One out of every four adults read exactly ZERO books last year, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll. That is quite a depressing stat. All of the great books out there, and 25% of people don’t read a single one.
It’s truly amazing that people don’t spend at least a little time reading. The benefits are several, including memory improvement, stress reduction, improved focus, greater vocabulary, and much more.
All this, and reading more frequently might actually make you more money and help you achieve greater success.
Tom Corley, author of “Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals,” conducted an extensive study over 5 years to compare the daily habits of 233 wealthy individuals and 128 people in poverty.
Corley had many interesting findings, all of which pointed to the fact that rich people generally had different habits than poor people. He called these success habits. And the rich were more likely to engage in activities that promote education and self-development.
Much of the study involved reading habits. The results showed that 85% of rich people read two or more education, career-related, or self-improvement books per month, compared to 15% of poor.
Additionally, 94% of rich people read news publications including newspapers and blogs, compared to 11% of poor people.
Want greater success? If you don’t read, then start now. If you do, see if you can increase the amount of quality reading you do.
More importantly, make sure your kids are reading. It is never too late to increase vocabulary, build a more vivid imagination, and become better prepared for school, and for life.
We have searched around and found some of the books on the recommended summer reading lists of some of the nation’s top universities. Here are some of the recommendations:
- “Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do,” by Claude Steele
- “Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic,” by Alison Bechdel
- “The Innovators: How a Group of Hackers, Geniuses, and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution,” by Walter Isaacson
- “This Boy’s Life,” by Tobias Wolff
- “Cane River,” by Lalita Tademy.
- “How to Breathe Underwater,” by Julie Orringer
- “Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer”
- “Man Who Would Cure the World,” by Tracy Kidder
- “The Kite Runner,” by Khaled Hosseini
- “Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, the Struggle for the Soul of a Generation,” by Eboo Patel
- “The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America,” by Thomas King
- “Slaughterhouse-Five,” by Kurt Vonnegut
- “Bad Feminist,” by Roxane Gay
- “The Big Sea,” by Langston Hughes
- “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” by Michelle Alexander
- “The Iliad,” by Homer
- “The Madonnas of Echo Park,” by Brando Skyhorse
- “The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood,” by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- “The Circle,” by Dave Eggers
- “Radium Girls,” by D.W. Gregory
- “Machine Man,” by Max Barry
- “Meaning in Life and Why It Matters,” by Susan Wolf
- “Wild,” by Cheryl Strayed
Susan Sly is a best selling author, work life balance expert, speaker and entrepreneur. She has appeared on CNN, CNBC, Fox, Lifetime Television and the CBN. Susan is the mother of five children and resides in Scottsdale, Arizona.
