Reading in Our Life
“A house looks glum and joyless without books”. This thought about books and reading speaks about people’s wisdom, experience; shows the role of reading and books in the life of people.
Some people read for instruction, and some for pleasure, but not a few read from habit. I’m fond of reading. In my opinion, books are a source of emotional inspiration and romantic feelings. Reading is very useful, because books enrich our experience with that of the other people. Some books teach us to live, some entertain us and give pleasure, and some are very helpful in difficult situations. Books are memory of mankind which retains very useful information about past. Besides, books help me to continue my own education.
I’m sure that a reader lives a richer life than a non-reader. The time spent on a good book is never wasted. Reading is a rewarding pastime. But some people think that the tempo of modern life is too fast to waste time on reading. They are sure that books have begun to lose their prestige and value. I disagree.
There are books of all kinds. Volumes of verse, novels, philosophical works, critical studies, biographies and autobiographies, love and detective stories, science fiction books, war and adventure novels, thrillers and historical novels, and fairy  tales, humorous and horror stories, works after classical and modern writers. There are books to read when you are ill and books to read when your brain wants something to work at; there are books that you have always wanted to read but in the hurry of life at home have never found time to; there are books to read at sea; there are books for bad weather; there are books chosen solely for their length, which you take alone when you have to travel light, and there are books you can read when you can read nothing else. I prefer to read in a big armchair at the far end of the room with a book on my lap, often with a mug of hot chocolate beside me.
I’m a great lover of the English and American literature. Among my favourite writers are Mark Twain and Ch. Dickens, J. London and Conan Doyle, O. Henry and Agatha Christie. I read them in translation. But I would like to read them in the original.
I read books after Russian and Belarusian writers, too. We can say that L. Tolstoy, D. Dostoevsky, A. Chekhov, A. Pushkin are as popular as they used to be. Their works have stood the test of time. My favourite modern writers are V. Korotkevich and I. Solshenitsyn. Their books are true-to-life, well-written, powerful. I like books after O’Henry. I’m sure everybody agrees with me they are enjoyable, amusing, funny and easy to read. I can’t say that I read everything. Of course, books can be boring, slow-moving, badly-written and even depressing. But tastes differ.
There is a big choice of various books in book shops and stalls. You can buy any edition. You can find hardback and paperback editions, pocket ones, cheap or expensive editions. If you need rare books you can drop in special shops.
I can’t imagine my life without reading. The books transport you into new worlds and introduce you to wonderful people who lived exciting lives. You can go on old sailing ships with Joseph Conrad. You can go to Africa with Ernest Hemingway and to India with Rudyard Kipling. ‘Except a living man there is nothing more wonderful than a book’, said one clever man. And I share his opinion. Books teach us what is right and what is wrong, to understand the world and people in it, they mould our character and at the same time tell us exciting stories.