Books - An inner view

Few years back when life was showing me unexpected ways, twists and turns which was hard to take in, since I was experiencing a hard blow for the first time in all walks of my life, that is when my sis introduced me to this 'Books are the best companions in life. Life changes, you will experience a blend of good and bad, people leave you and you would be left alone at times but books can accompany you anywhere, anytime teaching you what life is about and give you treasures of knowledge'. She did say something in these lines of context which I took very seriously and that's when my reading habit started. During the initial days, it was hard to push myself into that habit and I would be left reading only 1-2 pages of a book a day whereas some of my friends could read a book a day even though it was huge with small case letters than my book which was only few pages with big letters than those of my friends'. Slowly (may be 3 yrs), I too plunged into the habit of voracious reading that I became a counselor to my friends suggesting what kind of books can one read. I used to sit and talk to friends when they come up with a problem and thought I would console them and give them a way with those learnings from the book and relating those to real life. I don't take credits for that :) It all started with something to read where books ranged from novels of Sidney Sheldon to books of RK Narayan (I was told that the language in these books is easy to understand and good for beginners like me) After 2-3 yrs when my reading habit transformed from lacklustreness to voraciousness, I started with Spencer Johnson's 'One minute Manager' and 'Who moved my cheese' which I could get in the platform shops in TNagar for 20 bucks. I became interested in reading the books of personality development or the kind that epitomised life enhancing skills. That changed the outlook of life, my perception towards life and people and as well inculcated a habit of facing anything with a positive sense...all for good! With all these good factors, a magazine called 'Frozen thoughts' was added to my collection. Even now, although its bit costlier than any other magazine here, I am getting it shipped from India.

Why do books entice me? There's a reason...I did a case study/experiment on this . When I did not touch any books for few months and subjected to few changes in life, few happenings that went to an all bad state and was too stressed and things were going haywire without any control...I saw myself devastated, lost all positiveness that I thought I had. Losing temper became a new thing...Decisions did not come with a mature sense...That's when I thought a book could change my life and grabbed one and it did wonders...and I was back with all those I had before...with a positive look towards, with high credibility and energy. And fortunately, got few books as gifts and now I have my own set of books to order in the coming days...Reading books is a hobby, an interest like watching TV/movies. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. But the weight of advantages in reading a book is more than its disadvantages. It could change life, perception, outlook, thought process and imbibe principles, enhance life, build a maturity level, improve vocabulary and overall a treasure of knowledge. Anyone can read a book but what you take from it is more important than completing it. What a life's experience can teach you in years is what a book can teach you in days. It depends on every individual who reads it, who takes the learning and how it is interpreted and how it is applied. To me, a good read is worth a good deed :)

Note: All my 'book's here relate to the kinds that develop one personally.

Next 2 on my list:
'Outliers' by Malcolm Gladwell
'Talent is Overrated' by Geoff Colvin

What I read recently?
'The Alchemist' by Paulo Coelho

On my reading shelf:
'The 7 habits of highly effective people' by Stephen Covey
'Mindset' by Carol Dweck