Reading books provides us with a wealth of knowledge and insights.

Books have this very special kind of power a gentle but fierce power to transform the way you see the world, and therefore the way you live your life. Reading is more than a hobby, it is travel between words, contact with the most diverse ideas and an opportunity to learn from the greatest minds and experiences of humanity. When screens grab our attention twenty four-seven, carving out the time to read gives us the opportunity to slow down and broaden our minds one page at a time.

Books seem to have this magical power of taking you to different worlds. Imagine the diversity of it; one minute you are right there with some ancient explorers in the middle of a tempestuous ocean from ages past and the very next moment you are in the mind of some radical scientist or poet.

It creating empathy through reliving, experiencing and seeing the world from miles and miles away from each other. Whether fiction or non-fiction, they provide us with glimpses into foreign scenarios; you can come to empathise with emotions, societies and circumstances that we may never have the opportunity to experience personally.

Books do more than just add to our mood of the moment; they are written and taken in an environment of growing and continuing education. For example, a biography describes the failures and triumphs of exceptional people and which tells us that even the best lives are riddled with obstacles and resilience.

A psychological analysis of the reasons that drove us to behave they way we did and a history dealing with human nature, how it used to be and how it can be changed will help us understand how we can do better. Every book we read can plant a seed of itself in us, influencing the way we think and making us discover different things.

Books can also open your eyes to previously unexamined assumptions. A thoughtful book on a controversial subject can nudge us toward challenging our own perspectives. Close reading reminds us that many problems are not black and white but gray, with layers and contexts we may not have encountered. When we are exposed to differing viewpoints within the pages of a book, we begin to see the world with greater dimension; we become less judgmental, more empathetic to our fellow humans.

In addition, Reading makes it a lot easier for us to think critically. Reading is the only thing where we are processing it, contrasting it with what we already know, and accepting or denying it in our head. It builds critical thinking skills that equip us to analyze, synthesize and interpret information in all areas of life with greater efficacy. All things equal, a well-read person will be able to see many sides of a story and hence adapt and weigh up information to make a better informed decision.

To sum it all up, reading books is an evolving process. Every story we read adds to our understanding of the world around us, makes us more compassionate and kinder humans. It is not the quantity of books which one might read, but rather the quality of understanding and the quality of experience which comes with each. As we read more, we expand our horizon and this adds the very essence of life and gives us the ability to deal with an intricate world.

Books are so much more than just words in between two covers, Books are gateways to other worlds, books are mirrors inviting contemplation, and this mirrors can transform into chisels carving our very identities. With every page we flip, we change little by little, and every book has the ability to open our eyes to the world differently.