There's nothing quite like being able to sit down for just a moment or hours at a time to read a book. For some people, its an everyday occurrence. For people like me, its a privilege where there is rarely the chance to do so. But when the chance arises, it isn't one to that you want to miss out on.
Reading a book, to me, is somewhat like watching a movie in my mind as my eyes scroll across the words of whichever novel or story I may be reading. My imagination runs wild. With each character description, I'm able to create an individual that I find fit for the part of the story line whether there be three of them or 30. I decide how they dress, what their voice sounds like, how they portray their emotions towards one another and ultimately the way personality should be according to their description in the book.
Not only am I able to create the characters as I imagine them, it's easy to become attached to these fictitious people that I read about for hours and hours. As readers, we become consumed in wanting to know more about each individual, unless it's the antagonist (bad guy) of course. We usually learn about their past and what makes them who they are. We learn of their family. We learn of their life goals, their dreams, their fears. We literally read their thoughts in some cases and follow them through every step of their journey within the pages of a book, traveling the world with them or some strange new place along the way.
I'm not one to openly express my emotions on many occasions, and I rarely do I ever cry while watching a movie, but the experience is so much different while reading a book. There's anticipation and angst as my heart races, I may even hold my breath as I can hardly wait to find out what the next page or ten behold for my favorite character. I laugh and I smile with the happy moments and I've shed real tears while reading that a character has died. And when a book ends with no series to continue the life of an amazing character, I'm often heartbroken, missing them and wondering what the future of their fictitious life may have held for them.
Being able to read a book is a beautiful luxury that often many people take for granted. Just to pick one up and unleash all that the cover holds within is amazing. It's an escape from the real world, if only for a moment, in the palms of your hands that one may look forward to. Books give us the opportunity to live a thousand lives and visit places we've never been. I simply adore reading.
