When people find out that I like to read for pleasure, their response would usually be a scoff, confusion or simply, “What?” Who likes to read for fun, right?

I do.

Books are my favorite thing in the world. Growing up with Spanish as my first language, I wasn’t really encouraged to read. No trips to the library, no bed time stories. I didn’t even get those corny bookmarks that you always magically ended up with.

I missed out on a lot.

It is true; no one’s life is perfect. As children, we learn from our mistakes as we grow up, only thinking about fun and joyous things. I didn’t have that, if someone were to ask me what the happiest moment from my childhood was, it would be very burdensome for me to come up with an answer. I worried too much as a child; I look back now and frown at how miserable I was, I grew up too fast. It was simply just a matter of events.

Most of us would love to run away from our problems. An escape from your mind, from the world, just shut everything off.

An escape. It’s what I did with books. I toured the wizarding world of Harry Potter, left on an adventure when reading A Wrinkle in Time, and endured with Anne Frank at Auschwitz.

Discovering a new book. Being introduced, figuring out all these new characters, with each page you turn the book it’s growing on you and before you know it, you’re attached. Lost in a world you’ve never seen, wanting to continue reading, interested in what’s going to happen next but not wanting to miss a single detail.

My love for books may confuse many who are not familiar with the feeling of finishing a great read. It may be defined as a chance to be unique and different from my generation with their smartphones and social media. It may be a hobby. It may just be my love for fictional characters who unfortunately will never be real as much as we wish.

Books have helped me be more useful of my time, learned to be more open with opinions, learn to think before act, see the situation in a different perspective, be more aware and it has benefited me in ways no one can imagine.

Not only does reading make you smarter, it’s relaxing, it benefits general knowledge, improvement in memory, better concentration skills, vocabulary expansion and also, it helps with your writing skills!

Obviously, you are most likely not going to be so inspired by this column that next time you go out to Barnes & Noble, you’ll actually check some books out instead of just wanting to use free Wi-Fi.

Reading is becoming more flexible now with tablets and books available for download on devices Books are being adapted into films Not only is technology evolving by the second but reading has also improved to take advantage of in different ways. Kindles, Nooks, e-readers, it’s just easier for everybody to read now.

I enjoy having my own little library, finding new authors, and getting a new book to add to my collection. Yes, I even like the new book smell. Why do we ‘bookworms’ spend money on a book that we’re probably never going to read again? The same reason someone buys a video game for an over expensive price, the same reason why someone would buy a music album to enjoy listening to.

It’s a luxury I am thankful for.