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If you’re into it, read into it.

Happy World Book Day!

I’ve got a secret. I know how you can become rich and famous. I know how you can master your talent. I know how you can become the absolute best in the thing that you do.

Talent: it’s a small word that’s banded about so easily. You’re so talented. You need to nurture your talents. You need to be so determined to be the best that you’ll do anything to go that extra mile, gain the upper hand and perform to your full potential.

What if I told you that there’s one thing that you’re not doing that could give you the edge?

Reading. If you’re really serious about your instrument, your sport, your choice of career, surely you want to find out more about it? You should want to find out how the people at their top of their game made it. You should want to find out about their successes and their mistakes.

Reading isn’t just about fiction, it’s about fact too. You don’t have to read novels to be a reader. There’s a world of non-fiction out there too.

And reading isn’t just about discovering new worlds, it’s about improving your performance across the board. Reading will make you a better geographer, a better scientist, a better mathematician. Honestly, it can give us the power to be a better student.

Sadly, as good as technology is, too much of a good thing is bad for us. And with this in mind, researchers have described a phenomenon called the “Google effect” or “digital amnesia”. People rely on devices instead of remembering information for themselves. Instead of memorising facts, people remember where to find them.

This reliance on technology may weaken long-term memory encoding. Digital environments often promote: rapid scrolling, short-form content and quick information consumption. Some researchers argue this may weaken deep reading and analytical thinking. One prominent critic is Nicholas Carr, who wrote the book ‘The Shallows’; he argues that the internet could reshape brain processes toward shallow attention spans. We have lost the ability to concentrate.

But the good news is that reading can help us rectify this.

Reading can strengthen memory. When you read a book, your brain has to remember: characters, plot developments, relationships and explore background details. We focus for longer periods and avoid external distractions.

Reading improves your attention and focus. Reading long-form content trains you to sustain attention. This is something that digital environments often fragment. Unlike scrolling on apps, reading a book requires you to follow a narrative, maintain.

Joy Corrigan

Head of English, Westholme School

March 2026