Comments about Books

In order to connect with others around the nation/globe about books, I created a Goodreads account. Here are some comments from others about their passion for books:

Bridget Bowers, Northern California - There are a lot of reasons reading became a passion for me. I liked the idea that I can escape into another time or place and experience the world in a whole new way.

I love getting into stories were the characters are like members of my family. I always enjoyed sharing their adventures and feeling proud of their accomplishments.

Better than TV, video games or movies a book is always there to take you away the moment you start reading. I read every day, just as I write every day. It became who I was at an early age and continues to grow day by day.

A.F. Stewart, Nova Scotia, Canada - I've never really thought about why I love reading books; I guess I was always too busy with my imagination buried in a book to consider my reasons.

Gayatri from Mumbai, India - There are different reasons for a reader to connect with a novel. Also the reasons may differ from one novel to another. It depends on how you look at it. I suppose I love the idea of fantastic adventures and exploits, things that aren't quite so everday routine. Characters in books don't usually have days filled with dishes, dinners and laundry.

Patti Roberts from Cairns, Australia - For me it's all about the characters and the way they feel about the predicament they are in. How they make me feel being part of their world, their story. If I can feel what they are feeling then I just can't wait to take the journey with them. From beginning to end.

Paul from Sheffield, the U.K. - I've been in love with books for as long as I could remember. For me it is the places you can visit, the situations you can explore, the people you meet and the dilemmas they face. I remember being enchanted by stories from a very early age, having good early teachers at school who read well (and in British primary schools in the 70s every class had a book corner, a cosy, carpeted part of the class with shelves of appropriate books you could just pick up, which you were encouraged to do. We also had daily reading time built into the class time right up to the age of eight, I think). There also used to be a superb show on children's TV called Jackanory, 15 minutes every day where someone would just sit and read to the camera, directly to the kids sitting enthralled. I remember The Hobbit and Roald Dahl, and many others. The images in movies and TV shows were never quite as good as the ones formed by letters on a page, or a voice reading.

While some people aren't lucky enough to have these experiences, to have parents or teachers with a passion for books, or some other way of discovering those joys, so many people who start exploring seem to put it aside as they get older (I deliberately didn't say "grow up").

I can't understand how anyone doesn't read.

Naynay Pope from Windsor, Ontario, Canada -  I think books take us to another place and another time. We can escape the hardships of daily life. When we are caught up in a book, the only thing that exist at that moment is the story of romance or mystery or fantasy. We can be what ever we want to be.

Only on paper has humanity yet achieved glory, beauty, truth, knowledge, virture, and abiding love.
- George Bernard Shaw

Unfortunately, most people I communicate on Goodreads with don't post their location or are from the U.S. A lot of people on Yahoo Answers have responded to my questions, but I don't know where they are from or what their real names are, in some instances.

My Goodreads group link is here:
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/61414.Book_Passion_

Also, at the right side of this page is a globe. If you'd be so kind, please pinpoint the location you are in when you visit this page. Thanks!