Why I Read…

Ever since I was a little girl, I remember I loved books. When most of the girls my age were playing with fancy toys, my family couldn’t afford to buy me a lot of toys, so at some point when I was 12, I think, I got sick and tired of playing with the same 2 tiny dolls (pupsik) that I had and decided to start reading. I enjoyed reading all kinds of books, yet I wouldn’t call myself a book worm. I enjoyed them a lot. I had my ups and downs in reading, but I remember one time I sat down and read 600 pages in 2 days, it was some Russian novel about Napoleon Bonaparte. Most books I read in a day or two… Unfortunately or fortunately (depends who you ask), majority of the books that I got to read in my early teens were either encyclopedia of every kind or novels. My dad absolutely loves encyclopedia and a good information about pretty much everything, and my mom on the other hand loves novels. But to all honestly, at 12 I didn’t even know what I enjoyed reading, I was just reading whatever book I found and enjoyed it.

I honestly think that reading has helped me and shaped me the person I am today. I love learning new things. Even when I had no books to read, I read articles in the magazines and newspapers. Even to this day, I continue to read all the time, but at least now I have a choice. Nowadays I rarely read fiction. I find that non-fiction is more interesting than a made-up story, but this is just my opinion. I read a lot of books and I think they all change us in some way or another. Every book changes something in us as individuals, moves us in some way or the other. They help us think differently, they allows us to explore the other options we may have never thought of.

I also believe that every actual paper back or hard cover book has a special magical energy in it. It’s so different holding a book in your hand and read it, than an audio book. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love audiobooks and I listen to them all the time, but I will almost always buy a paperback book right after I listened to an audio book. It’s a different connection that you create. It almost takes you to that other world in that book when you flip through those pages, and you really don’t get that connection with an audio book or an eBook.

Reading creates a different world, it creates a different imagination, you create your own story in a way.. Yes, movies are good, but there is no way you can translate the book into a movie to a tiniest detail that described in a book. Plus with that also, how you will see the details is different than how I will see those same details from the same book. So everyone’s perception and understanding of one particular scenario from the same book can be different in so many ways. Our imagination creates our desired picture of a particular scene.

So read up, tell your kids and families to continue to read and learn new things through reading. It’s an amazing learning tool on so many levels. Every book holds a unique power within.