Why do I read? I read for several reasons. For instances, if we're assigned a book in school, I will read it mostly because I have no intention of getting anything below an A in the class. No, Sparknotes do not work.
I love writing, and reading can help me improve it. Reading can broaden my vocabulary, and it can help me use more of a variety of words when I talk, and when I write. It can improve my grammar in certain cases, as it lets me see how people who get paid to write use them to grab the interest of the reader.
Reading can provide me with an escape to a different world, and it can get me to look at things from a different perspective for a little while, and teach me to have a respect for different types of people in different situations. I can get a peek inside cultures, different than my own and learn something about them.
How-to books can also teach you a new skill. They could motivate you do learn something that you wouldn’t normally try to pick up.
Books can touch you on a personal level. If they’re written well, it can feel like the author wrote it not to millions of random people, but to you.
Writers are great teachers for writers, you're right. I also like your point about how reading helps broaden our perspective for a little while--very true. Good ending line: "it can feel like the author wrote it not to millions of random people, but to you", and this is a great criteria for what makes some books great.
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