📖 You should read. More. | Weekly Wharmby #67

Happy Wednesday,

Everybody raves about the benefits and positive effects of reading on your physical and mental health.

In fact, mentioning to somebody that you don’t like reading is almost taboo - like admitting you don’t like dogs or chocolate.

And there’s definitely some substance in this - so let’s look at why I think we all should read more.

By the way - next week I’m launching a new series all about a project I’ve been working on in January. It’ll be sent at the end of each month, and I’m really excited about it - don’t miss it by subscribing here.

🤔 Why some don’t like reading: Content and Situation

Firstly, let’s remind ourselves what reading actually is, in the sense of the verb.

Nothing new here, but the point is that reading is a ubiquitous, everyday action that we all do. It’s just a way of absorbing information. So when people decide they don’t like reading, or can’t read more, it’s not because they dislike the action of reading.

What it’s likely about is not liking the books they read, or the situations they read them in.

Sadly, our early reading experiences are usually reading excerpts from Shakespeare out loud to a class, or memorising and regurgitating lines of a poem for a high school exam.

There’s three issues here:

• The first is that not everybody likes Shakespeare (or whatever it is we were forced to read)

• The second is that not everybody likes to read out to a class

• The third is that reading isn’t that fun if you are being made to do it

Let’s focus on the first two.

📖 We should read more

Quite simply, reading widely and consistently has huge positive effects on our physical and mental health, relationships, creativity and more.

But instead of reeling off a dozen studies and findings on the benefits of reading that, intuitively, we already know, I’ll give you my point of view.

Firstly, there’s some bloody good books out there. Boy Swallows Universe, American Dirt, A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones series), Project Hail Mary: these are some of the best books I’ve ever read - everyone should read them to see for themselves.

Secondly - I genuinely think there’s a clear relationship between me becoming more creative and more intelligent as a child as I read more. Over time, I moved into higher sets and consistently achieved some of the highest marks at school.

And finally, reading is a huge part of my bedtime routine. Reading helps create space between a screen filled day and helps me relax and calm down before going to sleep. When I can’t sleep, I just read more, which is a win win. Reading takes my mind off the fact I am not yet tired (never let yourself get angry if you can’t fall asleep), and nothing can make me fall asleep faster than reading itself.

📈 How to start reading (more)

Surprise surprise, Jake loves reading and there’s plenty of benefits. But how do we read more? Focus on these 2 elements:

Situation

Like going to the gym or eating healthily, reading is a habit that has to be formed over time. Making it part of a routine, such as 30 mins before going to sleep, is a great way to start. This counteracts all of the times we’ve been forced to read when we don’t want to, or in an uncomfortable situation.

Content

“Read what you love until you love to read”:

For every one of our interests, there’s a great book. Read those until reading stops feeling like a chore. There’s nothing better than having a book that you can’t wait to sit down and read, to the point where you find yourself making time to do so.

Just remember: reading doesn’t always have to be to learn. It can be just for enjoyment or to relax. It took me a while to realise that.

Enjoy and let me know what you decide to pick up.

This week I'm: ⬇️

👀 Looking forward to next week’s email which will be the start of a new series, shared at the end of each month - more next week, make sure you are subscribed to see for yourself.

🎧 Enjoying using http://asoftmurmur.com to help me stay focused with background noise. I usually go for rainstorms, perhaps because I’m from Manchester

📺 Watching 22 Problems solved in 2022 by the excellent Wendover Productions. Reminds me of the similarly optimistic Factfulness

📖 Reading A Feast for Crows - book 4 in A Song of Ice and Fire. I’ve read this before but what’s great is that I don’t remember a single bit of it, which was exactly what I hoped!

💻 Also reading this great website about rewilding Britain - did you know that the Eurasian Beaver was hunted to extinction in the UK for its fur around 300 years ago, but have since been successfully reintroduced and protected in many countries, including Scotland and England. How’s that for good news on a Wednesday?

🍺 On day 25 of dry Jan. I thought Dry Jan would be easy this year as I expected January to be quiet. Alas, it has not been, but I’ve stayed strong with a week to go. I’ll be sharing some thoughts in next week’s email on how it went.

💬 And finally, a quote

*follow up to Notes from a Small Island, 20 years later

Thanks!

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In the meantime, you can find me on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube, and have a look at what I’m reading on Goodreads.

📸 BONUS: Photo of the Week