Hi everyone! Welcome to Nox Reads, I’m Nox, and today I’m talking about the top ten reasons I love reading!
- ESCAPISM
I was bullied a lot as a kid. Making genuine, non-abusive, non-toxic friends was (and still can be) incredibly hard for me. So I’d turn to books. That’s why I loved fantasy as a kid – I loved the idea of magic in the world, or that maybe somebody would come and whisk me away for an adventure. At least when I was reading, I had that escape.
2. I NEVER FELT ALONE
Tying into the same reason as number one, being bullied and without friends made me a pretty lonely kid. But I read so many series that I seriously felt like they were my friends. I wrote book report after book report about Warrior Cats. I’m pretty sure I used Gail Carson Levine’s Fairest for a report three years in a row – a different report each time, just the same book over and over again. Aza felt like a good friend to me. I loved Ijori, he was just the sweetest. I’d stay and help with medicine cats in Riverclan (because they were the best clan) and then I’d go and learn about magic in other books. I was immersed in the books, they were everything to me.
3. BOOKS HELP ME UNDERSTAND THE WORLD
I don’t know much, but a lot of what I know about the world comes from books. Even when it came to things I had experienced through life, I didn’t truly understand how bad they were until I read about them. Books don’t just help me understand others, they help me understand myself.
4. IT’S NOT JUST ME
Once again, books helped me feel less alone. But when I first started finding diverse books, especially books where I was represented, I started seeing that I really wasn’t as alone as I had felt. I cried when I read Anna-Marie McLemore’s Panadería ~ Pastelería in Hungry Hearts. I had never read a story with pan dulce in it before. And I sobbed when I read Jay Coles’ Gimme Some Sugar. It made me feel connected to a part of my family that I never got to meet.
5. THEY’RE SAFE
It’s rare for me to feel safe around people. I can think of maybe four people that I feel safe with, and unfortunately, I don’t live near any of them. When I’m offline, I’m on my own. It’s a big deal to me to feel safe, emotionally or physically, and with the exception of those four people, the only other place I feel that is books. Obviously I don’t feel this way with every book, which is why trigger warnings are so important to me, but I feel safe most of the time with books. So if I have to navigate this world alone, I’m gonna bring a book with me as a safety blanket.
6. I WOULDN’T BE WHERE I AM WITHOUT BOOKS
I mean that. I’m an English Education major because I believe in the power of words and literature. I don’t know what I’d be majoring in if it wasn’t for books. I started blogging three years ago as a way to keep my mind safe from itself, as a way to keep myself grounded and alive. I either wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for reading, or I wouldn’t be the Nox I am today. (Literally, I wouldn’t be Nox. I started using Nox for book stuff).
7. I WOULDN’T HAVE SOME OF THE PEOPLE IN MY LIFE THAT I DO
Do y’all know how many people I’ve become friends with because of books? It’s not even necessarily over books either – some of the most important people in my life are in it because I participated in a blog tour in early 2018. I met someone through it (who’s no longer in my life), met people through them, and because of that I met some of the best people I’ve ever known. And that’s just one example. If I hadn’t joined Booktube I wouldn’t have met some other people, or if I hadn’t started blogging, or if I hadn’t started following the Papercut Book Club lives. My life is a giant butterfly effect. If I had made a different decision, I might’ve lost out on some of my favorite people. And none of that would’ve been possible if I didn’t love reading.
8. IT MAKES ME FEEL CLOSER TO MY FAMILY
I’ve been pretty distanced from them recently (some of y’all may know that I’m not longer mentally safe at home and trying to move across the country for my own wellbeing), but even with everything going on, I still love them. I still miss them. And my mom and my grandma are the reasons I’m the reader that I am. Reading makes me feel connected with them in a way, even if we aren’t so connected right now.
9. IT GIVES ME SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT
I can (and have) talked about books for hours with people before. Conversations aren’t easy for me, especially with people I’m not comfortable around. But if you ask me for book recommendations, I can go off. It’s even a joke at the cultural center I worked at – if you want to know about books to check out, ask Nox. As long as you have an hour to spare. But when I’m talking about books, I feel in control of the conversation for once. It’s my time to shine. And if someone also loves books? I get to hear and learn more about someone. The best way to get to know someone is to read a book they’ve annotated. 10/10 recommend.
10. THERE’S POWER IN WORDS
I love books for the same reason I love music. It makes me feel things. If anything, at the end of the day I have words. They don’t have to be the most eloquent, they don’t have to be academic, at the end of the day they just need to be. I have the power to get people to understand me, or the power to gain some kind of emotion from them. And that’s pretty damn cool.
Well everyone, that’s part of why I love reading. Let me know in the comments below why you do (or don’t) love reading, and which book you would annotate and give someone to understand you- I’m torn between Hungry Hearts or Don’t Date Rosa Santos. I’ll see y’all Thursday with a new post.
Love,
Nox
Nox Reads 