Why do I Read?

I was taught to read at a very young age, two or three. Some of my earliest memories are when my Dad would read Harry Potter before I went to bed and how my Mom would get tired of reading picture book after picture book so eventually she just grabbed a stack off my shelf and I read to myself. I remember reading on the bus on the way to kindergarten and how mesmerizing the Rudolph Library was when I was in first grade. I grew up reading and I've come to view certain books like Princess Academy by Shannon Hale, Peak by Roland Smith, and the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series by Rick Riordan as old friends. Books never leave you; there is always a familiar story to pick up whenever you feel like it. Going to a bookstore and buying a brand new book is an amazing feeling and finding a new story at a library is thrilling. Throughout my life books have always been there for me. So the answer to the question “Why do I read?” I read to escape reality and to immerse myself in a world that is not mine, in problems that aren't mine, and adventures that become mine through reading.