The goosebumps, the slide to the edge of the seat, the heart beating faster, they are all the signs of anticipation. Whether it’s anticipating the next scene in a movie or the next page in a book, you can’t deny the excitement you feel for a whole new world that is not even real. Reading has been labeled as a nerdy thing or a thing that only a certain group of people like doing. I personally love reading and I don’t think people should dismiss it just because they have no time or they feel like it’s not their thing. It has been proven that reading helps reduce stress and improve focus and concentration. According to research done in Mindlab International at the University of Sussex, reading even six minutes can be enough to reduce stress levels by more than two thirds. Although many may know the benefits of picking up a book, they never get to enjoy one because they choose the wrong book.

Books are fun to read when you know which genre you like. Picking the right book is an important step to learning how to read for fun. This is true for me in any occasion because I can never watch a movie to the end if I don’t like the genre and I am bored of the plot. I always end up falling asleep, which is coincidentally what people tell me when I recommend a book to them. Sometimes, I also start to fall asleep when reading because I can’t relate to the book at all and I end up not finishing it. The only time I will finish a book I don’t like is when I am assigned to read it for English class. It is not a bad thing when you don’t finish a book because you are not interested in it, but don’t let that one dislike affect how you see other books. “Don’t judge a book by its cover” is a saying we’ve all heard but I think it can be applied to this situation as well. If you judge all books just because you don’t like that one book you read, you are never going to find a book that will have you on the edge of your seat. 

Throughout the years, I found it hard to read some books that I was recommended by my friends because it was a genre that they liked to read but I did not. Other recommendations, though, were perfect for me and the books they recommended quickly became my favorites too. I tested this theory out on a friend who thought reading was boring and always teased me for the amount of books I read. I found out that we had similar tastes in movies so I decided to make a bet with her. The bet was that if she liked the book that I recommended her, she would have to give me ten bucks but if she didn’t, I would be the one to give her money. I recommended her The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. She read through it pretty fast and came back begging me for more book recommendations with the ten dollars in her hand. I ended up telling her to keep the money if she admitted that she was wrong about books.

In conclusion, I think that finding the right book that meets your expectations and likings is the best way to introduce yourself to a world full of words and exciting pages. The next time you go up to the IMC or go to a library, ask a librarian for recommendations or read the summaries of books that catch your eye. I think reading is one of the most relaxing but exhilarating thing to do and it’s worth it to escape reality into a whirlwind of words.