Why Do You Read?

[Jack]

Why do you read? What do you enjoy about reading?

[Jack]

I read because it takes me into another world and I can just relax and enjoy myself.

[Arianne]

to escape to another world and meet new people and to get lost in a gripping story

[Lilac , Moderator]

I completely agree with both of you, escaping into another owrld can really be the best thing ever sometimes. :)

[Elif]

All people want to be someone else. While reading, I can be a magician, a mermaid, an old woman, a young boy, a cat, a dragon... I can be funny, angry, happy, sad...
There is no limit in these worlds.
And yes, I agree with you, there is an escape too :)

[Kayla]

I'm with Elif on this one. :)

[Riya]

Jack wrote: "I read because it takes me into another world and I can just relax and enjoy myself."

I'm with you Jack- I love being able to see a whole new place and seeing how different people can live in it!

[Daniela]

Basically a bit of everything you guys said! Its kind of like watching a film or TV series, but better, because its on a much more personal and engaging level. Not to mention emotional!

[Elif]

Watching a movie or TV serie based on a book makes me feel like I'm in a prison. The images are not like my own. Everone imagine a book different; some points can be important for me but not important to you, or you can imagine a character different than mine.

[Daniela]

I know right! The lightning thief was such a let down for me.

[Daniela]

Except the Perks of Being a Wallflower, i actually really enjoyed it and loved how all the actors played the characters. They did an amazing job.

[Zoe]

You know, I've tried to come up with an answer to that question, and I haven't been able to figure it out. Reading is like breathing for me - I just... do it.

[Riya]

Have you ever read To Kill A Mockingbird? You reminded me of a quote from there: Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.

[Caitlin]

To get away from the real world. It's not a like it's an obsession :P. When books are written well and I like/admire the characters I could easily stay lost to the world for a day or two.

[Lilac , Moderator]

Daniela wrote: "Except the Perks of Being a Wallflower, i actually really enjoyed it and loved how all the actors played the characters. They did an amazing job."

Yes! The Perks of Being a Wallflower was amazing! It is now officially my favourite film and one of the only adaptions that has been as good as the book.

[Marni]

I read because I enjoy it. I can be transported to different lands, different worlds, be different people, all while physically being in the most boring place possible.

[Daniela]

Lilac wrote: "Daniela wrote: "Except the Perks of Being a Wallflower, i actually really enjoyed it and loved how all the actors played the characters. They did an amazing job."

Yes! The Perks of Being a Wallflo..."

Yea mine too! Authors should direct the films based on their books more often!

[Nordlys]

I have always loved stories in all formats and medias, and as some mentioned above here, books are more personal than movies and tv-shows. It requires a little more imagination, and as a result I dive deeper into it than a movie or tv-show. Also, the stories can often be much deeper than movies, as books don't really have to stay within a "time-limit". I love to take part in other worlds with other characters and happenings, and doing all the things I either can't or wouldn't want to do in real life. It also helps keeping the creative and imaginitive parts of me alive, and it brings magic and wonders into this world as well:)

[Jojobean]

I love everything about reading. I love getting into the story, reading about the different settings and meeting the characters. I read for enjoyment. I love to escape into a book. Reading takes me away from all my problems and responsibilities for awhile.

[Jenny]

I love to read for many reasons. I think one of the biggest reasons I like to read is because when I was a child I had such a hard time with it. Once I finally got the hang of reading that is all I wanted to do. I think my very first favorite book was Bridge to Terabithia.
Where I got into reading YA books as an adult is when I was studying for my teaching degree. I took a Library Science class and we were required to read 2 classic YA books a week. Our final was a paper on a larger YA book, that is when I found Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I wanted to read it because of all the "controversy" surrounding it at the time....lol
I now read more YA books than adult books, but I still have to read just about everything Dean Koontz puts out.

[Az (أسماء)]

To go to places I never thought I could. To meet heroes, heroines, legends, and monsters. To fight the bad and evil (and for once win)! To witness revolutions and lead countries. To be a princess, a spy, a ninja, a fighter, a leader, a thinker, and many more. To be able to see things in a different angle. To learn how to make decisions faster. And of course to have cool, funny, and witty lines/quotes to use!
These are a few reasons to why I read. And OH b/c it's the most fun thing to do!

[Tiffany]

I read to fuel my imagination and jump start my day-dreams :D

[[deleted user]]

I read because I've always read and always will. It's a lifestyle and part of who I am. I live in imaginary worlds as well as this world. I read to understand people.

[Camille]

I read to escape and explore (:

[Tracy]

To escape. Period. (Stay at home mom with 3 kids - I enjoy "escaping" on a regular basis!)

[Ashley]

I read cuz its like an escape from my own life. My life is as normal and typical as any other. There's nothing exciting going on so I read to live other people's lives and to experience what it's like for them to have such cool lives. If my life can't be like theirs then reading is as close as I can get to it. Also I need new things for my imagination to grab hold of so the never ending fantasies in my head won't run out of interesting things for me to day dream about.

[Kelli]

I love this thread! Books for me are also like air. I need them to survive. I like what everyone said about the escapism and imagination aspects of reading; I'm there.

I also love how reading fuels my intelligence. I don't know if I'm intelligent because I read, or if I read because I'm intelligent. I'm prone to agree more with the latter, but that could just be my ego talking. I like that reading increases my quotidian vocabulary (especially when most of the people I interact with on a daily basis have the vocabularies of your average middle schoolers).

I love that reading continually forces me to expand my worldview. Because I'm such a voracious reader, I cannot easily sink into narrowmindedness and prejudice. I've seen what those attitudes do to the many unfortunate antagonists in all the stories I've read, and it isn't pretty.

I'm much more creative in my daily life because of reading. All those beautiful stories that I read inspire that inner artist to create lush backgrounds and worlds, characters and objects - expanding on every last detail. The authors' words are but a stepping stone to a far grander, and yes three dimensional, experience formed from my gray matter. And because I've already formed the neural pathways to be able to think outside the box, it is therefore easier to do so in the more mundane of tasks.

In short, my life is far richer because I read than it ever could have been had I never picked up that first book.

[Raggy]

I read to explore lots of exciting Worlds, to go on adventures, to be surprised, to be happy, to have a cry and to have fun. I read because with and good book and an imagination you can go pretty much anywhere :)

[[deleted user]]

Oh my! There's so much as to why I read!

The first reason is because I love reading. A day without reading for me is like a day without air. I seriously freak out if I don't read at least one page a day! I once was without books for an entire 24 hours and boy did I get desperate!!!!!

The second reason is because I can relate to book characters. I feel like they're close friends, and some even feel like best friends. It reminds me that I'm not alone in my problems and that some are experiencing much worse than I am.

The third reason is because it is my escape. When I was going through rough times, books were really my only escape as NOTHING gave an escape route for me. Music did no good but just agitated me more. But books provided what I needed: An escape from reality and into another whole new world.

The fourth reason is because it helps me with my writing. They say the best writers are readers. It helps you find people's weaknesses and strengths in writing stories and, therefore, helps you in a way improve your own writing.

Okay, I stated four reasons, although there are MANY more reasons why I read! :D

[Anika]

I read to disappear into another world, a world were anything can happen. Reading allows you to leave behind your life and live has a vampire, werewolf, shadow hunter, someone in love etc :)

[Sara]

To experience something that I would never otherwise. To learn. To feel and empathize. To theorize and speculate. To imagine.

[✿ ♥ Heather ♥ ✿]

To open my mind, to learn, to emphathise, to be shocked, to be surprised (love twists), to not know what is coming, to feel, to cry (if I'm in the mood for that type of book), to read about things I have never even imagined, to discuss with people......

And mostly.. because I LOVE it !

[Brooke]

To get away from the real world visit another world with different problem and people.

[Sara]

To escape the real world, enter a better one. And to forget reality and know knew people and universes!