Best Friend

“ A room without books is like a body without a soul.”

Cicero.

When were you introduced to books? If this question were posed to any of you, the answer would be school (for the majority of us), but please consider the question again and try to answer it thoughtfully. Tricked.

Let’s rephrase the question: when did the books find their way into your heart? We all read books apart from your textbooks, and the types of books vary with time and interest.

1. Childhood: the love for books starts with comics and storybooks. The interest is in the colorful pictures and cartoons that are there, which pique people’s interest. Then we try to connect the words and make sentences, or just connect the dots.
2. Teenage years: our hobbies and interests begin to change, and we choose the books that appeal to us, from comic books to science fiction, forming habits or, in some cases, allowing adult magazines to take over.
3. Adults: interest and hobbies take over the bookshelves, along with subject-specific books, and time gets on the fast track, leaving us with less time to read as this is the time we need for friends and fun activities.
4. Job/Professionals: again, interest in books takes over, with some best sellers on the shelves as the subject matter is on the back foot. Some self-help books take over the person, and if it is religion, the person is trying to find his or her roots.
   But the question that still remains is whether the books should be according to age and taste, or whether we should introduce the taste of books to the kids in our home while they are growing up. According to the black lotus quote, children who have a home library outperform those who do not. So the question is: Should we invest in books for our younger generation and give them the treasure of knowledge and make them better people?

So, what are your thoughts? How much should we spend on books each month?