JRN+5

January 18, 2012 "What are your reasons for reading books?"

“The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who’ll get me a book I ain’t read.”—Abraham Lincoln

Despite the fact that he used the most hated word in the English language, this quote can at testify to my same passion for reading and for books. As an English major and an obvious lover for all things literature, I find myself in constant awe of new and exciting pieces. I cannot even begin to describe the feelings and emotions I felt when I began //The Hunger Games.// My reason for reading books is simple: they inspire me.

Perhaps it is because I have always been a writer, but the way the words look and sound and feel on a page is absolutely mind-boggling to me. When I read a great sentence, or find a great character, or feel every emotion for a certain setting, I want to write even more. I want to write to that character or talk to the author or tell somebody exactly what I think about what I am reading. I read books because I can do that. I can write about it or talk about it or research it. Reading brings me to a place of bliss and passion. Like when you try a new food and you think, “How did I go all my life without trying that.” Or when you find a new hobby that you can’t stop thinking about and wake up wanting to try it again, that is how I feel when I begin or end a new story.

Though I find it somewhat annoying that anybody should even have to have a reason for reading books, like they should just do it and like it, as a teacher that probably isn’t the correct reasoning. The truth is, I want my students to feel the same way I do. I want them to love and cherish and appreciate truly great literature. I want them to want to read and not just do so because I said so. I want them to have the same passion I have about becoming inspired by great works.