Little Women, Harry Potter, Jane Eyre, Ivanhoe and Diary of a Young Girl, are five of many books that have inspired me throughout my life. As far back as I can remember, I have had a love for books, and reading has always been my passion. Books are my safe haven, a place I can go to when I am happy, sad, upset or worried, and in other words books are like my tree house, a place where I can escape reality. A book can take me anywhere; back in time or into the future. I can experience the Holocaust or fly in outer space with an alien. All realities disappear and the only real thing is the page in front of me weaving an intricate and exciting story.


You can be whoever or whatever you want when you read. You can fly around Hogwarts on a Nimbus 2000 or sail on a raft down the Housatonic River, anything goes. The fact that reality doesn’t serve as a boundary has always appealed to me, I believe that this fact has also inspired my love of writing. With writing I am always in control, I can let anything happen, from flying dogs to talking trees. I can end the story anyway I want; in a cliff hanger, metaphor or even, the ever so cliché happily ever after.


Books have also always been an indirect way of learning, it has helped me discover my interest in history. Reading books such as Memoirs of a Boy Solider, Diary of a Young Girl, A Thousand Paper Cranes and The Book Thief have sparked an interest in the events of World War Two and other wars all over the world, it has also allowed me to look into types of government that are drastically different from ours such as dictatorship and communism.


Epic poems such as the Iliad and Odyssey have led to an interest in Greek mythology. Virgil’s Aeneid also started and interest in Latin, which led to my interest in languages. Latin has also helped my vocabulary and spelling because I can see the origin of the prefix and suffix.


Overall, books have played an important role in my life and learning experience. Books are my safe haven, my learning tool and my introduction to foreign languages. I believe that my love of books will be life long, and reading will always be my passion.