Reading is something that I am very passionate about. I read all the time when I was a kid. I would read basically a book a day. However, it wasn't until years later that I decided to change the way I read. I started to read more than just the lines on the page and found that I enjoyed reading that way even more.

We have all made fun of that one English teacher who looks way too into the text. We have all hated those quizzes and tests that ask for seemingly insignificant details of a novel because our teacher thought that the color of a curtain had some significance to the story. I cannot say that I am someone who has not done that. I have always loved reading, but I agreed with everyone else when they would say that certain things are pointless-- that the author was not trying to be poetic and deep when they wrote that detail. Let's face it, they may not have been trying to be poetic but we never really know.

I do know, however, that when I would finish a book, I was sad. I didn't want the story to end so I would go online and read more about the book that I had just read. I would watch videos about the author and read other people's comments about the book. I kept digging for more of a story but would come up short because I only read what was on the surface. I only read what the author specifically gave me. I didn't realize that the story had become my story as well. An author does not write only for themselves, otherwise they would never publish their books. People often write to connect people, whether it be the news, a tweet, or a novel. When you read a book, the book is just as much yours as the author. I learned this when I read a novel that I believed had so much significance: its characters, its title, its underlining story. I then watched a video of the author and he explained that he had written this novel to show the significance of technology, something that had never crossed my mind. I understood it when I heard the author say it, but I liked my version better. I liked being able to relate to a novel-- find my own significance. It was then that I realized that reading is never only on the surface, that the best way to read is to read deeper.

In reading deeper, the story stays with you for longer. Analyzing stories help you in life because in life you should always look deeper than what is given at face value. It is the best way to read and teaches you a life lesson. Never look on the surface for anything, because I guarantee you will get more out of something if you just read a little deeper.