Why should I read a book?

This question has not been my concern for a long time: “Why should I read a book?” When you’re young, it’s easy to answer: “Because reading is fun.” As you grow older, your curiosity about the world expands.

As time passes, the questions in your mind become more profound, complex, and challenging to answer. Your question may change to “Why am I reading a book?” Someone asked me this question recently.

To understand this, we must go back to the beginning of human civilization, when man started writing on clay tablets and later stone tablets and papyrus scrolls. For thousands of years, humans have been writing down their stories for generations to come.

Reading and writing are part of us. Still, for some people today, reading books seems strange, as they think they can search for everything on Google and Wikipedia (or other websites) or by speaking with others via social media platforms. I hate them, actually, because most of these sites are unreliable (not all of them).

I’m writing this piece now because my friend Niloo told me she stopped reading books for a while. I could not believe it as I met her; I assumed she might be reading complicated philosophical books or writing her novel! It…