A book is a storehouse of knowledge and experiences. It has several advantages.
A book is our best friend. In our society we have friends and foes. Even the so-called friends can cheat us in times. However, books are our never-failing friends. Just like a good friend, it gives us company during idle time. A good book guides us in our lives.
Books are the voices of wisdom, past and present. The knowledge stored up in them invites us and gives us joy.
We read books not only for instructions but also for entertainment. It is the most harmless occupation for using time in a productive manner. The bookshelves are the standing source of joy to all book-lovers. To an educated man there is no pleasure comparable to the pleasures of reading books. Books provide us with varieties of entertainment. Some give us loud laughter, some a smile and some only an unexpressed joy.
Books help us forget for a while the cares and anxieties of daily life. Those who can read books are lucky indeed. A reader of books forgets his worries for the time being and finds pleasure from it. Money cannot buy peace of mind. Power cannot heal our sorrows. Books can, when all other fail.
A book is the windows to the outside world. The books on traveling can take us into the jungles of Africa, to the desert of Sahara, to the top of Everest or to the ice-fields of the Arctic. And all the while we can relax in bed or on armchair.
A book can put us in the time-machine. It can take us the great minds of the past and the present. Books on antiquity bring vividly to us the world of the past. We go back in thought to the dim, old days of the past.
Books can broaden our mind and gladden our heart. We see into the secrets of life and universe in the books on science, religion and literature. We love books for all these reasons.
Knowledge itself is also a great source of pleasure. Books on expeditions and adventures fire our imagination. Detective stories give us thrills and keep us absorbed. From all these we derive both pleasure and surprise.
However, there are numerous books and we need choice of books. We do not have enough time and energy to read all these books. We know, good books ennoble our minds, while bad books pollute it. Our time is precious; we cannot waste it by reading trash. So, we should read those books which may be our best companions, which can enlarge our vision and make our life more meaningful.