This is Your Brain on Books

[Tad]

Interesting article on what happens to your mind when you read.

10 Things That Happen To Our Minds When We Read

[Janice (JG)]

Thank you Tad, this is an excellent article, and I feel vindicated for so many strange behaviors now...

I recently posted (to a different group) how I had been reading Peter Matthiessen's The Snow Leopard, and got so cold while struggling up through those blizzarding 14,000 foot Himalayan passes that I came down with a fever and the flu. Of course, it was also below freezing outside in my backyard for those two weeks, but that just added to the reality of the story. Everything I read sinks below the surface.

[Jane]

Thanks for the link. It's always good to hear that some obsessions are actually good for you.

[HeatherIlene]

What a great article -- thanks for sharing. I think I'm quite keen on #3!

[Liz]

How interesting. Thank you for sharing. I'm going to pass this on.

[Book Concierge]

I can't comment on items 6 & 7 because I don't have an e-reader.

However, I definitely relate to item # 1. For me, it's almost as if I'm seeing a movie in my head while I'm reading.

[Sally]

Reading is one of those addictions that I will never give up, even if it weren't good for me. But I would add an 11th thing -- it instigates more creative thought patterns. I find that when I'm reading a really good book or article or essay that my mind is primed to think outside the box. Reading is as important to my life as a creative individual as a good imagination or discipline in a craft.

[Jocelyne]

Sally wrote: "Reading is one of those addictions that I will never give up, even if it weren't good for me. But I would add an 11th thing -- it instigates more creative thought patterns. I find that when I'm rea..."

So right, Sally; it does help you think out of the box and it is most definitely an addiction for me too, a positive one, but an addiction nonetheless. If I don't read everyday, I get irritable! I need reading as much as food and sleep.

[Sally]

Definitely, Jocelyne. I feel the same about writing or creating pictures. That part of us that can imagine the beyond, the other self, the places where stories take us -- that's the part of me that I like the best. Without it, as you said, I get irritable.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

So terribly, terribly grateful I didn't have to relearn to read after my stroke! (Had to relearn pretty much everything else, except telling time. Starting with rolling over in bed.)

[Sally]

That must have been quite a difficult lesson, in more ways than one, Susanna.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

Uh, yes. I'm very glad to have recovered as much as I have. (Still can't drive, but compared to what I've regained, I can live with that.)

[Jocelyne]

Susanna wrote: "Uh, yes. I'm very glad to have recovered as much as I have. (Still can't drive, but compared to what I've regained, I can live with that.)"

How long ago did you have a stroke?

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

A little over nine years ago.

[Jocelyne]

You are really a lesson in courage and hope, Susanna. I am so glad you never lost your ability to read.

[Susanna - Censored by GoodReads]

So do I, believe me!

[Eden]

This is a great article. Thanks for sharing it.