I started reading at the age of 3. First, it was just books with poems for children that I would go through with my grandma over and over again till I knew every page by heart just by looking at the image on top of the page. 

At about 5 years old, my parents gave me a Fairytale book in English. Long story short: that book had made me fall in love with the English language and show interest in not only expanding my comprehension of the new language but also of the Western culture. 

When I was in Elementary School, I was a full-established bookworm. Although I had been a busy child with all my art, dance and piano lessons, I was very keen to learn more about the world. I used any free minute to read books, in particular: encyclopaedias. When I saw that books in my home library were piling up on the shelves, I decided that instead of asking my parents to buy me books, I would go to the school library at the lunchtime hour break and read there. I read about everything: ancient history, animals, plants, space, professions, technologies... And then randomly threw newly discovered facts at my parents and brothers during family dinners. 

Then, as Middle School started, came more "exclusive" life period of mine. My preferences shifted towards everything pink and girly. I still would read a lot, but then it was mostly guidance-books on the Lady Etiquette, or romantic tales, starting from knight-saving-a-princess stories covering all the way to romantic dramas a-la Twilight Saga (oh, God, that was a whole different obsession story). 

High School. Time to rebel and simply have fun. Suddenly I became super-busy with all that social life, so I pushed the books away into the dark corner. I remember how someone asked me what I was reading at the moment. My answer was somewhat like: 

“Oh, at the moment I do not read as much, as I do not have time. Plus, personally, I prefer to expand my world vision not by reading someone else’s thoughts, but by own observations and experiences.” 

Since then, I came across much deeper realisations, so I would like to debunk my past self. When I look back now, I shake my head because there are two major loopholes in my response. 

First of all, there is never such thing as “not having time.” You will always find time for something you believe to be important. Cut the time spent flipping through Instagram feed, and - Shabam! - you won’t even believe how much more time you actually have in a day. 

Secondly: why not accept the gift of knowledge that others decide to share with the public? Indeed, you learn a lot by living your life and observing the world with your own eyes, but if you absorb the observations of others, too, you could also understand some things faster, or learn amazing things you might not have the opportunity to stumble upon in your life. 

A book is such a unique medium - it's almost like living another life, the length of several hundred pages. You only live once, but with books, you can live tens, hundreds of mini-lives. And learn, and learn, and learn from each and single one of them...

Let’s face it: books are essential if you want to grow as a person. It’s all about which books you pick. Basically, read the books that make you THINK. The books, which leave an aftertaste, the ones that make you laugh, cry, question and think. The books that change you and help to build your character. 

A book can change the way you think, the way you speak, the way you act. 

Because of books, I started perceiving certain situations differently and react to them with more rationality; I improved my speaking manner, I saw flaws in my behaviour and developed peace within myself.

Books help you see the consequences of some actions so that you can avoid repeating the mistakes of the character. Others give inspiration to try and live the same experiences the characters of a story had. Some might even make you want to share your own thoughts and write a book of your own!

In my second year of University, I have radically changed my priorities. Reading books is among the top-five essential "to-Do's" in my daily routine. No matter how busy, I always can find half an hour to read at least 50 pages every day, my goal being to read a book per week. Reading daily is the easiest and most enjoyable way I can stimulate my brain to develop. 

I will say it loud and clear: I am a bookworm and I'm proud of it.

I think, the main reason why people read less today is that with quick hits of information on the Internet, our attention span has radically decreased. The solution to this problem is picking the books that will catch your attention from first several pages.  

I have a list of books that one by one have put me back on board and left an ineffaceable print on me; the books that left me craving more.

There will be a whole another post to my top-list of books. But for now - sorry guys, I got to get back to my Kindle. :)