Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Reasons Why I Love Reading

I've always love reading. Back when I was in elementary school, I was always fascinated with the library and how much books are in there and *gasp* I can borrow one and read it at home for free!

So when I saw TTT's topic is about giving the why's of my love for reading, I'm all in. So here we go, reasons why I love reading!

I read to escape.

Books give me various keys to a different world. I read a lot of fantasy, urban fantasy and paranormal books because they're a great way for me to suspend reality and traditional belief and dive into various worlds and experience different adventures.

I read and I learn.

I learn so much just by reading. I've always jokingly said that everything I know about hockey, I learned it from reading Sarina Bowen (and Elle Kennedy)'s books. I was never into hockey, into football, but because I read so much sports romance, I was actually able to learn about the sports, the key players and even how the games are played.

Reading gives me new experiences.

Reading provides a great way for me to experience different culture, it gives me different perspective. I get to be anybody when I read because of the experiences the books give me.

Reading enriches my vocabulary.

Truly, reading makes people smart. My vocabulary are all because I read so much.

My imagination runs wild...

I have a wild imagination and reading enables more of that. It's especially prevalent with audiobook listeners. Imagine somebody's telling you a story, their narration is on point, and your imagination truly runs wild.

Reading is Fun!

The last TV show I've watched was the last season of Game of Thrones. I don't watch TV at all. I just read or listen to radio shows or podcasts. Occasionally, I go on Netflix to watch stand up comedy specials. But because I am so happy with reading, I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything.

I like being alone...

My hermit tendencies blends well with my love for reading! But even then, I don't feel lonely.

Reading builds empathy and awareness.

Because of the experiences I've read through books, it makes me more empathic, gives me a glimpse of what it's like, and makes me more aware of social injustices and issues. It gives me more of an open mind and makes me stop and think of the implications of my actions before I willy nilly do them. This is especially true when dealing with different cultures and lifestyles. Reading taught me not to yuck people's yum.

Reading teaches me a lot of things about life...

This is so true specially when I started reading MM romance books. There's so much life lessons learned when I started reading men loving men. Sexuality, how it's fluid, how it's never just black and white. I learned so much about myself too, my well being and my life changed for the better. I got to know myself more and I learned that I'm demi, not broken.

Reading gives me hope.

Listen, I admit I'm old and cynical but because I'm reading a lot of romance books, it stokes this lil fire of hope I have within me, that hey, maybe, just maybe, I might get my HEA eventually. Hopefully, in this lifetime. Lol!

Through reading, I've met wonderful friends!

Remember when I said I don't feel lonely even if I like being alone? The MM reading community is incredible. It's not as big as mainstream romance readers community but I've meet a lot of wonderful people through MM books. I've even made friends with some of my favorite authors. I'm forever grateful for this one author group on Facebook where I met my friends Shavi and Katie. You make friends for life, just because you love to read books! Isn't that wild?

The takeaway? Reading is FUNdamental!

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If you want to participate in Top Ten Tuesday, head over to Artsy Reader Girl's site and make sure to check out the other bloggers participating too.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.