I've come across people who don't consider fiction readers as readers. They think if you pick up a book it must be one that speaks of the real world and not something made up by someone writing their dreams on paper.

Here's a thread on why reading fiction is important.

1. Reading literary fiction helps people develop empathy, theory of mind, and critical thinking. When we read fiction we live another persons life. That experience will allow us to understand certain people, their motivations and see new perspectives.

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2. Reading has been shown to put our brains into a pleasurable trance-like state, similar to meditation, and it brings the same health benefits of deep relaxation and inner calm. This makes it the best way to overcome stress.

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2 Continued...

Fiction takes away the need to think and plan into the future the way that non-fiction does. Your mind will be a lot more relaxed.

3)Reading fiction allows people to explore ideas of change,complex emotions and cause and effect.
Good fiction stories will in turn enable us to create good social connections because books are 'reality simulator'. We also tend to respond better to change because of this
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4) Can reading Harry Potter make us more inclusive, tolerant and open-minded? Yes.
“the researchers credited the books with improving readers’ ability to assume the perspective of marginalized groups.....

They also claimed that young children, with the help of a teacher, were able to understand that Harry’s frequent support of “mudbloods” was an allegory towards bigotry in real-life society.”

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CC: Means I used those sites as reference/support for an idea.

Off personal experience, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi gave me an insight into slave trade and how it affected peoples lives. When reading, you see yourself in the character and I must say, i didn't like what i saw.

Francine Rivers,always has a way to make you rethink what you thought you knew about relationships between people. The cause and effects, the changes life brings and all that. Reading her books helped me understand why some people struggle to relate with others.

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