Post 2: What is a Book?

     What is a book? For me, a book is a rearrangement of twenty-six letters in a way that creates words, sentences, paragraphs, and then pages. It can tell a story, inform you about something, or even show you how to do something. Books can take you to places you have never seen or heard of, or it can bring back memories from long ago. It can take you away from the real world, or it can show you how the world really is. It can do many different things. But a book has a spine, with pages, paragraphs, sentences, and words. It may have pictures, or just thoughts. It could have your own writing, or others who have come before you. It is a tangible item,which is picked up, flipped through, read, and then put back on a shelf to maybe read again sometime. It can share information on life, or share thoughts on the latest events. Not all books are the best condition, but they all have a purpose. The book itself isn't all that important, but it's the ideas the book gives to the reader. The ideas are the purpose for writing books. The books just organize what the words are saying.

     Books are also things that can be passed down to your children, and their children, and can be touched. Knowing someone else touched and read the book makes it more real, whereas "books" on a computer have never really been touched by someone else. They were only seen, making it seem like more of something in a museum than something real. Things in museums are never touched, only looked at. Everyone wants to touch the exhibits in museums, yet no one wants to touch a real book anymore. Being able to touch it is what makes it real; what makes it a book.

Post 1: Why do I read?

     I read for a few reasons. One of those reasons is to escape the world I am currently in. When I read, I almost join the world the book is in. I submerge myself in the book, and I feel like I am right next to the characters in the book, doing the stuff they are doing, acting the way they are acting, feeling the things they feel, etc. I also read because I am bored and need something to do. I may sometimes read when I feel I have nothing to do at that moment, so I pull out a book that I am reading from my backpack, and start to read it. I read when I can't fall asleep, and when I want to learn about something. I read when I have to, because the book was assigned to me in class. I don't always like to read, but when I find a good book, then I just can't put it down. I read for hours at a time sometimes (rarely, but it happens) and can sometimes finish a book in a few days. And finally, I read when we go on long trips, so that I have something to do when there is nothing better to do. Those are some of the reasons I read.