Much like a muscle, your mind and imagination can get out of shape if you don’t use them regularly. Reading a book can stretch your imagination and broaden your outlook on life, with stories that are both fun and thought-provoking. Reading is a great habit if one is looking to improve overall health. Reading is also proven to improve your health by lowering stress levels and improving your thinking skills by putting you off from negative ruminating. In addition, reading may help slow the loss of memory and thinking skills for older people. It also increases vocabulary skills. Other physical activities can be costly and time-consuming. Reading is cheap and enjoyable. One should set aside the time to read books of choice on a regular basis, just as they would schedule their workouts at the gym or a meeting with their financial advisor.
Here are five must-read books that can inspire you to start or continue reading.
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Help is a narrative about African-American women in the South, the white women for whom they worked, and the children they helped raise, set in a period known to most seniors. It highlights cultural and socioeconomic differences in 1962 America, but it is also a timeless tale about the norms we obey and the ones we refuse to obey. The book is both hilarious and heartbreaking at the same time.
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
A Man Called Ove is a novel that delves into the power of intergenerational friendship and inspires us to love our neighbours a little more. In this book, a lonely and sad elderly man hides behind a gloomy façade, prompting his neighbors to refer to him as the bitter neighbor from hell. However, all changes when chatty young neighbors with young children move next door to him. It is both funny and emotional at times.
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Handmaid’s Tale is set in the future in which a totalitarian state has overtaken the United States government in an age of declining births. The book covers a range of debatable topics, including the role of women in society, women’s rights, religion in society, the role of childbearing in society, and the role of government in society.
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
This one is a fantastic World War II novel about two sisters living in France when the Nazis arrive. The sisters have quite different reactions to the occupation, with one eventually joining the Resistance and risking her life for freedom. The Nightingale, a classic tale for all generations, is a must-read for anybody who enjoys historical fiction and rooting for the underdog.
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Paul Kalanithi, the book’s author, was a neurosurgeon who died of lung cancer while working on it. The neurosurgeon moves from treating the dying to being treated and fighting for his life after being diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. This beautiful book is a fascinating and life-affirming perspective on what it means to live genuinely, chronicling his transition from a medical student to pondering questions of life and death.
