Last week, I read a 2015 piece from The New Yorker called, “Can Reading Make You Happier?” Maybe I was drawn to it because I knew it would validate my own answer to that question, which is a resounding, “Yes!”

The author puts forth the theory that “reading fiction is one of the few remaining paths to transcendence, that elusive state in which the distance between the self and the universe shrinks.” She goes on to discuss the history of a kind of therapy I’d never heard of, but, in fact, have used all my life: bibliotherapy, or reading books as a treatment for life’s troubles and challenges. Until I read this piece, I had no idea that bibliotherapist was an actual job. English majors, take note.

The author cites research about reading’s effects on the brain. In a nutshell, people who read fiction develop empathy. When we read about characters in books, we learn about and develop an understanding for them. This translates into our real lives in the form of empathy.

And even if you don’t buy into that research, the author continues, other studies have shown that reading is simply good for readers–putting them into a meditation-like state and leading to better sleep, lower stress and depression levels, and higher self-esteem.

Besides validating my own lifelong bookworm habits, the piece shores up my feelings about what we do in the University of Rhode Island Magazine: We tell stories that connect readers to fellow members of the URI community. While the stories you read here are rarely fiction, we aim to tell them in a way that invites you to understand and empathize with the characters.

So, in the interest of happiness, empathy, a better world, and a better night’s sleep–read on!

–Barbara Caron, Editor-in-Chief