Booking Through Thursday 13/03/14

Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Booking Through Thursday and a different question is posted every week.

Another question raised by YA author A.S. King‘s blog post last week which touched on censorship—especially as it pertains to young adult books.
She writes:

If there really is [an ideal] town like this in America, I am happy about that. Really truly happy. But are your teenagers going to stay in that town forever? Don’t you want them to go to college? Or go out in the world and do stuff? And don’t you want them to be prepared for all of these real things that happen all the time in real life? Don’t you want them to know that they will make mistakes? Don’t you want them to learn how to make smarter mistakes?
Fiction can help. I write my books for one reason, whether they are for adults or teens. I write to make readers think. I write to widen perspective. I write to make readers ask questions and then answer the questions or start conversations. And I write sometimes to give voice to the throwaways, of which our society has many, but we usually hide them because we are still uncomfortable with what we see as our own mistakes. Make sure you say that in a whisper. Throwaways.

And so … this, right here, pretty much explains exactly WHY I like reading so much. Yes, it’s fun and entertaining and diverting, and all that, but ultimately, it TEACHES me things. It broadens my horizons and makes me look at ideas and people and life in general in new and interesting ways. Isn’t that what reading and art in general is SUPPOSED to do? How do you feel about this? Do you agree? Disagree? Discuss!

I meant to respond to last week's question but time got away from me and I didn't get to it.  However I did read A.S. King's very interesting and emotive blogpost.
For me, reading primarily, is about escapism.  I like to read a fantasy novel- set in a different world that doesn't exist, and yet I can go to for hours on end.
I like to read a sexy, romance, fall in love with a guy I'll never meet.
Of course there are those books that make me look at the world differently, that change me.  There are those that's opinions differ to mine, and yet make me think.
In the end, reading is for pleasure.