Reading is something special. Something that everyone should be entitled to have the ability to. The following are a few reasons why reading is so awesome.

1. It is able to covey information using symbols so those who speak the language that is being read are able to understand what is being said.

We as humans are innately attuned to find ways to communicate with others. Speech is a verbal manifestation of intention and since we have the ability of speech soon follows the ability of reading.

2. There is a better chance of learning something new, and it would be something that otherwise would not be attainable.

When you pick up a book you learn things about yourself and the world around you. It turns from passive understanding to an experience of reflection.

3. Expanding Vocabulary

As we age so do our vocabularies. They are influenced by our environment and what we learn in school... and by what we read. There are times when we are young that we are impressionable and the words that we read register. When i was younger I used to look up in a dictionary any word that I didn't know.

4. You use your imagination. You as the reader set the scene and the characters how you view them. It is as if you are watching a movie but in your own head.

As the reader the use of imagination plays a big role in how the world is perceived. The writer gives the audience the tools to create and visualize the world and imagination does the rest. There is something unique about reading fiction that paints a picture in your head as you read so much so that it takes time (for me at least) to go between my reading world and the rest of reality.

5. Your writing skills improve the more you read.

The more you read. The better writer you can become. You get new ideas and plots and new characters. It is easier to become a better writer the more you practice and the more you read.

6. It can be a time machine and take you back to what you were thinking and feeling when you first read a certain book.

I remember almost every time I first picked up a book. The first time you read it everything is new and exciting and you don't know where the story is going to go. However there is something to be said for after you know what is going to happen and you still pick up that same book; For example the I recently finished reading a book called Heir Apparent. I remember when I first picked it up I was in middle school at the time. I have read it probably over 25 times since I first picked it up. Each time I complete it I get something new out of it. To this day I still read it.

7. It can be an inspiration to try and do something you never thought you would have and interest in.

Reading can give you the courage to do something you otherwise would never have wanted to try. It helps you face the inner demons that everyone has to deal with. Reading can truly help you become brave.

8. It can be a conversation starter.

If you see someone reading a book the you also like it is easier to strike up a conversation with them as you have something in common. I have noticed that friendships seem to blossom very fast when talking with someone that likes to read the same things that you do.

9. Reading helps you empathize with others.

When you read you take on the protagonist's point of view. Whether it is fiction or non fiction, when you read you are putting yourself in the shoes of someone else. As you establish a rapport with the person who is narrating the tale, your willingness to see the world through somebody else's point of view grows.

10. Reading is used as a tool in teaching the next generation about the world and helps them understand how growing up works.

Young adult novels teach adolescents how life works. That it isn't fair and that life is hard. Children's books teach the most basic things that every person needs to know. They can be used as tools to grow and to teach.

11. It calms the mind and the person reading is able to let the real world fall away for a few hours.

Time seems to not exist while reading, and nothing else in the world seems to matter. I could compare it to meditation almost, simply because you become so focused on what you are doing that the whole world melts away and it is just you and the world inside the book. There have been times where I start reading at 8 p.m. and look up at the clock and it is 11 p.m. Hours seem to flow like water and all your worries dissolve into nothingness.

12. You get to go on amazing adventures without ever leaving your home.

It is as if you are seeing the world, the depths of despair and all the joys life has to offer without ever leaving your home. New people to be met, dragons to slay, mysteries to solve; and even new lives to live. All of it only possible between the pages of a book.