A boost for my Brain Power

I think I received a boost today from an unlikely source - The Daily Mail online.

One headline read,

Reading classic novels instead of self-help books can boost brain power and improve your quality of life, new research suggests.

People suffering from depression, chronic pain and even dementia are being urged to tackle books by the likes of Charles Dickens or Jane Austen to send 'rocket boosters' to the brain.

Professor Philip Davis, of the University of Liverpool, said that reading the classics 'frees emotions and imagination' and lets people feel 'more alive', potentially allowing relief from symptoms of illness.

Well, as far as I know, I am not suffering from depression, am not in chronic (or otherwise) pain, and dementia appears to be holding off so far. Moreover, I don't recall ever reading a 'Self Help' book. That seems an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms. Rather like Military Intelligence.

My planned Reading List (not necessarily in this order) for the next few months include

Mary Brunton - Discipline (1814)

Sir Walter Scott - The Antiquary (1816)

Benjamin Disraeli - Contarini Fleming (1832)

Thomas Hardy - The Woodlanders (1887)

George Douglas Brown - The House with the Green Shutters (1901)

Laurie Lee - Cider with Rosie (1959)

I might even try a Jane Austen novel, having only ever read Northanger Abbey (1817).

 Another contributor to the article wrote, 'It can help with inner life, mental health, soul troubles and make us say, "I never knew anyone but me felt that!" '

'Soul troubles'? Who are these reviewers and experts?

Notwithstanding all this - brain beware!