Has anyone ever felt that familiar sense of deja vu? The feeling like you have been there and done that? Gone to places you have never actually been to and felt oddly familiar with it, or met some random strangers who you feel like you share some history with, even if you have never met them before? I have, and I know it happens to others as well.

I have lived a thousand lives over the past maybe 22 years, I have hopped into many lives, I have seen through their eyes and felt through their bodies, heard with their ears, spoke with their voices and felt with their emotions. I got mentally and physically involved with them. What I mean by this is reading has saved my life in many ways, I have been reading all my life, I was practically born with a book in my hands.

Ever since I was little I found myself in the library more often than not. During elementary school, middle school and for sure during high school. My bad self would actually take books from the library and take them home and read, so technically I was “stealing,” that’s how serious I was about reading. Then of course I got caught by my mom, who made me go in and return them and let them know that I took them without checking them out first. But I did get away with it for a while, I was apparently sneaky at a young age, that was my only run in with “stealing.”

It was my second home during high school, I even sat in the library and ate my lunch. I spent as much time as I could in the library during school hours, and even after, although after school I would usually go to the public library and submerse myself in the shelves of wonderful books. Has anyone gone into the library, with the intention of only getting one, maybe two books? Then “accidently” leaving with roughly six? Even though out of those six you will probably return three of those books without reading them, you just can't help but check them out, since they, of course, “jumped” into your hands.

I am SO guilty of this, I have done It too many times to count. So as I grew up and my reading expanded, I explored many genres of books, going back to different eras with ages ranging from the pre-teens all the way up to late adulthood. I found myself getting drawn into the genre of earlier time periods, more specifically the 18^th and 19^th century. I found that I more closely related to these periods as my thoughts, feelings and personality were on par with those in the stories. I could relate to the different characters which was full of quite a bit of romance, in which is one of my favorite styles of reading.

I gravitate more towards books with romance in it. Being a romantic myself, I of course love reading books that contain romance. Things such as guys with flowers, showing chivalry, all that fun jazz, I live for it. But that’s not to say that I don’t enjoy some mystery and gore from time to time. I have recently got into the more mystery thriller type books, I mean who doesn’t like a bit of mystery in their lives? I for sure love some, keep life exciting, if only when reading about other people’s excitement within the books.

I use the books as a method of getting out of my own life sometimes when things get rough, or I can't keep my life in order. I use a book and get into the minds of the characters, where their thoughts are already written out and the ending decided for them. Besides I am usually really good at guessing the ending anyways, I do not cheat and skip to the end, that’s no fair nor fun.

Reading has always been a life saver for me, I enjoy the smell of the books, the weight of the book in my hands, the sensation of turning an actual page. I am not a fan of eBooks, I want the real thing. I adore the excitement on how the events unfold. It is always a stress release for me and will always be a lifesaver, reading has played a huge role in all aspects of my life. Books have taught me things and opened my eyes to many possibilities. I think reading is beneficial for anyone and everyone, just find out what you enjoy and crack open a book and immerse yourself in the lives of the characters.