I love reading. I love talking with people about reading.
Joining a book club provides an amazing opportunity to meet new people, learn about them and make friends. Being friends with people whom you share common interests helps you to freely express your emotions, which can be a great way to create new and long term bonds. Book clubs enable you to stay updated with the current world and present an opportunity to learn how others view the world. By reading about new books and authors, you get to know about different societies and their cultures. This enhances your understanding of the current world giving you a new perspective of yourself and lifestyle
Book clubs also provide an opportunity to improve on your ability to communicate with others and can also improve your speech and vocabulary. Regardless of the nature of the book, whether a novel, autobiography, reference book, self help book, or even cook book, the platform provides a forum which allows you to move out of your comfort zone and delve into arenas that may not necessarily come naturally – hence expanding your mind academically and socially.
For the lonely a book club can be a new source of making friends and breaking the pattern and cycle of loneliness. Being surrounded by new and different people who give you the freedom to express positive or negative opinions enables you to feel appreciated, and provides emotional sustenance and boosts your confidence.
On a more technical side, using brain power and making social connections delivers a double dose of “I feel healthy and happy!” In fact, channeling your grey matter plus active friendships is more than a sum of two. The combo of using mental power and talking with friends reduces stress levels, boosts serotonin (the feel-happier and have-less-pain brain chemical) levels, grows brain connections, reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, and protects your heart.
It turns out you can grow new brain cells (we used to think there were only a set number and they died off throughout life). More perks: Getting wrapped up in almost any extracurricular group activity sends blood pressure down and immunity and fun up. Reading exercises the brain and mind and is one of the first skills we learn as children in school, why the passion reduces as we get more mature is beyond me. I used to love utilising my mornings when the girls were at school to read with the children in their classes. Watching the metaphorical theatre of the mind weave itself together with each child used to give me a buzz.
Give me a good book to read any day and I’m in my zone. I use the train journey each day to and from work to get through a few chapters, and when I drive to work I listen to an audio book.
And my love for authors is also as passionate as my love for books. It never ceases to amaze me how one person can assign a place to write each day for a few hours a day and upon completion their work resonates with people all over the world.
I just love it.
I hope you’ll join ABC (Angie’s Book Club) and we can explore the riches that a good book delivers. I hope you’ll read along and join me.
As Walt Disney quoted:
“There is more treasure in books than in all the pirates’ loot on Treasure Island and best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life.”
