“Books are adventure. They contain murder and mayhem and passion. They love anyone who opens them.”
Like for example if you asked me why I love BTS I can’t exactly put it into coherent terms. I’d be a babbling fangirl and then some. I know, I know… how I manage to insert Bangtan (BTS) in every post amazes me just as well.
But for books, I’ve made a conscious effort to put the whys into words because they themselves are made of words. Good enough reason? Manga is also included here and they’re not predominantly ruled by words.
This post is a response to Shanah’s prompt over at Bionic Book Worm for this Tuesday: Reasons I Love Reading.
ESCAPISM…
Need I say more? Yes, I definitely need to. I want to.
Books are magical! The reality fades away with them at hand. Just through words and sentences they can change your reality even just for a moment. It conjures a thousand images and speaks a thousand feelings. It’s a reprieve from the storm and we are all welcome to take shelter.
…But also LIVING.
Living vicariously through them might be a thing of wonder but it’s also not always a good thing. You need to experience them all yourself to fully live, and reading the right kinds of books should push us to live them. Words have the power to change a person after all. To learn from them and be inspired to take action.
I’ve loved the characters in the books I’ve read who inspires me to be like them. It may be the heroes or side characters or even the anti-heroes and their redeeming qualities. Reading makes me feel.. It inspires me not just to exist but also to live and love. To go on an adventure as the characters I’ve read even if it’s not as grand or magical as theirs.
Art, Art & Art…
From well thought out stories and plots, to beautifully illustrated manga, and even to the fantastic fanarts inspired by the characters in the books. There is so much art to be appreciated and I’m swimming happily in it.
For the Love of QUOTES.
Because I am constantly amazed at the authors and how they put the words together so beautifully. It’s like you have the same thought but they say it better than you ever will.
“Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.”
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— Mason Cooley
TRAVEL
It gives my mind wings and pushes my imagination to take flight.
To go to places I’ve never been and to experience an era long gone. A magical world to get lost into — may it be a school for wizards and witches, a city made of glass, a court of dreams, a world where dragons are real — they all exist if I only turn a page and it’s a beautiful thing.
Connection.
Reading also gives me that connection. I have proof that I am not the only one feeling this way. This is especially true now that I blog about it. It is comforting to know that I am not the only one falling in love again and again with fictional heroes and their gorgeous worlds.
Once you read something, no one can take it away from you.
The stories live with you, teaches you, and eventually becomes you. They say we are what we read after all. While I could agree with that in some level it’s not exactly accurate because we are constantly reading and so constantly changing. We are what we take from each book we read.
