What Lies Between the Cover of Books?
I remember when I was in primary school, reading was promoted greatly into our lives. At such a young age, with what felt like an infinite amount of leisure time, I spent a great deal of time reading books. Picture books, chapter books, comics, you name it. It was a time when reading was extremely easy, when just simply reading about Captain Underpants shooting a pair of undies could make you dissolve into a fit of laughter. Now, as a 14-year-old writing about my reading life and habits, I do not really know I could write about. At such an age, reading really does not appeal to us anymore and even if we did, we wouldn’t have much time. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love reading. It’s just that now with my habits and schedules, I really don’t have much time for reading, maybe half an hour each day when travelling to school, not much, but the best I can do. Right now, you would probably be thinking, ‘With all the time these kids have at home, they don’t have time for reading?’ You’re not wrong. I would love to spend some time at home every day on the couch reading a book, but with the fast-moving society where your education and grades could determine your job and status? Unfortunately, my parents and many others are on their children’s backs from dusk till dawn making sure they are studying, as they consider reading a ‘waste of time’. “Why read a book when you can learn those quadratic equations you messed up on your test last time?” they say. Sadly, this is the ugly truth of children’s education today.
I believe reading is extremely important. It increases people’s ability to think logically, knowledge, and increases verbal skills and vocabulary and it also helps a person understand the world more by reading about big world events and the nature of humans. It also helps with patience and many other vital virtues and characteristics a person needs. Reading is also a form of entertainment and a good way to escape from reality into another world.
How does social media interrupt with our lives?
Sure, nowadays we get everything off social media. News, work, even financial support, but another is distraction. We spend too long on social media flicking through memes and videos and messaging friends. It’s not our fault though, we all do it. It’s a psychological fact that says that we are always so attracted to social media once we start because of our self- consciousness. We are always wary about how much followers we have now, is there any new memes, how people have reacted to our posts and so on. I just think that we should mainly use our social media for work, communication and the occasional meme, and try to spend our extra time reading a few books. During the past few weeks, I have felt that this has greatly boosted my mental health and I feel a lot more optimistic and less self- conscious than before.
Recently, during my spare time, like the time I’m travelling to school, our weekly reading session for English class and also when I finish my work for class and have some spare time to do what I want to do. I hope to read a lot more books this year and also to read a lot more interesting fictional stories.
Books I’ve enjoyed so far:
· Sherlock Holmes Series
I’ve very much enjoyed reading about the many different cases and mysteries that Sherlock Holmes uncovered. It is an adventure and mystery series and is recommended to everyone in secondary school.
· Narnia Series
This series is a story set in the 1900s about 4 children who find a doorway into a magical world, where they have to find and complete several different tasks. Mostly is an adventure and is recommended to all ages.
· CHERUB Series
The CHERUB Series is a set of books widely enjoyed by teenagers. This series is about a boy who is recruited to become a spy for the government following the death of his mother. This story shows how someone who was once not so great became a great part of ending the criminal world. This book is recommended to secondary students and above as it contains explicit language and ideas.
Books I hope to read soon:
I’m hoping to read more books soon that are based on real world events such as Charles Dickens’ ‘David Copperfield’ and ‘Oliver Twist’, and also books that are about the life during times of war and carnage. I also would like to read books that concern racism and equality as I want to know how these problems change the way people act and think. I believe these books would help me have a better understanding of the world and how the world has changed over time.
Overall, I believe that reading books is extremely important. They help me understand the way the world works, helps me improve in all subjects and is an extremely effective and good way of entertainment. I hope that reading can soon become a habit that I soon can get into.
