As we recover from Thanksgiving feasts, we continue to be thankful for many things. At Libib, we’re remembering all the reasons we have to be grateful for the existence of books. The reasons are too numerous to list all, but here are a few of the biggest reasons we’re so fond of books:
Books make us smarter. Studies have shown that reading books expands our vocabulary, improves focus and concentration skills, makes us more imaginative, sharpens memory, increases learning capacity and broadens our understanding of the world around us. What’s more, being well-read makes us appear smarter and causes other people to perceive us as more attractive and interesting. If that’s not reason enough to love books, I don’t know what is.
A book is a really cheap vacation. One of the easiest and least expensive ways to escape the monotony of our humdrum lives is to crack open a book. Books can transport us not only to any place – from the other side of the world to the other side of the universe – but also to any time. Want to visit contemporary Manhattan, explore life on a distant planet, roam the earth with dinosaurs, or experience life in a magical realm ruled by dragons? Books let you do all of the above.
A book is the truest form of magic. Stephen King said it best: “Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink.” Books take a writer’s ideas and vision and, through the magic of words, transports them directly into your head. The vision might not match up exactly to the way it looked inside the writer’s own head, but if the writer is skilled, it comes pretty close – closer, usually, than what ends up on the screen if the book is adapted to film. And that’s just neat.
