World Book & Copyright Day

World Book Day & World Book and Copyright Day (also known as International Day of the Book or World Book Days) is a yearly event on 23 April, organized by UNESCO to promote reading, publishing and copyright. In the United Kingdom, the day is instead recognized on the first Thursday in March.

World Book Day was celebrated for the first time on 23 April 1995.

Books may also refer to works of literature, or a main division of such a work. In library and information science, a book is called a monograph, to distinguish it from serial periodicals such as magazines, journals or newspapers. The body of all written works including books is literature. In novels and sometimes other types of books (for example, biographies), a book may be divided into several large sections, also called books (Book 1, Book 2, Book 3, and so on).
An avid reader of books is a bibliophile or colloquially, bookworm. I think I belong to that WORM community.

I wrote already in my blog about my love towards book and shared on how I was attracted towards books and how I created my own library  and the collections of mine .

Why people are attracted towards books  and what are the benefits of reading ?

For me , being an avid reader already, many times the cover of a book in display at any book stores attracts me. Then the title, the synopsis of the book in the back cover , then comes the author and last, the number of pages . I look for the price tag after my decision to buy it. Some times the price may not be affordable and skipped the idea of owning one. At last I look for the same title in e-book community forum for a quick free download . My son gave me an e-book reader and  recommended me to go for e-reading habits than covering our small home’s wall with books. Another distant daughter from Bangaluru  shared lot of e- books of my taste through mail attachment and gave some links to download freely. But as a reader for the past five decades , habits never dies, and so the hard copy  book reading never dies for me. Still I buy books and my catalog for sharing gets updated dynamically. Being a reader , my daughter in US  gifted me a sketch book to write while travelling and she feels a reader can become a writer one day and that writing live past the reader.

I do respect the copyrights of the author and never go for piracy book prints irrespective of the cheap price . They spoil the quality of the book  and the quality of book reading. Of course I know a book seller who gets imported books, one-time read and imported to India from U.S and Europe. The original one-time read and disposed books are always lovable to buy as  the good condition of books attracts bookworms’ like me.

I came across a page in FB called “Rare books Society of India”. Their services is very good for people like me, who are interested in keeping rare books in their possession and would like to share also  sometimes.

The Society says :  In spite of India being an ancient literary civilization and having one of the largest literary treasures of hand-written and printed material, we do not have a single Society for rare book collectors. This is an attempt to create a forum and bring those elusive connoisseurs to discuss and share their knowledge on Indian rare books.

Benefits of reading is a lot but to say a few I wish to give here eight different benefits.

Enhanced Smarts

In Anne E. Cunningham’s paper What Reading Does for the Mind , she found that reading, in general, makes you smarter, and it keeps you sharp as you age.

Reading reduces stress

When I’m reading a book, my mind shifts gears. Where I might have a had a stressful day, a book can easily distract me.

 Greater tranquility

Reading can soothe like no other.

 Improved analytical thinking

Cunningham’s studies have found that analytical thinking is boosted by reading. Readers improve their general knowledge, and more importantly are able to spot patterns quicker.

 Increased vocabulary

All successful writers will tell you that in order to write well, you need to read. Every day. You’ll be surprised at the words you start incorporating into your writing. It’s no secret that reading increases your vocabulary and improves your spelling,

 Improved memory

Ihave been finding that I can remember stuff much easier when I have been reading consistently.

 Improved writing skills

The more you read, the better of a writer you’ll become.

 Helps prioritize goals

When you remove yourself from your work environment, you’ll start to see things that you might really want to do, that you’re not doing yet. Reading gives you a chance for your to wander.

 I wish on this World Book and I Copyright Day , to  all the book lovers , book worms , book publishers , book sellers and in particular pavement sellers who contributes many to become scholars abroad , a  VERY HAPPY WORLD BOOK DAY .