What was the last book you read?

Source: MedicalXpress

Can you remember the name of the last book that you read recently?  Alright, how about the last book in 'hard copy' or 'soft copy' -- yes, a physical book?  Are those two answers different?  As the world seems to increasing move toward the digital world, so has our preferences to access data.  Which brings me to the point of this short blog post -- has the 'art of reading' been lost among us?



In my opinion, the answer is no.  Yes, more people are moving toward accessing books in digital form.  Although, I am open to being challenged on this assertion.  Recently, I ran across a TED talk from February of this year titled "The Dying Art of Reading Books" by Ms. Arrushi Agarwal with an introduction in the comments section shown below - which captivated my attention:

Research suggests that children who read for enjoyment every day perform better,  develop a broader vocabulary, increased general knowledge and an enhanced understanding of cultures. Reading for pleasure is a better indicator of whether a child does well at school rather than their social or economic background. In this age when multi media is encroaching our households and educational institutions and the number of avid readers is progressively getting endangered  Ms.Arushi Agarwal reminds us of the benefits and the joy of reading.

Ms.Arushi Agarwal is a student of Grade Eleven. She has a brilliant academic record and a well stocked personal library. Arrushi is a self professed bibliophile. Research suggests that children who read for enjoyment every day not only perform better, but also develop a broader vocabulary, increased general knowledge and a better understanding of other cultures. In fact, reading for pleasure is more likely to determine whether a child does well at school than their social or economic background. In this age when multi media is encroaching our households and educational institutions and the number of avid readers is progressively getting endangered we have with us a young lady who will be reminding us of the importance and the art of reading. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Wow.  The pleasure of reading is a subjective experience.  Reading allows a person to explore places in the world which are unreachable.  As pointed out in the video below, each person creates their own version of the places, events, and occurrences as described by an author in a given book.  Which means that there are billions of creative (subjectively created by each person) which are entertained as a result of books which are published.  This is astonishing to consider.



Reading allows a person to familiarize or leave their comfort zone and explore another world.  The benefits of reading are numerous as pointed out in the excerpt above.  The joy of opening a book cannot be properly described in the written word.  A whole new world/dialogue is created when a person opens up a book.  Books speak to us in an unusual way.  Creativity and imagination is required to read a book.  These factors contribute to the benefits of reading. 



What is the last book that you read?  Feel free to leave the title and a short description in the comments below.  For those interested in watching the short presentation -- 6 1/2 minutes in length, the video is shown below:

When was the last time that you found yourself lost in a book?  Each of us should read a book of significant length and outside our natural comfort zone.  This experience 'kick starts' our imagination as pointed out by Ms. Arrushi Agarwal -- who has made quite a journey through reading in a short span.  I hope that you will be inspired by the post and the content of the post to pick up a book and dive into a whole new world for a while.  The effort is worth the journey.  Happy Father's Day!!



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