My best companion is a book.

BOOK: Whenever I hear this word, it brings a slight smile to my face. Books are the source through which I escape from my routine. When I am angry, stressed, sad, or feeling low, I read. They help me to calm down and be patient.  

My journey into reading started when I was in 10th grade. My aunt gave me two books: Black or Pink by Tishaa and Paper Towns by John Green. When I picked up my first book to read, I was very dicey about whether I would be able to read and complete it or just read 20–30 pages and keep it aside. But I completed that book within a month, and I became very obsessed with reading. Whenever I had free time, I used to read. And that started my interest in reading. After those books, I started reading on a regular basis. As I started my reading with fiction books, it was quite difficult for me to switch to non-fiction. You Can Win by Shiv Khera was my first non-fiction book, and it made me read more non-fiction. 

Both fiction and non-fiction books teach me different lessons, and I get attracted to the writer’s thinking. I read books of many different genres romance, mythology, plays, biographies, poetry, researches and more.

I love reading hard copies of books, but it's quite difficult for me to read with soft copies because I have the habit of marking or highlighting some points, words, or sentences. 

My feelings while reading are always mixed; I even search for or critique those particular sentences that I find different from my own. When I read, I go into a different zone; the real world is switched off for me. 

I love to write poetry, and books are the reason behind my interest in writing. I read Walt Whitman’s one poetry book, and after that, I wrote my first poem. 

Here I am sharing my emotions for books:

You help me to be patient.

You help me stay motivated.

You help me to calm down, 

You help me manage myself.

And You help me to be happy.

 

I guess I will take more time to write down what books mean to me.

I am a bookworm, and I say it proudly.

My recent favorite books are Sleepwalking by Neelashi Shukla, King Lear (tragedy) by Shakespeare, and Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari.

-Himi