But as to your question if reading will actually make you smarter, the answer may be no. Studies of children indicate that bedtime reading doesn't positively influence IQ. So it may be more accurate to say that strong readers are smarter because of their genes, rather than saying the reading makes you smarter.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141030114749.htm
This was just a quick review of the available research, I'm sure there is even more data out there. And I didn't even touch on the health benefits of reading, which can be surprising.
To summarize, will reading books make you smarter in the sense of increasing your IQ? Probably not. But reading may make you healthier, more successful, and better able to empathize and understand other people. Books can also be a tremendous source of pleasure (adventure! exploration! emotion!) and many of them contain useful facts.
Cheers.
SIS
The most intelligent answer so far comes from someone who is a book lover!
Reading this helped you learn something? Go figure.
*Take a look, it's in a book, a Reading Rainbow!*
agreed and Reading Rainbow, I loved that show.
anecdotally, I read like crazy as a kid and always 2-3 books a week as an adult. Reading was my "thing", anyone who knows me, knows that. All of a sudden, last June I just stopped reading, blamed it on stress I was not having. Then I started repeating myself to others with no memory I had already said it. Dropped my other fav, independent film, like a hot potato. It seemed nebulous at the time, not something to worry about. Turned out I was totally wrong, there's this stuff going on in my brain, right where cognition is. I had to take an IQ test, above average in verbal, failed miserably in every other category. Let's just say my IQ dropped a "large" amount of points. I was distraught, I cried, I wanted to retake it (even though this test is to show disability further proof of what's going on, so by trying to do better, I'd actually be making it worse for myself). I could not understand how I could excel at verbal and not one other thing. The doc said, "your reading habits are likely why you still have strong verbal abilities. The rest shows clearly you fail at memory, concentration and following instructions." I said am I going to lose verbal? he could not answer but he told me to read, read, read, even when I don't remember anything from the day before, even if I finish a book but in 2 hrs cannot remember what it was about, just do it. And to write something longish and complicated and see if it is comprehensible to others. I'm doing it ten times over, reading might save a crucial part of my cognition.
Long story long, my reading habits were enough to protect part of what I am losing. And I think the way my IQ test turned out, is proof enough for me that reading contributes to intelligence. But not if you only do it as "homework", if it's not something that is interesting to or important to you, I can see that it might have little effect.
have you seen the statistic 80% of adults never read another book after college? I have to snopes that, that cannot possibly be true