Reason for Reading

I enjoyed reading a post on The Median Sib yesterday. Carol, who is a reading specialist in an elementary school, asked students what they like best about reading. Two students responded with answers that helped explain to me why I enjoy reading so much. They said, essentially, that they become part of the story when they read.

True! I often feel almost bereaved when I finish reading a book I really enjoyed. It is like leaving family and friends, knowing you will not see them again. One reader of Carol's post commented that this very feeling is why she enjoys reading books that continue the same characters book after book. I had not really thought of it that way, but it is very true.

Some characters that I continue to visit by reading book after book are:
Jan Karon's Father Tim; Michael Connelly's detective Harry Bosch; Janet Evanovitch's investigator Stephanie Plum; Patricia Cornwell's medical examinar Kay Scarpetta; and Lawrence Sanders's loquatious but articulate Archie McNally, now written by Vincent Lardo since Sanders's death.