Reading is Good for the Soul

If you are a person reading this post who does not like to read (ironic) then everything I am about to say may be totally lost on you. Or maybe it won’t because you’ll have an idea of what I’m talking about, you just get the same feeling from something other than books.

For me, and many others, reading is an escape. Not necessarily to escape anything bad, though it can be that too, but it’s a way to completely get away from the stress of everyday life. It can be an escape from school, relationships, the business of everything, or those days when you want so badly to just take a break from your own brain. Books can provide that for you. And there is pretty much a book, more likely a genre of books, for just about everybody.

Let me tell ya, folks. There is nothing better than finishing a really good book. Not just finishing a book (which is great in and of itself), but finishing a book that beats so many others, its almost indescribable.

Let me back up. Finding a book, or even better a series of books, that speaks to your soul is quite an intense feeling. Finding a series of books that speaks to you is almost like taking a vacation every year to the same spot. The first time it’s fun and exciting, something totally new to explore. The second time it’s familiar but there are still some things left to be figured out. After awhile, you feel pretty comfortable there and it’s your favorite place to escape. You visit other places (books) often because there’s so much else out there to see (read). But when you come back to the place you visit all the time, the familiarity is so comforting yet exciting because there’s a new story within. The characters can feel like a family to you or at the very least your very best friends.

NOW, let’s add in the fact that it’s not just any old book, it’s a well written, balanced, good and flowing book. When you finish one of those books, it’s honestly one of the strangest (and best) feelings ever. Think of when you’ve just seen the BEST movie ever and you can’t wait to watch it again and just revel in how good it was. It’s exactly like that, but more. I get this bubbly feeling in my chest and I just want to jump up and down and let everyone know about the most amazing book that I finished. I sit and reflect because I have to go over what just happened, interpret, and think about what I take from it. I also get this intense adrenaline rush like I could run ten miles. I want to cry because it’s over. Cry because it was so good. Read it again to relive it. Reread the whole series just to go through the motions again.

I have always loved books. My mom says that I took to reading like a fish to water when I was really little. Words just make sense. Stories are ways to travel not only in our world, but to others too. Maybe even different galaxies. We meet knew people and go through these crazy and insane experiences just inside our heads from reading words on a page. It’s like we were there.

Possibly my absolute favorite thing about books is that the same book can mean such vastly different things to different people. Just one character can change what a person takes away from the book. Characters mean different things to different people. Or one book can be the most exciting and meaningful thing to me, but my sister could hate it.

If by this point in the post (hello if you are still here), you haven’t figured it out, I finished the last book in one of my favorite series today. Sometimes, when in a reading funk, you just know the right book to pull you out of it. I also had a great conversation over on my Twitter discussing YA, why I (& others) still read it, and some of our favorites. I was inspired then to write about books, the feeling that I get after finishing a great book, and why reading might actually be my favorite thing in the whole world.

P.S. The book that I finished was the last in the series The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. I would love to do a review-type post of these books if anyone would be interested!

I would also love to write more book related posts! Reviews, my favorites, etc. Let me know what book posts you like and also, tell me what book gave you #allthefeels in the comments!

“We lose ourselves in books, we find ourselves there too.”

xoxo Ariana