Have you been stressed out, had trouble sleeping, struggled with schoolwork, or been bored in school? Consider reading a book.

By reading for as little as six minutes a day, you may improve your mental health. According to Mental Health First Aid England, reading reduces stress, helps you develop empathy (understanding) for others, helps you get smarter, and helps improve your mental health.

Reading can help you relax. As noted in the Junior Literary Guild, “A study from the University of Sussex in 2009 found that reading can reduce your stress levels by 68%. Furthermore, this study found that people who read for six minutes before completing a stressful task were able to lower their stress levels faster and more significantly than people who tried other stress-tackling techniques like walking or listening to music.”

Junior Kaitlynn Hicks is one student who finds reading relaxing, noting that it helps her “get out of the real world and it feels like I’m in the story.”

If you tend to have trouble getting to sleep, reading can help with that. Some of the leading causes of sleep problems are stress, exposure to blue light (like cell phones), and an inconsistent sleep schedule. Choosing to read a book before bed can relax your mind from distracting thoughts, reduce eye strain, and give you a routine that can help you fall asleep faster and sleep better. In fact, a 2021 BioMed Central study showed that reading a book before sleep improved subjective sleep quality for 42% of readers compared to 28% of non-readers. So if you’re looking for a good night’s sleep, picking up a book might be the knight to fight your insomnia monsters.

“I feel that reading before bedtime allows the brain to turn off all the stress of the day, hopefully contributing to a better night of sleep,” said English teacher Sherry Esch.

It might seem obvious that reading can improve your grammar and punctuation, but it can also help refine your language abilities, expand your vocabulary, and improve your writing. Most colleges and universities require a personal essay in their applications, so they will be looking at your literacy skills when reading your essay. Moreover, when considering employment, many employers pay close attention to a person’s vocabulary and communication skills, both of which you can improve by regular reading.

“Reading gives a student a chance to lay claim to what they are reading. It allows students the chance to connect the material to personal experiences and to learn how others may respond or act in various situations,” said Esch.

Reading a book doesn’t always have to be educational; it can also be entertaining. Think of reading as an escape from reality, giving you a chance to explore new ideas and worlds. It can also help enhance your creativity and imagination, letting the words of the book come to life in your mind, almost like a movie. This can provide a healthy escape from the stress of life.

Not sure what kind of book will fit you? There are so many genres, such as fairytales, romance, mystery, horror, and non-fiction.

“My favorite genre is cheesy romance. With everything negative that happens in the world, cheesy romances with characters that are heartfelt and outcomes that are always good restore my faith in the world. I am able to believe in things like ‘love wins’ and ‘things will work out in the end’ because I’m able to escape into a world where that still happens,” said senior Lila Mathews.

You can ask for recommendations from friends who like to read, or stop by the FCHS Library to ask the librarians, Ann Jennings and Shannon Taylor, for their suggestions. Students can visit the media center during the school day as long as they have a Securly Pass from their teacher. You can also go there during your lunch as long as you have a pass from an administrator and finish your food before you arrive.

While reading is something you generally do by yourself, there are ways to incorporate reading into your social life, such as joining a book club, watching a movie adaptation of a book with friends, and connecting with others through social media like Bookship, a social reading app that lets you share passages and favorite book quotes with other people.

You can also join the FCHS Book Club, which is run by Jennings and Taylor and meets on the first, third, and fourth club days each month.

“We read a book each month together in Book Club, and we also talk about books we are reading on our own. Our goal is to read all different genres, so we grow as readers and maybe find different types of books that we ordinarily wouldn’t have picked ourselves, but that we enjoy, thus learning more about ourselves and growing. We also play book-themed games and go on book-related field trips,” said Jennings.

If you’re looking for a good book, check out sites like Goodreads, BookBub, or BookBrowse.