Personal Narrative: How Books Changed My Life

George R.R. Martin once said, “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies… The man who never reads lives only one.” For centuries, books have transformed readers into someone else and transported them to different worlds. In my fourteen years, I have fought dragons, saved the world, and survived World War II. I have become others who were anywhere from a toddler to an adult. I have gone to wizarding school and a summer camp for demigods all because of books. Something magical happens when I open bound pages of words and begin to read. Books inspire me because they each open up a new world of experiences and feelings that will last with me forever.
Books have always held a sense of security for me because they offer an instant escape from reality. My own troubles stop for the few hours, minutes, or even seconds that words pull me into another world. When I worry, I read something light and humorous. When there’s nothing but monotony in my life, I escape to far off lands where anything is possible. With enough imagination, the stories not only come alive, but I become part of them. This sensation is so strong that the feelings I experienced reading follow me long after I close the books. Books also let me live different lives. I

have met both characters of foreign backgrounds and characters with relatable histories who all become my closest friends. Even when nothing goes right in the real world, I know they will be there to retreat to. The pages don’t mock, the binding doesn’t tease, and stories do not judge. The escape books offer is what continues to inspire and motivate me.
When I escape into books, I often find myself undertaking thrilling adventures.

I am able to go anyplace and do anything without ever leaving my seat. It is exhilarating to know there is no limit in the world of books. The “edge-of-your-seat” feeling is magnified, for reality does not hinder stories. Reading has taken me to the corners of the world and beyond. I have flown through the endless blanket of Space and traveled back and forth through Time. Through books, I have undergone the uncomfortable dampness of sailing and ridden painfully on horseback for days. Although I may never actually undergo a journey across the planet, the memories are still there. Books energize me by offering a portal to any place and time in the

universe.
Perhaps the most inspiring thing about reading books is how I can become someone else and lead a completely different life. Well-written books not only pull me into their world but into the heads of the characters. I become one with them and follow along as they go through trials and success. I feel their despair when they fail and celebrate when they triumph. Witnessing others’ lives has also allowed me to gain insight on the troubles of the world. Facing the feeling of hopelessness with a modern-day child slave and living in terror with a refugee reveals world problems I never knew about. Sharing others’ experiences allows me to sympathize better and inspires me to take action. Books encourage me because I can learn from other people’s lives while still keeping my own.
Ever since I began reading, books have brought me nothing but an extraordinary experience. They are powerful things, much more than bound pages with words. They are more than a place to retreat and a means of doing fantastic things. They are pieces of knowledge, records of our existence, and collections of ideas. I have become aware of wonderful things about the world as well as inspired to take action against problems through reading. Books are also more in that they are teachers and friends. Somehow, the printed ink comes alive to hold experiences and memories. George R.R. Martin is correct when he says “a reader will live a thousand lives…,” for I have lived a thousand times and will live a thousand more because of something magical called books.