I’ve been a lover of books for as long as I can remember; from listening to my mom read me "Harry Potter" or staying up all night to finish a book, my love of reading, and books in general, has been cultivated my whole life. And as my love grows, so does my list of reasons for why I love reading. So here are my top six reasons for why I’d rather be reading.

1. Enjoyable way to pass time

Whether it's five minutes or five hours, reading just makes that time fly by, which is really nice for long car rides. A little warning though, what may seem like five minutes can actually be five hours.

2. Educational

I learn so much from reading. I know so many random facts that I would have never thought to look up and in addition, I find myself looking up more information on those topics. I've also notice how much reading strengthens my vocabulary, which really helps when I'm attempting to crush my brother in a game of words with friends.

3. Traveling without the hassle

Books are without a doubt the easiest way to travel to distant lands. You get to experience new worlds and places without ever having to leave your house. I find it so amazing how books are able to transport you to other places. And if you ever get to actually travel to the places you've read about, your visit is ten times better. I can only hope to someday travel to the places that inspired my favorite books.

4. Inspiration

I love reading and books so much that it's made me want to be a writer for a living. And a great place to find inspiration is in other works, whether it's an award winning novel or a short story I found online. There's nothing like reading one line and suddenly being inspired to write your own story. Reading other works also pushes me into becoming a better person and writer, because I find myself looking at situations in different ways and asking myself how I would handle that or how I would write it.

5. Understand book characters better

I find that I understand and relate to book characters better than people in my own life. Being able to find similarities between myself and a book character makes me feel better about myself. Even if that person doesn't actually exist, whoever wrote that character saw those characteristics somewhere, and knowing that makes me feel a little less lonely. Connecting with book characters also allows me to escape reality when it gets to be too much and it makes it a lot easier to go on their adventures with them.

6. They make you feel

My last reason is that books make me feel. I find it incredible that words on a page can make cry or laugh or scream or a number of other emotions. I love feeling something when I read, mostly because I'm so attuned to my emotions and being able to connect on that level makes it that much more personal and enjoyable. There's no greater feeling than finishing a book and absorbing how it made you feel.

Reading is my favorite pastime in the world. There are really no words to accurately describe how much joy it gives me. I can only hope to share my love of reading to those around me because there really is nothing else like it.