Ahhh books, the purest thing that mankind has ever created. I’m not talking about a Kindle or E-Reader or any variation of the tablet forms of books. No, I’m talking about books that carry that glorious smell of paper, the ones that have a unique history based on the fingers that have flipped through their pages. I understand that a Kindle has a certain convenience about it, but I feel like you lose part of the experience of reading if you can’t feel the weight of the pages under your fingertips.

Personally, I am particularly drawn to used books because of their history is so vast and interesting. You never know what insights you might gain through random annotations that a past reader had jotted down in the margins. My favorite token to find in old books is random train tickets that were used as bookmarks. I once found one that went from New York City to San Francisco and it made me ponder so many questions, like why was this person traveling so far? Were they simply looking for an adventure? Or were they uprooting their entire life in order to start fresh? I was immediately transported into this stranger’s life. That book gave me two stories, one of which I created by myself. You certainly can’t have that kind of experience from a tablet or even a brand new book, which is why I’m so fascinated by used books.

Of course, you can still be captivated by books even if you are using a tablet; it’s just not my preferred mode of reading. My fellow book lovers will genuinely understand what I mean when I say “captivated.” You can be extremely interested in a movie or a TV show, but you can’t truly get lost in them, not like you can in books. In movies, you’re told how everything looks and sounds, so the only aspect of the story that you can interpret is some of the characters more abstract lines. Whereas, the only thing that’s explicitly laid out for you in books is the plot. Apart from that, your imagination is free to run wild. The characters can look and sound however you want them to. No one tells you exactly how the environment looks and if you really enjoy using your imagination, you can even choose your own soundtrack for the book. There is so much room for interpretation in books, which only serves to enhance your experience while reading.

Don't get me wrong, I completely respect those who choose not to read, but I simply cannot fathom why others wouldn’t read for pleasure. It’s a concept that I just can’t wrap my mind around. Some of my favorite places in the world are libraries and bookshops, both mainstream and secondhand. The outside world can be ugly and scary, but the second I step into one of these sanctuaries for books, I feel safe because I am surrounded by people who love books as much as I do.

I have countless best friends because every book that I read becomes one. I am instantly transported out of my own tiny world into the characters’ vastly different worlds. I'm eternally grateful to both the creators and the characters for the piece of themselves that I have the pleasure of gaining through their stories. As George R.R. Martin said, “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.”