ShmoopTube

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Why Should I Care About Reading? a la Shmoop There are tons of things you can do with your

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free time. Play sports. Check out Facebook. Go shopping. Practice juggling chainsaws while

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riding a unicycle.

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Or, if you need something relaxing or mentally stimulating, you can read.

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Why should you care about reading? The first answer is the most obvious: books

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are full of information.

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Sure, juggling chainsaws improves your reflexes… and tests the quality of your health insurance…

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but reading improves your mind. In case you haven’t noticed, we live in

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the Information Age. It’s no longer Bronze or Iron that is the most valuable… it’s

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information.

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Knowledge isn’t just power. It’s practically currency.

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Reading can help you get better grades. Improve your memory. And expand your vocabulary exponentially.

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If you don’t know what exponentially means, well, you should be reading more.

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Plus, books have stood the test of time for being a reliable source of information.

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Unless you’re that guy Oprah yelled at for lying in his memoir.

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Sure, Wikipedia is mostly accurate, but you never know who could have changed the information

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right before you log on.

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If someone changes something in a book, you’ll know it.

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While reading seems like a solitary activity, it’s actually a great way to meet new people.

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We don’t think we’ll ever see crowds lining up around the block like they did for Harry

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Potter, but books can be social events, with author talks and book signings.

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You can even find book buddies without leaving the house.

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Once you’re done posting pug photos on Tumblr, you can head over to communities like Goodreads,

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which have over twenty million members. Plus, you’ll know the plot of every other

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movie and cable TV show before they hit the air. Almost every hit program these days is

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based on a book.

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We imagine HBO executives spend a lot of their time at the bookstore.

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Whatever you decide to read, you can do it pretty much anywhere.

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Thanks to e-readers and reading apps on smart phones, you can read at the beach, waiting

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in line at the drive-thru, skydiving, gator wrestling….

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Paper books are actually great pieces of technology, too.

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We know it’s hard to think of a book as technology, but it’s a heck of a lot better

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than carrying stacks of stone tablets wherever you go.

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Plus, drop a book in the pool, and the paper will dry out. Can’t say the same for that

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e-reader. Books are also a great way to teach us about

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the way the world used to be…

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…not only about the world the author has created or where they have chosen to set their

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novel, but about the world of the author him or herself.

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Books are kinda... historical artifacts. They’ll be here longer than any of us.

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Thanks mostly to garage sales. There are so many reasons to care about reading,

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they could fill a book.

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Reading gives you access to unlimited information…

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And unlimited entertainment…

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Plus you can read absolutely anywhere at any time.

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If you already do care about reading, tell someone else why you do.

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Just don’t interrupt them while they’re reading.

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