From Start to Finish

Books to me, and the memories they spark, will stay with me for the rest of my life. Although I don't read as much as I'd like to these days, whenever I find the time to actually sit down and start reading I am reminded of why reading makes me feel the way it does. Something about it enlightens you, challenges you, and touches your heart. It can make you happy, sad, angry, frustrated, confused, or simply comforted. I'll never forget the first book I read from start to finish: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I had never found so many thoughts and ideas flying throughout my mind and soul during the course of that reading than I had throughout my entire life. My mind was instantly taken away from the world I was in and placed right inside the mind of Huck Finn. I was mesmerized literally after the first five minutes. I couldn't explain the feeling it gave me, it was something I never knew existed. It wasn't like a movie, it wasn't like listening to music, and it definitely wasn't like watching TV. "It's only words on paper," I said to myself. How could something so dull and lifeless have so much intellectual flavor. I was surprised, in the best way possible. I'll never forget, I was so enriched in this book that I had turned my room into a giant fort with pillows and blankets everywhere... I was Huck Finn and I was the one embarking on all the adventures. In my opinion, no other form of media can do that. Sure we'll pass books down to our young ones and relatives, but that's not what is important. What's important is that we'll be giving them something that will feed their mind and soul in ways that an afternoon in front of the TV set could never even dream of accomplishing.