Is Reading A Waste Of Time?

5 Reasons Why Books Matter

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There are hundreds of thousands of books out there, from autobiographies to poetry to epic fantasy. To some people, thinking about all those new, unexplored books out there makes them giddy with excitement. To others, it’s enough to make them pass out with exhaustion.

You might be in the middle. Maybe you like books, but don’t have enough time to read them. Maybe you have a good amount of free time, but you’re not sure if you should spend your hours reading.

Here are five reasons why you should spend your time reading books, and will hopefully help you decide if this hobby is the right one for you.

5. Conversation Topic

Maybe you’re not the most book-loving person in the world, but some of your friends might be. Books are a common conversation topic — and for good reason. Things like book clubs were built solely for the purpose of talking about good books, which is conversation bound to be filled with debate, theories, predictions, and just plain fangirling.

If you’re someone who loves to be with other people, you might want to ask your friends what their favorite books are, or what they’re reading right now. Check those books out, maybe read a little bit of it, and you might find out that you actually really like it. Now, you and your friend can have a nice little topic to chat about, whether it’s arguing over which superpower is coolest, or seething over the latest scheme the minister’s been planning.

4. Improve Your Writing

You’ve probably heard it before, but I’ll tell you once again: One of the best things you can do as a writer is read.

There are plenty of reasons why reading benefits you as a writer. One of the biggest is inspiration. A new angle on a topic, a new character trait combination — while I’m not suggesting copying, analyzing and absorbing other author’s writings can help you get ideas for your own writing.

Also, even if you’re not an active writer, reading might just be the thing to inspire you to become one. I started writing because of all the amazing books I read, and from a young age I wanted to create my own worlds, my own characters and conflicts and settings and…