Friday, May 18, 2007

One More Post on Reading

Thank you to everyone who contributed more reasons to read! It's exciting to see how many people have such a deep love for words on a page! Your comments were great fun to receive! I am including your reasons, as well as a few extras in another list.

Reasons one through four on this post were contributed by Mihaela Lica from eWritings - Online Public Relations.

Lady Macleod at Braveheart-does-the-Maghreb contributed number five on the list.

Julia Temlyn of Temlyn Writing and Lillie Ammann of A Writer's Words, An Editor's Eye both seem to agree that getting lost in books is one of the most pleasurable experiences in the world.

Eight More Good Reasons to Read:


(1) It gives you better understanding of the world.

(2) It shows you new worlds too.

(3) You see how the impossible becomes possible...

(4) You make new friends (the writers and their heroes)

(5) Reading makes you laugh, cry, feel inspired, mad, or want to visit the locale. Evoking emotion is great because it has the potential to bring about change in undesirable situations. If you read about something that makes you angry, like child abuse, for example, then perhaps you might just get angry enough, or sad enough, or inspired enough to do something about it. That's awesome!

(6) Reading keeps our memories sharp.

(7) It helps us to retain information easier.

(8) It boosts general knowledge and decreases the chances of retaining
misinformation.


Looking for more on reading? Visit Sylvia C.'s Soaring With Sylvia. It's a fun site where you will find her children's poetry, book reviews and fun information about reading.

I hope everyone has an amazing weekend!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Lisa
I have added your site to my list of Great Places to Hang Out for Mothers Who Write http://www.growyourwritingbusiness.com/?p=198

Yvonne

Anonymous said...

The reading insights you have gathered are great. I have a few to add too if not too late.

- Discovering new and interesting words and turns of phrase

- Being open to new perspectives

- Taking time just for you

- Memories of time spent sharing books with your children

- Reading can inspire

- Reading can be a catalyst for making decisions or doing

I guess the list is endless. I note both reading and writing were in the top 10 of the Simply Successful Secrets list at Aaron Potts' site.
http://www.todayisthatday.com/blog/simply-successful-secrets-roundup/

Yvonne

Lisa Vella said...

Yvonne,

Thank you so much for the link and the extra reasons to read! You are right, the list is endless!

I am adding you to my great blogs, too!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Lisa

lady macleod said...

I think it is fabulous how many people have something to contribute to the list! gives hope when one reads the polls that say reading is on the decline.

Good week-end to you as well, and thank you for including me.

Merry Monteleone said...

I just found you through the post at writingthoughs, but I'll be stopping back more often.

I can't imagine not reading, for all of the reasons you mentioned and many more. As a mother, I know that children pick up the love of reading, not from being read to but by example. If your kids see you take an active interest in reading on a regular basis, they are more likely to enjoy reading as well... my mother had two books going at a time for my entire life - all three of her children are avid readers... My oldest is nine, and she's already on her way.

As a writer, there's nothing I adore more than finding a book where the writing disappears. The story and characters are so alive and compelling that I actually stop reading with a writer's eye and just become involved in the novel. Don't get me wrong, I love poetic prose and a well turned phrase, but the writer with enough humility to put the story before their word arsenol is the one that will keep me coming back time and again... first, because I know as a writer, it's difficult to do... second, because those novels will stay with you forever.

Great piece. I look forward to more.

Lisa Vella said...

Lady Macleod, you are right, it is encouraging that so many are so enthusiastic about reading. I was very happy to receive the kind of response that I did on these posts. It's been great fun...but then reading is great fun!

Merry,

Thank you for your very insightful comment. Although I do believe being read to a a young child does help to instill that love. Certainly seeing your parents and those you respect has a huge impact on that, too.

I definitely relate to having more than one book going at a time. I often have at least two or three! I can just never decide what book to read first so I read them all!

Thanks for visiting my blog, ladies! I hope to see you back!

Have a nice day!

Lisa

Merry Monteleone said...

Hi again,

I think I might have given the wrong impression - it should have read,

"As a mother, I know that children pick up the love of reading, not only from being read to but by example."

I do, too, believe reading to children is important, both to instill the love of reading and as a means to spend quality time with your child... sometimes my thoughts are a bit quicker than my typing fingers ;-)