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February is the month of love of reading in the U.S.. I couldn’t find out whether we’ve got something equal here in Germany, but I really hope so.

Reading.

I’ve been asked so many times „Aren’t you bored?“ or „Isn’t that exhausting?“. Naah. Not really.
There are hundreds of reason to read – you improve your spelling skills and concentration, it makes us more compassionate, we learn something,… but I don’t really care about that. Those are nice side effects, but I care about something entirely different: the stories. When people ask me why I love to read it always makes me think of a quote from the movie adaptation of Cornelia Funke’s Inkheart:

Meggie: >>You’ve been to Persia, then?<<
Elinor: >>Yes, a hundred times. Along with St. Petersburg, Paris, Middle-Earth, distant planets and Shangri-la. And I never had to leave this room. Books are adventure. They contain murder and mayhem and passion. They love anyone who opens them.<<

Reading is vacations to me. You travel to foreign places, get to know new people and experience things, that you might never dare in reality. What can possibly happen? As soon as you close the blook you’re back to reality, but each book leaves something with you and changes you at least a tiny bit. It might be a sensation, a memory or a lesson that you learned without burning your fingers. The most special books are those, that make as ponder and invite us to return someday.

It doesn’t always have to be fat classic, that makes your head burn after five pages of endless and complex sentences. On the contrary! Sometimes there’s nothing better then to lounge on the sofa with a plate of cookies and some light reading. I randomely get lost in the kid’s and young adult’s section and I love to read a cheese romance novel every now and then. So what? No big deal.

Books are expensive. Well, yes, good point. Being a student I don’t have many funds so I ususally fall back on buying used books, using the library and those free book shelves, that you can find in many places now.

You only have to open yourself up to it and whoosh – new worlds will open up to  you, too.

XOXO

Sarah