Live Longer by Reading Books
When I was in high school, almost 50 years ago, I read a lot. But I have to confess, I didn’t always read the books I was assigned.
I liked George Orwell and Upton Sinclair. I had a hard time getting into Mark Twain. There is a long list of classics like Moby Dick, Homer and dozens more that I avoided.
But recently, I learned there is evidence that we should all rediscover the habit of reading.
Why? Because we might live longer!
Did you know that if you read books for about 30 minutes per day you might live longer. In fact, according to a 12 year study at Yale University, the benefits of reading books are surprising. The 2016 study which was published in Social Science and Medicine was based on data from over 3,500 individuals over age 50.
The most definitive quote from one the study’s authors, Becca Levy, a professor of epidemiology and psychology at Yale. She said, “Older individuals, regardless of gender, health status, wealth, or education, showed the survival advantage of reading books.”
Readers who read books about 30 minutes per day could expect to leave 23 months longer than people who did not read books.
Readers of books seem to be more connected and engaged. Levy indicates, “More questions need to be answered, but we know that reading books involves two cognitive processes that could confer a survival advantage: the slow, deep immersion needed to connect to content; and promotion of empathy, social perception, and emotional intelligence.”
So you say, “I don’t read a lot of books but I read newspapers and magazines. Do I live longer? There was some association to longer life but the correlation was weaker.
How does the Senior Tech Club help?
Your iPhones and iPad provide you a variety of tools to support your reading habit. At the Senior Tech Club, we have created multiple recipes to support the habit.
We also have a bias toward free or affordable books and offer recipes where you can borrow ebooks from your local library or download classics from the Gutenberg Project.
So maybe it’s time to start your trek to a longer life. Or perhaps you are feeling a little guilty about the books you didn’t read in school. Regardless, the Senior Tech Club is ready to help.
Here is the list of the Senior Tech Club’s recipes that focus on ebooks. Now get out and enjoy some books and plan to live longer.
Are you into reading books? You might be surprised to learn that there are many sources for free books that you can read on your iPhone or iPad. This includes free and affordable books for the iBooks app. This recipe will show you how to get free and affordable books from the Apple store for iBooks. It also cover using the Gutenberg Project in order to access 54,000 free books for download. Reading books is good for you. There are even health studies that suggest that reading books can help you live longer. And many people are discovering the convenience and power of eBooks. And the device in your hand, your iPhone or iPad are one of the preferred platform for reading eBooks. If you are thinking about reading eBooks on your iPad or iPhone, the iBooks app comes with your device and may be the first reading app that you want to explore. This recipe provides tips and the basics for using your device as an eBook reader. Many people would recognize that Amazon really built the eBook marketplace with the release of the original Kindle readers in 2007. The Kindle app from Amazon is a leading eBook app from the Amazon. You will need the Kindle app if you want to read books acquired from Amazon on your iPhone or iPad. What could be better than FREE books to read? And we are not talking about the old classics like you can get from the Gutenberg Project. We are talking about the latest New York Times bestsellers that you can read for free from your public library using the Libby app to access eBooks from your local library. This recipe will get your started. Are you into reading books? But you are finding ebooks expensive. The Gutenberg Project will give you access to over 60,000 FREE classic books from great authors. This Nugget will explain and show you how to access and read from your iPhone or iPad. You might be surprised to learn that there are many sources for free books that you can read on your iPhone or iPad. This includes free and affordable books for the iBooks app.Image Recipe Number Title Summary hf:tags 
412 Find Free or Affordable Books for iBooks books 
410 Reading Books with the Books App books 
413 Read Books with the Kindle App
This recipe will show you how to install and use the Kindle app on your iPhone or iPad.books 
414 Use Libby to Read Books from your Library books 
N50 Read Classic Books for FREE with the Gutenberg Project books
