Somerset County - Reading Really Can Change Your Life

By SCLSNJ

Have you ever said that a book changed your life? According to an Emory University study, a book can do just that.

The study, published by Brain Connectivity in 2013, compared the brains of people after they read Robert Harris’ Pompeii to the brains of people who did not read. The study found that there was heightened connectivity in the left temporal cortex, the area of the brain associated with receptivity for language, as well as in the central sulcus, the region associated with making representations of sensation for the body. Meaning, reading fiction makes you a more empathetic person.

Fiction reading isn’t alone in its positive impact on the brain.

A study conducted by researchers at the University of Exeter in 2013 found that reading poetry stimulates the right hemisphere of the brain, linking poetry to reward and emotion. It also found that the regions of the brain linked to memory showed more activity while reading poetry and that reading poetry stimulates the posterior cingulate cortex and medial temporal lobes, the parts of the brain linked to our resting states.

There have even been claims published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology that those who read the Harry Potter series have improved perception of stigmatized groups such as immigrants, homosexuals or refugees.

Simply put: reading is good for you - and your brain - and science is now backing up that claim.

Somerset County Library System of New Jersey (SCLSNJ) is home to more than 130,000 adult fiction books, over 25,000 young adult fiction books, more than 7,500 poetry books, and even has 424 Harry Potter titles available in multiple languages. Included in SCLSNJ’s impressive collection are all titles featured in the New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2014 list and all 10 books listed in the LibraryReads Favorite of the Favorites 2014. And the collection will continue to grow.

“In 2014, we added almost 15,000 more fiction books to our collection - and that number doesn’t include the books we added in other genres,” said Yvonne Selander, SCLSNJ Collection Management Supervisor. “In 2015, we plan to make even more books available to our patrons.”

Not sure what brain-benefiting book to pick up next?

SCLSNJ’s Top 10 Adult Fiction Books for 2014 were:

1. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
2. The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty
3. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
4. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
5. Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen
6. Takedown Twenty: A Stephanie Plum Novel by Janet Evanovich
7. Missing You by Harlan Coben
8. Private L.A. by James Patterson
9. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
10. I’ve Got You Under My Skin by Mary Higgins Clark

SCLSNJ’s Top 10 Young Adult Fiction Books for 2014 were:

1. The Fault In Our Stars by John Green
2. Divergent by Veronica Roth
3. Allegiant by Veronica Roth
4. Insurgent by Veronica Roth
5. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
6. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
7. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
8. The Maze Runner by James Dashner
9. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
10. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

Visit SCLSNJ’s 10 library branches to explore the extensive collection today. For more information about SCLSNJ, visit SCLSNJ.org.

Somerset County Library System of New Jersey (SCLSNJ) partners with you to connect, to explore, to share and to discover. Together we enrich lives, expand knowledge and strengthen communities. SCLSNJ branches can be found in Bridgewater, Bound Brook, Hillsborough, Manville, at the Mary Jacobs Library in Rocky Hill, North Plainfield, Peapack & Gladstone, Somerville, Warren Township and Watchung. In addition, there are SCLSNJ Reading Stations in Branchburg and Washington Valley. Visit SCLSNJ.org for further information about library services offered at SCLSNJ.