Maybe This Is Why We Read, And Why In Moments Of Darkness We Return To Books: To Find Words For What

Found my cat curled up in my blanket this morning and I just had to take advantage of the cuteness!

5 Great Articles About Reading

...to help you adapt the habit in our fast-changing world.

Your mom tells you to read. Your teacher or your boss tells you to read. Successful individuals tell you to read. They're right to tell you so.

For non-readers, it's not going to be an easy task. Reading is tedious. Sometimes a bit irksome, too. You find that words are drowning you in boredom and irritation before turning to the next page.

This is why I've collected a list of five helpful articles to aid you in reading actively, effectively, and habitually. Whether you're an avid bookworm like me or a stranger to pages, these articles can help you acquire the habit in our modern-day society.

1. How to Read the Right Way: A Complete Guide | Medium

Even books and reading evolve. In this article, author Melissa Chu tackles the art of speed reading, the pros and cons of different reading formats, and how to read in a changing society.

2. The Complete Guide to Effective Reading | Medium

Worry about memorizing dates for your history exam? Maarten van Doorn takes you into an in-depth analysis of acquiring information into your long-term memory, as well as how to read actively.

3. 14 Ways to Cultivate a Lifetime Reading Habit | Life Hack

Reading is a habit, not a chore. If it isn't one of your pastimes yet, don't worry! Life Hack presents to you 14 ways to make reading a pleasurable and worthwhile habit.

4. The Case for Reading Fiction | Harvard Business Review

Business and companies look for various skills and good characteristics in their employees. Harvard Business Review says that reading literary fiction can help you develop these in-demand traits, and ultimately become a better person.

5. Books are good for your brain. These techniques will help you read more | Popular Science

Here's the science behind the effects and benefits of reading. Popular Science shows you not only how to make reading a habit, but also how to read more and achieve your reading goal.

These are just some of the multitudes of articles I've found to help you learn to read. I hope this helps spark your inner reader!

Things we should do in English class instead of just Shakespeare:

Compare & contrast a Rick Riordan book, an original Greek myth, and/or a retelling like Song of Achilles

Instead of talking about poetic devices, look for imagery, symbolism, and color theory in comics/graphic novels/Webtoons (Lore Olympus is a great example!!)

Analyze a Broadway musical instead of a Shakespeare play. (There’s SO MUCH to unpack in Dear Evan Hansen)

Have half the class read a book, and the other half listen to the audiobook. Do the audiobook kids have more similar interpretations? How much does the inflection and (unsaid) thoughts of the narrator influence ones takeaway?

10k notes and I’ll show this to my English teacher

reading alone in your room at sunset with your windows open in summer while the wind caresses your skin is probably the closest thing we have to a cure for the human condition

how did you learn to write well?

well first you have to be a very sad child

We need more diverse books in literature. More voices need to be represented.

The Cooperative Children’s Book Center has released the results of their 2019 survey on diversity in kidlit/YA.

We thank them for this invaluable work, note their commitment to adding Arabs/Arab Americans in future surveys, and present these graphs of their findings.

The 3,716 books surveyed have this many main characters total for the following groups:

Black/African: 11.9%

First/Native Nations: 1%

Asian/Asian American: 8.7%

Latinx: 5.3%

Pacific Islander: 0.05%

White: 41.8%

Animal/Other: 29.2%

LGBTQIAP+: 3.1%

Disability: 3.4%

“Taken together, books about white children, talking bears, trucks, monsters, potatoes, etc. represent nearly three quarters (71%) of children’s and young adult books published in 2019.” - librarian Madeline Tyner

When we looked at the breakdown for IPOC creatives who wrote and/or illustrated stories with characters of their own race, we found the following:

First/Native Nations: 68.2%

Pacific Islander: 80%

Latinx: 95.7%

Asian/Asian American: 100%*

*NOTE: these percentages include both authors and illustrators and, as pointed out by author Linda Sue Park for past surveys, Asians/Asian Americans are frequently illustrators but not necessarily authors of their own stories, meaning this is not fully reflective of #OwnVoices representation.

Black/African creatives wrote and/or illustrated only 46.4% of stories featuring Black/African characters.

This is the work that still needs to be done.

Readers are the best weightlifters, then.

“Books have to be heavy because the whole world’s inside them.”

— Inkheart by Cornelia Funke

Books with cats make the best reading environment ♡

Leo Tolstoy sure does know what happiness is!

“Rest, nature, books, music… such is my idea of happiness.”

-Leo Tolstoy