Books have been keeping me company my entire life — long before I discovered creative writing. My reasons to read have always been simple: I enjoy it and consider it the best way to spend my free time. From Pippi Longstocking to The Five Find-Outers and Dog to The Catcher in the Rye to The Thursday Murder Club, the world of literature has welcomed me with a cup of tea and a good story more times than I can count.
But the benefits of reading books go far beyond literary comfort and pleasure. So today, I’d like to take a deep dive into the soul of a book lover — this book lover — and talk about why it’s worth coming back to literature again and again.
1. Because Reading is a Form of Self-Care
While we have different levels of sensitivity when it comes to the stimuli and triggers surrounding us, I think we can all agree that the world is full of noise, and even the most stoic of us get fed up with it. There’s the factor of screen time — which many of us get a lot of in our jobs — and street noise, ads and information overload, and the list could go on and on.
When the world feels too loud, look for comfort in books. Let them soothe you and dissolve your overwhelm in a beautiful story of a girl and her cat, or a secret school of magic, or four elderly friends solving crime in a retirement community. Treat reading as self-care: no screens, no noise — just you, a page, and a cup of your favorite drink. Let this become your post-work ritual, a soft landing after a busy day.
2. Because a Book Feels Like a Companion
It’s a common mistake to underestimate how books keep us company when we’re stuck in the waiting room of a doctor’s office or when we’re commuting. This is why readers carry books everywhere — to replace screen time and keep boredom at bay when our friends or family aren’t around for a chat.
Books have a way of turning empty minutes into something meaningful. Whether you’re standing in a long queue or riding the bus home from work, having a book in your bag means you never have to waste that time. You can slip into a different world for a few pages and let the wait pass unnoticed. These moments might be small, but they add up — and so does the quiet comfort of having a story to turn to when the rest of life is on hold.
3. Because Books Help Us Feel More Connected to the World
When I started watching Gilmore Girls for the first time, Rory’s love of literature won me over right away. Every time I understood a literary reference, I experienced the joy of someone solving a riddle or getting all the answers in a quiz right.
I’m sure this feeling must be familiar to many: the joy of literary references popping up in TV shows, conversations, or unexpected places. Books become cultural threads, weaving us more deeply into the fabric of life — as though literature gave us extra language for understanding the world around us. These moments are subtle, but they fill our lives in places that would otherwise be gaps in understanding or connection between us and the world.
4. Because Books Shape Our Identity
Just as the people we meet and the life experiences we go through, books have the power to shape us as human beings. I consider reading to be a huge part of my identity. Since my childhood years, being a reader has played a vital role in my feeling intelligent, articulate, and emotionally attuned. Books helped me develop the language skills that give me the freedom to express myself exactly the way I want to, without the agony of not being able to articulate what I wish to put into words — at least, most of the time.
Reading and self-discovery always go hand-in-hand. And it’s not about ego or a feeling of superiority. It’s about being in touch with who you are.
5. Because Books Let Us Experience What We’re Missing in Real Life
On my personal list of reasons to read, this one is the most intimate — and perhaps the one with the most impact. My reading habits are largely influenced by my mood: what do I feel like reading next? And occasionally, the answer is based on what I’m currently missing or longing for — romantic love, in my case.
When the feeling of love deprivation rises to levels difficult to ignore and a wave of loneliness threatens to swallow me whole, I read about love. Living vicariously through characters that are experiencing something I temporarily don’t have access to in my personal life can partially satisfy the hunger and the longing and help me return to my default life-enjoying state.
Books do that to you — they offer an emotional proxy for things we long for and can’t have. Reading about it is not the same as living it, but it can help us stay hopeful and patient until the real thing comes our way. And that’s one of the greatest emotional benefits of reading.
6. Because Reading Fuels Creativity
I was a reader first, I became a writer later, but the latter would never have happened without the former. Nowadays, I don’t necessarily read to become a better writer, but I recognize that reading does help me write better. It often gets me through creative blocks, too — reading something stirring and thought-provoking acts as a catalyst for my own creative processes.
You don’t need to be a writer, though, to see books as creative inspiration. Literature is a deep well of insight that can get your creativity moving whether you make visual art, write music, or create culinary masterpieces. With a single line that lingers or a character who feels familiar, books often give us the raw material we need to make something of our own.
7. Because Books Build Bridges to Others
My best friend and I met at work, but our friendship started over a shared love of the Harry Potter series. A fleeting remark I made caught her attention, sparked her curiosity, one thing led to another, and a beautiful friendship was born. We have a lot more in common than loving the same fantasy series, of course, but would we ever discover it had it not been for that one mention of a book?
Books can be a powerful social lubricant, sparking conversation between strangers, fast-tracking connection, and building bonds over a shared love of reading. A passing comment about a favorite novel can lead to hours of conversation, a borrowed book can turn into a lasting exchange. Through pages and plotlines, we often stumble into the people we were meant to meet — those who understand something about us simply because they loved the same story.
8. Because Reading Is Simply Fun
While books teach us valuable lessons, shape our identity, and build bridges with the world around us, a very important reason to read is that it’s simply fun. Just like movies or video games, books offer joy, laughter, suspense, or adventure. When you’re not in the mood to learn lessons, expand vocabulary, or improve your mind in any way, read for pleasure. Read to be entertained. Read because it delights you.
So if you ever wonder why you should read more, the most obvious reason is your answer: for the fun of it.
Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.
Harper Lee
Whatever your life looks like — busy or quiet, full or longing, steady or uncertain — books have a way of slipping in and making space. They don’t demand much from us, yet they offer so much in return: a shift in perspective, a moment of pause, a reminder that we’re not the only ones feeling what we feel. Our reasons to read may change over time, but the act of reading remains one of the simplest, most human ways to be who we are meant to be.
Maybe you read for the same reasons as I do, maybe for different ones. But if books have ever kept you company, given you comfort, or helped you feel more like yourself, then I think we understand each other.
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