OK, I admit it. I may be ever so slightly biased to the whole reading thing (I mean, I kinda sorta wanna work in a publishing house one day...). That being said, reading really does have benefits unique solely to it. So whether you are one who utterly despises anything to do with books (as in you feel way too much of a kinship to the firemen in "Fahrenheit 451") or a nerd at heart like me who is just looking for validation that her obsession with books is actually a good thing, here are a few reasons that you should shut off Netflix and open up a book.

1. IQ & EQ.

This one is kind of a “duh,” but I think reading for knowledge tends to get a negative rap from people in our generation. I’m not talking about reading textbooks or manuals for class, though (I swear they make those torturously boring on purpose).

I’m talking about anything and everything we read -- books, magazines, news articles, blogs, you name it! Everything that we read fills our heads with new tidbits of information or reinforces familiar ones.

The more we read, the more our knowledge banks expand. We don’t simply read faster or notice new words that slip their way into our everyday vocabularies (while dictionary.com word of the day is not a substitute for reading, I would totally recommend this if you nerd out over cool words like I do!!), but we begin to think at elevated levels and to see/make connections we were unable to previously.

That mystery novel you’re reading? Your mind is spinning trying to figure out who the perp is, using critical and analytical thinking skills to sort through the details.

That classic novel you’re reading? Your ability to empathize, to think below the surface and relate to the characters, is being honed as you dig into the outdated language and analyze the multiple, ambiguous layers of meaning hidden within the storyline.

“Knowledge is power” is a cliché for a reason: it’s irrefutably true.

2. Writing.

Reading and writing go hand-in-hand. There is no way we could be anything other than barely adequate writers if we do not read.

Exposing ourselves to various voices, to published writing that is well-done, influences our own writing. Sure, we grow more attuned to correct grammar and spelling, but more importantly, we begin to adapt our styles to more closely match those we enjoyed reading. We mimic the writing of the numerous authors we have floating within our minds as we start to develop our own voices, picking and choosing the structure and flow of our sentences and the words we want to use to convey our messages.

Like any other art, we gain inspiration not only from our own experiences but also from the works of others: their heartbreaks, their grievances against a broken, misguided society, their innocent childhood memories and their struggles to find meaning in life.

3. Escape.

This is easily one of my favorite parts of reading.

When we read, there are endless possibilities of what we can experience, who we can interact with and where we can explore. The stresses of our everyday lives -- the deadlines at work, the tension in our relationships, the anxiety and depression that are our constant bedfellows -- they slip away, even if just for a moment, as we are enveloped in worlds other than our own.

We can visit places we’ve only dreamed about, meet people we would love to be friends with, go on adventures we never thought possible.

We can be whoever we want to be, or be no one at all, as we let ourselves get lost in the words of another.

* * *

While reading is definitely a tool that reaps many benefits to our brains, growing and shaping our intelligence and creativity, or an escape mechanism to live another life for a while, it is so much more than that.

Reading is our chance to truly see the world around us, to go outside ourselves and hear the voices of others, to uncover their truths and feel the pain of their personal demons, to enjoy their small of moments of love as though they were our own.

We begin to see this world that has been around us all along, one full of pain and darkness, one full of resilience and strength.

And then, only then, do we truly begin to appreciate the beauty of this world we live in.

It is a world full of people who are broken and scarred, who are undeniably flawed and bound to struggle, but who still have the stirring within their soul that connects all of humanity: the refusal to give up on loving and being loved.