In the deepest thoughts, I wonder how I turn to love books. Maybe it was because of the lonely nights I spend alone, or maybe the need to hold on something eternal.

My dad said, “ It’s in your blood”. It’s partly true, since I know my mom and dad loves to read and somehow that passed down to me. I thought about it all the time, is it because I’m their daughter that I love reading? Is it in the genes that make me want to read?

My mom said, “ Because I wanted you to stop playing computers, this is a great new hobby you’re trying to do”. I’m fourteen; I need computers to actually live. So it isn’t my excuse to read. I don’t know if my mom actually caught me sneaking around trying to get as much internet I could get, yet it still seem to her that I read much. Mission accomplished.

My brother and sister said, “ You don’t have an interesting life so you read”. I guess that’s the appropriate thing to say when you’re captain of the junior high basketball team and Miss Popular. I’ve always been the girl behind the curtains compared to them, so maybe books became my shadow behind all this.

When someone asks me the same question, I shook my head and say, “ You won’t understand.” It’s true, no one does except me. They won’t understand how magical a book is. I’m finally giving you the truth about my addiction to books. I read because I want to escape like every human who’s sick of reality. Every story has a character and has a different life as the other, I want to feel the thrills of adventure, I want to feel being loved in a thousand ways, I want to feel the courage of each character facing their fears so I could have the bravery to conquer mine. Ultimately, I just want to feel the moments that I will never have in life.

A story like Divergent by Veronica Roth or The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare where the world is totally different than ours where at a point the world is falling apart. I would think ‘ What would I do?’. Another interesting story would be The Fault In Our Stars by John Green, a teenage girl who has cancer and has a love story with another cancer patient. With the words printed on pages, I felt the emotions of sadness and dilemmas that maybe I will experience it too. A book like The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown broads my knowledge about the secrets that everyone is hiding. From famous paintings leading to unknown cults that still exists. With these books, you’re taken to a journey in a world where all you know might not matter because your brain thinks differently than the characters and that fascinates me as a reader.

I pity the people who don’t read because they’re missing a whole chunk of life. You might say reading a book is a waste of time and boring, but that’s where you’re wrong. It isn’t, not one bit. You’ll never feel bored when you’re stuck in the middle of the jungle or forced to jump off the building. I’ll live a thousand lives, been to hundred of places, done millions of unfathomable things and still not get tired of reading.

I love how every writer can make words seem real and alive to my eyes and soul. How every small quote and actions can make a huge effect on my whole life. It will always be my healing rune. I would not feel alone if I have a book despite what people say. A book is enough to keep me company in my teenage years. Rather than drink, go to parties and take drugs, isn’t it better to be a teenager that actually lives to see another day and not feel any regret? To feel like the world’s already on your brain because you read so much, you know too much it actually pains you that no one cares.
I would never give up reading because it’s the only way I could just stop and go away from the disappointing reality. Maybe this time, I’ll answer them, “ A book is a proof of human capable of working magic by the power of words”.