“I have lived a thousand lives and I’ve loved a thousand loves. I’ve walked on distant worlds and seen the end of time. Because I read.” 

– George R. R. Martin

This quote embodies one of the main reasons I absolutely love to read. It’s easy to think that your perspective on the world is same as everyone else’s and that everyone lives relatively the same as you do. Reading allows us to escape that notion and get a glimpse into what it is like to live another life. The first time this really hit home for me was as a young teenager when I first read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. I grew up in a fairly homogeneous community so reading about someone who grew up in such a different situation was incredibly educational for me.

Another enlightening book was Breaking Through by Francisco Jiménez. He writes about his teenage years, including being deported with his family back to Mexico, re-entering the U.S., living as a migrant worker, and just trying to be a normal American teenager.

A culture that I never thought of connecting with was Germans during World War II. The historical fiction novel The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak mainly follows the story of Liesel, a girl growing up outside of Munich, but it includes details about what it was like to live in Germany during the war.

Studies have shown that reading can increase empathy and emotional intelligence. Our world can only get better as people increase their knowledge of and connection to other cultures. 

Connect with the world at the Buda Public Library!