjoyed getting to read about them in this article.  Below are some of my favorite studies that they detailed.

Reading Fights Alzheimers 

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The National Academy of Sciences performed a study which showed that elderly people who read or play mentally challenging games are 2.5 times less likely to get Alzheimers.

Reading Makes you Seem Sexier 

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Pay attention guys!  A recent study found that reading makes you appear more intelligent, which is especially attractive to women.

Reading Fiction Makes you More Empathetic 

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A University of Buffalo study concluded that reading books from a variety of perspectives helped people understand other viewpoints better and be more empathetic in their real lives.

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Anne of Green Gables Review

In case you couldn’t tell from my post where I chose “Anne of Green Gables” as my April Book Challenge book, I am a huge fan.  I read the first book in the series when I was nine or ten, and I have been hooked ever since.

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I stumbled upon the books when I was nine or ten, finding an old box set among the piles of books my family had accumulated.  I devoured the first four books, and was hooked right away. It was a few years late that I realized there were even more books about Anne. Even though I was probably 14 at that time, I had to reread the first four and then rush through the rest of them.

Clearly my love of these books is going to keep me from providing an unbiased review for this book.  Instead, I will definitely be leaning more towards a strong recommendation that all of you read them.  Whether you have read some or all of them as a child, or have never read them at all, I strongly recommend  you pick up a copy, especially one as pretty as these.

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Anne Shirley is one of my all time favorite literary characters.  This should come as no surprise seeing as I included her in my “Five Favorite Women in Literature” list.  Whether you are a young girl or a grown women I truly feel that Anne’s story can teach you something.

While the life of a young Canadian orphan is not all that similar to my own suburban Indiana childhood, I still found it impossible not to relate to Anne Shirley.  Though the books were first published in 1908, and the writing is old-fashioned, L.M. Montgomery writes in such a way that children today can still relate to the dramatic, intelligent and imaginative little girl she created.

While you might be thinking “That’s great, but I’m a little old for a children’s book,” I have to beg to differ.  This month was just another of many times that I have reread these books.  Anne’s story still gets me every time, and for me Anne Shirley and Gilbert Blythe will always be the perfect romance story.  I still love reading their story to this day, and I am certain all of you will as well.

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Discovering Audiobooks

Listen to the audio for this post to get the full effect!

Though audiobooks have exploded in popularity in the last few years, I personally never really got into them.  I felt like they just wouldn’t give me the same feelings as reading a physical copy of a book.  My favorite part of reading is the ability to get so immersed in a book that it feels like everything is really happening to you.  I always felt like I just wouldn’t get that with an audiobook.

Recently however, I’ve been trying out audiobooks more, and have realized how much I like this new form of books.  Though I still have some doubts about whether or not you can really immerse yourself in an audiobook, for some types of books I really enjoy them.

I love listening to non-fiction books, rather than reading a physical copy.  Listening to these books gives me the chance to work on other things while looking at a genre I don’t typically read.  And since you aren’t getting immersed in a specific story, you don’t have to worry about not getting as involved as you do when you read a book.

If you are looking to get into audiobooks you should check out some of the links below for some awesome deals!

Audible 

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This is amazon’s audiobook website, and it works pretty much just like buying an ebook for your kindle.  They offer a lot of different deals on audiobooks that you should definitely check out.

Audiobooks.com

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This is pretty much netflix for audiobooks, so if you really get into them this would be a great deal for you!

Your Public Library

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The best deal of all of them!  Your public library is a great place to check out both audiobooks and ebooks!.

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5 Things Book Lovers are Tired of Hearing

1. I don’t read.

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Though I understand that some people just aren’t book lovers, whenever people say this it’s always said in some sort of condescending way.  Not liking books doesn’t make you cool…

2.  It’s just a book – get over it.

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Even though it’s “just a book” that doesn’t mean you can’t get emotionally involved.  If a book is really well written it will pull you into the story.

3. Don’t you have more important things to do?

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This is probably my biggest pet peeve on the list.  This is usually said in a follow up to the “I don’t read comment,” where they say how they’re just too busy to find the time.  They just don’t understand that reading is our hobby, so we make the time!

4. I’ll just watch the movie.

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But it’s not the same!

5. I lost that book you lent me…

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Or returned it with dog ears, drink spills, and once – an entire back page ripped off.  This is someone else’s property, how could you treat it like that?

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A Bookworm Childhood

In honor of this month’s reading challenge “A Book From Your Childhood,” I thought I’d share a buzzfeed list that I stumbled upon that fits this month perfectly.  Below are some of my favorite signs from the list.  I hope these help you all reminisce about the good old days.

 28 Signs You Were A Total Bookworm  As A Kid

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Even better when your mom was in charge of it and you got to see all the books early while they set up.  Let’s be real, I was the envy of the whole class.

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Don’t forget school reading programs.  You really know you were a bookworm when you have a trophy for a reading competition…

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Not gonna lie, my 11th birthday was met with not a small amount of disappointment over not getting a Hogwarts letter.

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Let’s not forget restaurants while the rest of your family is eating dinner…

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Thinking about the day my mom wouldn’t let me start the new Harry Potter book until I cleaned the house still makes me a little upset…

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Unfortunately my parents caught onto this trick pretty quick, forcing me to start taking long trips to the bathroom with my books at night.

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I hope this month’s challenge and this list help bring you all back to your childhoods and make you reminisce about all of your favorite books when you were young.

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Sticky Note Reviews

I’ve decided to dedicate this post to one of my favorite book-related things I’ve stumbled upon recently, the Sticky Note Reviews from Barnes and Noble’s pinterest page.  I stumbled on these reviews a few weeks ago, and I absolutely love this idea.

These short, but informative reviews are perfect for sticking on a book in a library or bookstore for some other bookworm to stumble upon later. Here are a few of the recent reviews from Barnes and Noble, so you can get a better idea of what the reviews are supposed to be.

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Now that you have seen some of these amazing reviews, I hope that you guys like them as much as I do.  Below are my first few attempts at these short reviews.  I still haven’t decided exactly where I am going to be putting these for someone else to find.

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April Update: 2015 Reading Challenge

It is once again time to choose my newest book for the 2015 Reading Challenge.  April was especially difficult to choose a book for, because this month’s topic is “a book from your childhood.”

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Like any good bookworm, my love of literature came from reading so many amazing books as a child. It was so hard to pick just one of the books I loved to read this month.

Even though it was incredibly difficult to pick a book this time around, I still love this month’s challenge.  There will always be something special about picking up a book you loved as a kid.  If you don’t agree with me, agree with Meg Ryan.

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So, without further ado, my book for April is…. “Anne of Green Gables” by L.M. Montgomery.

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There were so many books I loved as a kid, many even more than “Anne of Green Gables.”  I chose to read this one however, because I got a beautiful new set of puffin classics with a copy of the book for christmas, and I hadn’t gotten to enjoy it yet.

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Here are a few more of my favorite books from childhood, I would love to hear about some of your favorites in the comments!

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Tuck-Everlastingfrom-the-mixed-up-files1winn dixie

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