Why I Read

Books are a uniquely portable magic. ― Stephen King

I am sure there isn’t anyone who can refute King’s thought. Reading a book is  truly a magical experience. The books have the amazing ability to transport us in a different land, time, culture, evoking different feelings of sadness, joy, anger, anticipation – it just all depends on what we are reading.

To me, reading books is truly a rewarding and a unique experience. Here are some of the reasons as to why I read…

  • I like the entertainment value a book provides. Simply love the suspense of watching a good plot unfold. The adventure trips to places I may never get to go, the pleasure of meeting so many characters– good as well as bad and the many lives I get to live when reading, is simply amazing.
  • It helps to forget the troubles of the day. Like last night, I was stressed about something. It was not in my control and couldn’t do anything about it, other than worrying that is. I decided to pick up a book. I started reading it and within minutes, I was smiling as I turned pages one after the other. In fact, this morning, the first thought I had was, will Alafia get a man of her dreams!
  • Books are the goldmines to discover information. How else would I have known about trials and tribulations of a person with person with deteriorating kidney function or how the frauds are committed in the financial world, or the life of an army wife, or legal jargon or mythology or life in Afghanistan… Books are a fab way to benefit from the author’s research.
  • Books have helped me to learn and grow as a person. There are so many books that have inspired and encouraged me, shared a new perspective, helped to understand people and problems better.

I had aimed to read 50 books last year and ended up reading 71 books. This year, I plan to read 100 books. And I am planning to read diverse genres, old and new, classics and the ones spanning eras. I am aiming to re-read the books which I have read when I was in school and college. Books by Enid Blyton, Jane Austen, Emile Bronte, Charles Dickens, Harry Potter series,  are ranking high on my list. I am also keen to read the Diary of a Wimpy Kid which is a hit with kids now-a-days.

There are a lot of 2015 Reading Challenges doing the rounds on the internet. These 2 caught my interest.

2015 reading challenge

2015-reading-challenge 1

I am sure that I will be able to tick off most of the book types from these two lists easily, but some would be challenging. For instance, finding a book written by an author with your same initials, or reading a translated novel or a book your mom loves (My mom reads newspapers and magazines and solves Sudoku puzzles). But what’s life without challenges!

What are your reasons for reading and what are you reading currently?

Linking this to Write Tribe Pro Blogger Challenge