Reasons to pick up a book

Welcome to this week's Friday Five. If you are new here, Friday Five is nothing more than a short (hahaha) list of five random(ish) things. They might be favorites, thankfuls, pet peeves, or frankly whatever else strikes me on any given Friday. 

Books are a plentiful peace of our household fiber. Though I prefer a good, hold-the-pages in your hand, smell the paper, feel the weight of it, kind of book, most of the books I've read lately exist in a digital format on my Kindle Paperwhite. My husband's books are mostly audio ones on his iPod. 

Regardless of the format of your book, there is always a reason to have one around. Here are five of my favorites: 

1. Escape - Whether your life is boring, stressful, or just plain normal, it never hurts to just step away for a chapter or two. Reading can take an ordinary day and make it extraordinary. It can sweep you away on exciting adventures, hold you to the edge of your seat, and even take you away from your troubles.   

2. Adventure - I've never jetted in a high speed boat down the St. Lawrence River south of Quebec while tracking Russian operatives. I've never swam the English Channel or ridden a bike through Paris. I've never climbed an air-conditioning shaft, parachuted off a CIA plane, or high-jacked a train while attempting to ditch a trail of foreign ops. But I've read about it... and therefore, in my mind at least, had the adventures of a lifetime!  

3. Friendship - I like people. You know, the real, breathing kind of people. But, the next best thing is fake people... no, not the kind of phony's that leave you wanting to strangle their existence, but the kind of made-up ones that exist within the pages of a book. Whether its fiction or non-fiction that catches your fancy, there is usually a friend to be found sandwiched between the covers. Granted, that new friend's life is probably way more exciting than yours is, but it's probably more messed up to. 

4. Travel -  Not only can a good book fill a gray day with sunshine, it can also transplant you from a hot summer morning to a cold winter night in Russia! Or Switzerland, New York, Mexico, California, or even some made up place in some made up universe. The destinations are limitless!  Disclaimer: I've never met a book with an actual teleportation system, but if I did, it'd probably be way out of my budget anyway. Fortunately, however, imagination is free. 

5. Learning - Not just about people and places and things, though that's nice. But also (okay, now this is going to sound like the geeky literary type that I am) about words, literary dynamics, sentence structure, rhythm, and a whole plethora of other stuff that helps me be a better writer.