Why Read Fiction Books? My Thoughts.

At the risk of preaching to the converted, I'm getting on my soap box today and discussing why we should read fiction books - for our own health and growth.

[MyLocsareREAL]

WOW!!!! This video literally brought me to tears… I’m surrounded by non readers who don’t understand why I ABSOLUTELY LOVE READING 💕📚💕 and you just summed up my life long passion in one video… Thank You So much.

[julieg_quebec-julesselivre]

Fiction makes me escape, learn, feel, laugh, cry, travel, discover and the list goes on! Excellent video!

[juliearmstrong]

Here! Here! Books have been my constant companion throughout my life. Books have sustained me through the bad times, mad times, and broken times and I would not be the person I am today without all those stories. ❤

[arsinlupin]

What a wonderful laudatio to the fabulous world of fiction 💐💐💐👏👏👏💐💐💐 . Books of all genres are my lifelong most treasured companions. I could not imagine a second without them. Thank you so much for your splendid channel! I have discovered you by serendipity and I am truly enjoying the content of your vlogs. I have also subscribed to your newsletter and can't wait to read your novel 🌹🌹🌹.
Please carry on your beautiful mission 📚 ✒️ 📚 !!! Much love Sylvia from Hamburg/Germany ⛵️⚓️ 🌊

[laurieg]

One book that had a profound effect on me is actually a children's book I read a few years ago. The War that Saved My Life. It so eloquently showed how bad conditions aren't what determine our lives, it's our responses that matter. This author addressed so many societal issues with such gentleness and courage, I am in awe. Physical and emotional abuse, physical disability, panic attacks, depression, betrayal. But doesn't rub your nose in it. The little girl orchestrates her own salvation and freedom from the abuse, and helps raise up those around her. An astonishing book.

[inlaterdays]

This is so well said and I completely agree. When I was seven, my father had The Hobbit out from the library. I thought it looked interesting, so I swiped it and he let me. It blew me away. Here was a fantasticical world, yet the characters (some of them, anyway) were so relatable! The next year, I read Lord of the Rings for the first time. The series is still one of my all-time favorites, and it's one I revisit still. It's like seeing old friends. I love fiction so much, and I love a wide range of genres: fantasy, science fiction, family sagas, romance, historical fiction...thank you for an eloquent defense of one of my favorite pastimes.

[estherfekech]

I totally agree with you Rosamunde! Everybody should read fiction! I read all kinds of different books! It just depends on my mood what kind of book I choose to read at any given time! I love to buy books from second hand book stores because I usually can't find exactly what I'm looking for but I always find something else and I never not buy a book just because it's fiction or non fiction or whatever it is! Thank you so much for this video! And I love your necklace!🙂

[JacquelineCaron]

Thank you for this video, Rosamunde -- and perfect for the times we are currently living in. What a lovely subject to put out here - as a reminder to all of us how reading sometimes takes us to a different world. Fiction = my favorite genre. 🥰 Jacqueline

[abookhug]

This is so well put, I absolutely agree. I'm always so sad when people dismiss fiction.

[ericashufani]

Well said! I agree with everything you said.Thank you so much.

[AnnaD]

My husband and his family only read non-fiction and see fiction as a frivolous waste of time. I love fiction and I've learnt so much from reading it. Quite often I find myself looking things up on google or Wikipedia and reading around the subject, especially with historical fiction. Also, fiction kept me sane in the recent lockdowns - I could still travel the world and meet lots of interesting people through the amazing books I was reading.

[susan]

Outstanding! As a retired literature teacher and librarian I was moved by your words. Truly lovely, insightful, and honest. Thank you!

[cassandra]

I just loved it. Thank you! I love getting lost lost in a good story and imagining myself in the character’s place and feeling new emotions and going places that I couldn’t go in real life. 😊 📚

[cherylann]

Yes! I agree! I LOVE fiction. It’s my escape! You describe it perfectly. Love hearing you ramble on! I’ve passed on my love of reading to my sons and my grandchildren. They received books from birth and I still gift books. The key is to find THEIR interests and loves, not ours!👍❤️😊

[cathrussell]

You speak so eloquently and from the heart that I just had to share your video on my book blog. My late father was so scornful of fiction, I just wish I could've shown him your words. Thank you.

[allisonryder]

There is no life for me without fiction books! ❤🇨🇦 ps: just look at the effect of reading to children from a very early age!!

[vesch]

It took me awhile to really get into reading fiction. I read a bit and enjoyed it but I always felt I was wasting my reading time on reading fiction

Now, I find I have a natural balance between fiction and nonfiction

[thomasceneri]

I agree, although I do think that the more serious problem is the lack of people who read at all.

[marionbuck]

Reading fiction has always helped me through difficult times in my life. My books are my friends and I couldn‘t do without them. So I thoroughly agree with you. I‘m currently reading The Herb of Grace by Elizabeth Goudge, book two of three of the Eliot Chronicles. It gives me so much pleasure! 😍

[m.joseph]

I didn't become a serious reader of fiction until I was in my late 30s. I'm now 42. I think my switch from non-fiction to fiction coincided with the rise of social media and the constant news feed just exhausting me. I needed an escape, so thank you to Thomas Hardy, Alexandre Dumas, Jane Austen, Stephen King, etc. for keeping me sane these last few years.
(On a side note...someone told me recently they were surprised to find out I reread books. I find out so much more when I do, as I can't expect to absorb everything the first read. I've read The Mayor of Casterbridge 3 times because the twists and reveals in that book are crazy. I'm looking forward to rereading The Count of Monte Cristo this year.)