Deepty lost in fiction

I've been a huge fan and defender of reading fiction for many years now. When I started researching for this post, my initial intention was to showcase how reading fiction helps develop empathy skills. Then, as I was thinking through my ideas and reading research papers, I realized my real intention was to "wreck" all the fake-life-coaches out there. The ones that only read non-fiction, make it into their entire personality, because OF COURSE they only read non-fiction, what do you mean you read FICTION? Novels? No, no, no. Only boring basic stuff is read over here. And proudly. Life coaches and their servants cannot read for fun! Never! 

I'm glad I figured out my intentions early on. I was about to spit out a hatred post, and that would not be of any help. Writing about reading fiction isn't solely about hating those people who defend not reading fiction. It's about putting in words how I've been able to develop, personally, as a fiction-reader. It's about how my life is constantly being made bigger, brighter, and smarter because I am reading a novel. 
I'm not a fantasy fan, but those who are defend it based on this: you can get lost in a world that is entirely fake, without having to read about problems that could be, somehow, real. If I am reading about dragons, how could I relate? Turns out you do, in some level.  

Real-life social sensitivity and other interpersonal skills are much higher in people that read fiction regularly, multiple research papers have shown. So, by living others' lives through reading fiction translates into higher empathy for others in real life; reading fiction is a constant exercise of slowly becoming a better person. Beyond empathy and other social beneficial effects, fiction reading benefits increases vocabulary and verbal intelligence. Reading fiction is, in my opinion, one of the most enjoyable activities when working on expanding your vocabulary.

So far, everything seems to be perfect, right? Well, the problem here, as always, is the lifestyle we are trying to convince ourselves is sustainable; which brings me back to the old conversation of our current reading habits. Skimming, multitasking and fragmentary attention takes away from the beneficial gains mentioned above. Our brains do not work in the same way, neurologically, when reading mode is not fully activated. 

I recently read a book that was highly recommended to me. I was excited to read it at first, but life took my full attention, and I could not focus on this book I waited for months to get at the library. Reading time was scarce, and I very easily could see I was not fully grasping the characters and storyline. I enjoyed the book, but I did not enjoy it the way I would have if circumstances in my life were different. Not only I did not get to enjoy the story, I also did not get any cognitive benefits from it. 

Reading should be a nonnegotiable timed and non-distracted exercise, and fiction reading, in particular, might have a higher impact in people's lives when done with full attention.