There's a wonderful holiday coming up on April 12. It's D.E.A.R.--Drop Everything And Read--Day. What a great concept and holiday! Please join me in celebrating it. If you and your family are not already in the habit of reading regularly, here are a few reasons that might convince you all to D.E.A.R.

READING PROVIDES A WELCOME ESCAPE

Reading, especially reading fiction, is a fabulous stress reliever because it plucks you out of your immediate circumstances, transporting you into another time, place, and situation. I notice that reading helps me wind down more easily in the evenings. Great fiction contributes to my feeling completely refreshed and recharged after weekends or vacations. Recommendation: The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffennegger, or The Earthsea Cycle, by Ursula LeGuin.

READING EXPANDS YOUR MIND

Books allow you to explore the world and learn about a multitude of topics without ever leaving home. Especially if you are a visual learner, reading is a wonderful way to absorb information. If you are an auditory learner or struggle with reading, audio books may work well for you. Recommendation: Ken Wilbur's Kosmic Consciousness audio program.

READING SETS A GOOD EXAMPLE

Children mimic adult role models. If your children frequently see you read, whether its books, magazines, or newspapers, they are more apt to become avid readers. This has been certainly the case with our family. When my younger son was a fifth-grader, he read two or three books a week and set an ambitious goal to read a hundred books in a year. If your children are young, reading aloud to them is a wonderful way to instill a love of reading. For preschoolers I'd recommend any of the many picture books from Leo Leoni or Eric Carle. The Harry Potter series, by J. K. Rowling, is a hit with school-age children.

READING EXPANDS YOUR CAPACITY FOR COMPASSION

Books provide an opportunity to briefly view life through the eyes of a person of another sex, ethnicity, nationality, culture, or era. Your trials and tribulations may pale in comparison to the challenges faced by the characters in the book. This can help you become more empathetic towards others and more grateful for your own life. Recommendations: Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon.

Some of my favorite fiction writers include: Gail Tsukiyama, Jodi Picoult, Barbara Kingsolver, Amy Tan, Sue Monk Kidd, Kaye Gibbons, Margaret Atwood, Penelope Lively, Khaled Hosseini, Tracy Chevalier, Maeve Binchy, Dan Brown, and P.D. James. Other all-time favorite books of mine are Anita Diament's The Red Tent, and Wally Lamb's She's Come Undone.

When you do decide to D.E.A.R., may your book selection delight you and quickly works its magic. Happy reading!