5 Reasons to Read Fantasy

Art by Catherine Chauloux

In times of isolation and hunkering down at home, reading is on the increase. Some genres are actually skyrocketing as people find diverse ways to entertain themselves and their family while staying put. 

Catherine Chauloux

Although the circumstances are unfortunate, the results are beneficial. Reading has its perks beyond the obvious one of entertainment.

Benefit #1  - Mental Stimulation 

Researchers using MRI scans to measure the effect of reading a novel on the brain made some exciting discoveries. As subjects read, more and more areas of the brain lit up with activity. The scans showed that brain connectivity is increased by reading, especially in the part of the brain that responds to physical sensations like movement and pain.

Benefit #2 - Reduces Risk of Heart Disease

Reading immersive fiction is shown to have a relaxing effect on the body, lowering blood pressure and protecting to cardiovascular system. Even when the story dives and plunges, rushing us to the edge of our seat, the beneficial effects are there.

Benefit #3 - Bye Bye Stress

Research at the University of Sussex shows that reading is a great way to re-energize. Their work provides evidence of how effective just six minutes of reading can be to reduce stress levels by more than two thirds. (And you know you're going to read for more than six minutes!) "Losing yourself in a book is the ultimate relaxation,” said David Lewis, MD, who lead the study.

Benefit #4 - Love and Connection

According to social and media psychologists, the companionship experienced with fictional characters can be very real. The phenomenon is called parasocial interactions, one-sided relationships with celebrities or fictional characters. Don't laugh! The research is showing that these relationships, even though one-sided, can offer the mental and emotional benefits of camaraderie, community and sense of belonging, essential states for our health and well being. 

Peintre Contemporal - Catherine Chauloux

Benefit #5  - Boosts Self-Confidence

While the heroes in our stories strive to do better, accomplish goals, fight off villains, harsh environments, injury and disease, we are doing so too, right along side them. Reading about their triumphs over adversity, how they win love and saving the day makes us feel like we can, too, and that helps us feel a little better about ourselves.

Characters also show us that our “flaws” can be made into gifts, if we perceive them in a new way.

If that's not enough to convenience you, here are three books you may not have read yet that could spark your interest. (I have a reviewer friend who scouts the best page turners and sends them to me! You can follow her on Twitter here.)

Let me know what you are reading right now. Love to hear from you,

     

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Kim Falconer's New YA Fantasy Series is out January 5, 2020 - Crown of Bones. (Writing asr A.K. Wilder) 

Also, check her urban fantasy  - The Blood in the Beginning - an Ava Sykes Novel and the SFF Quantum Enchantment Series. 

You can find Kim on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Or pop over and throw the bones on the AKWilder.com site.

Get Caught Reading

Get Caught Reading 

Welcome everyone, to lovely May, the Get Caught Reading Month.

Get Caught Reading is a nationwide push inspired by the Association of American Publishers. The aim is to remind people in this time of isolation and crisis how much fun it is to read.

But we don't need reminding, right? If you're part of the Supernatural Underground party, reading is a given.

Still, it helps to throw our hands in the air and celebrate the joy of books! Let's do that now by recounting some of the awesome things reading does for you.

Women Get Caught Reading

1) First up, reading is entertaining and good for your health. Not only does allow us to immerse in story worlds, but it also reinforces neurotransmitters in the brain, keeping the mind sharp and firing.

2) Some studies show that reading reduces stress by up to 65%. That's a lot of stress to let go of!

Note: I'm not sure that the actual writing of books reduces stress, but that's a topic for another day. :)

Anime Characters Reading

3) It may surprise you to learn that reading fiction, or even non-fiction, helps us do MORE in the world. Studies show that if we read about other people's adventures, we are more likely to have adventures ourselves. It gets the brain moving, which means the body is more likely to follow suit.

Reading Romance

4) I've talked about rereading and social surrogacy before. Basically, when we read, we make connections to fictional characters in the same ways to do ‘real’ people.

Psychologists call it parasocial interactions because they are one-sided, but the fact remains, these relationships offer us all the mental and emotional benefits of camaraderie, community, romance and a sense of belonging, essential states for our health and well being.

If the brain is imagining it, physiologically, it's happening!

So, tell me what you are reading this month to celebrate the joy of books! I'd love to hear why reading is good for you.

See you in the comments!

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Kim Falconer's New YA Fantasy Series is out August 4, 2020 - Crown of Bones. (Writing under A.K. Wilder) 

Also, check her urban fantasy  - The Blood in the Beginning - and Ava Sykes Novel and the SFF Quantum Enchantment Series. 

You can find Kim on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Or pop over and throw the bones on the AKWilder.com site.

5 Reasons to Reread Your Favorite Novels

The Art of Reading

Life is short; the TBR list long. So why would I encourage you to reread your favorite novels?

Tyrion Lannister, in  A Storm of Swords, says “Old stories are like old friends . . . You have to visit them from time to time,” and social psychologists are starting to agree.

Rereading books allows us to immerse in a familiar story world, which benefits our emotional, physical and mental health more than reading new material, or not reading at all. Here’s why:

1) Rereading stories we love is guaranteed entertainment. We escape, engaging in the story and letting go of our ‘real life’ worries and concerns. It’s a holiday anyone can afford, a real stress buster, and we all know, stress is at the root of most physical complaints.

2) Rereading favorite books (or watching favorite films and TV shows) gives us comfort. They nourish us on a deep level by taking us to a remembered happiness. Once there, we can experience  those pleasures all over again, reinforcing the ‘happy brain messengers’ in our biochemistry so vital to our emotional, and subsequently physical, well being.

3) Beloved old books are like our True North. They helps us make sense of ourselves by contrasting how we are now to how we were when we first visited the pages. They can help us put change into perspective and understand personal growth and evolution.

4) Familiar stories aren't like old friends. They are old friends. We make connections to fictional characters in the same ways to do ‘real’ people. Psychologists call it parasocial interactions, describing them as one-sided, but the fact is, these relationships offer us all the mental and emotional benefits of camaraderie, community and a sense of belonging, essential states for our health and well being.

5) Rereading favorite books can boost our energy levels, fueling the tanks as much, or more, than a good night’s sleep, or a healthy meal. Jaye Derrick, PhD, explains it like this:

People have a limited pool of mental resources such as drive, willpower and self control. The more we work at a task, the more we deplete our stores, until we refuel with rest and nutrition. But revisiting a much loved story worlds can fill our tanks, and fast.

What’s in play is the idea of social surrogacy where fictional characters become valuable friends. We form relationships to them that have a restorative effect, sometimes more so than our ‘real life’ companions who may make their own demands on us, or respond, at times, in unreliable and/or disturbing, draining, ways.

The operant word in this is “favorite”. Rereading or re-watching any old story won’t have the same benefits, nor will reading the next installment of a series for the first time. It is the familiar reconnection with what happens that really switches on our bio-chemistry, helping to balance our health, relax the nervous systems and contribute to a state of happiness and well being.

Of course, as authors, we return to our own story worlds repeatedly, often with a ticking clock. There are dozens of rereads while writing a manuscript, then multiple edits once it’s complete. Then we read the 4th, 3rd, 2nd and final proof pages and finally, re reread previous books in a series before writing the next, and the next and the next.

Aside from my own works and collaborations, I  have a few old favorites that have lit me up for decades - Lord of the Rings, Dragon Riders of Pern, Dead to the World, The Silver Metal Lover . . .

How about you? I’d love to hear the story worlds you return to and why. Please feel free to comment, sharing with us all your best friends!

Kim Falconer is a Supernatural Underground author writing paranormal romance, urban fantasy, YA and epic science fantasy novels.

You can find out more about Kim at the 11th House Blog, and on FaceBook and Twitter.

She posts here at the Supernatural Underground on the 16th of every month

Her latest release is"Blood and Water" in Supernatural Underground: Vampires Gone Wild.