Today people are reading more than ever. Whether it be on a phone, an article online, or a book to improve your life. All these things are great and reading naturally makes us smarter. However, it seems like at some point everyone stopped reading fiction. While self-help books and books written by smart people to give you a new perspective are important. Sometimes it's good to go back to reading fiction.

As the holidays approach and students have more free time to pick up a book to read for pleasure, it will be tempting to pick another book to directly improve yourself. But I encourage everyone to pick a fiction book, whether it be a classic short story or the most recently published novel. Fiction may be put to the side because people are always wanting to better themselves, and so they might think fiction books are just stories. However, fiction is more than just a story. It does benefit you and teaches you things nonfiction teaches, just indirectly If they wanted to hear a story, why not just watch a quick movie?

Reading about a character's life and the decisions they make can open our eyes and help us with our own decision making. We can see how their life will play out when they make a big decision. We can learn from their mistakes so we don't have to make them ourselves.

Good authors always intend for there to be a deeper meaning within their book. Sometimes it's better hidden in some rather than others. Either way, a writer won't just write a book just to tell a story they like. They will add meaning to the story.

We can also relate to characters in a story and feel the emotions they feel. We emphasize with them and see ourselves in them. Maybe characters are in a situation similar to one we may have been in. This shows us that we are not alone, that at least someone else has thought about this, and many others have read it and can acknowledge it.

I'm not arguing to stop reading all nonfiction. I do think switching it up between the two genres is important. It may not be obvious but fiction can offer a lot more than what it seems like on the surface. There is just as much if not more to be gained from reading fiction.