Book Therapy: Reading Is Life

What can books do for us? Is reading useful? Is it therapeutic? Can

it make us happy? Can it provide us with the spiritual resources

necessary to shield ourselves from adversity? Can literature be

prescribed? Does it benefit both body and soul? Science increasingly

acknowledges the benefits of books. Studies show that the effects

of reading can be equated with those of meditation and medicine.

Readers sleep better, they experience lower levels of stress and

depression and have higher self-esteem t...