Since I was of the age seven I have been reading books given to me by my Aunt, a librarian in Vancouver. It's easy for me to get into a book and tune out the rest of the world. Most books I've read have taken me far away to my own special place but some challenge me and make me reconsider things I already knew something about.
             What I enjoy the most about books are the various perspectives of so many people. Their opinions often blend with mine, opening my mind to new ideas, different ideas, making me more knowledgeable about things I'd never really understood.
             It's so easy to be someone else and be in their mind experiencing their difficulties and achievements while finding a special connection to them. I can be a young Jewish woman trying to understand what is happening in the world or an English girl, moving to a new country and leaving behind what she called home and those she called family.
             I was ten when I read the Diary of Anne Frank and I was not familiar with World War Two. I wouldn't have bothered to read up on the war without it. It was then that I realised that history was a great story anyone could have. However history never lets you into the minds of those experiencing it first hand and never lets you connect deeply with them nor learn what their own views were at the time.
             The connection authors create between the reader and their characters is what makes books great. The incredible empathy felt when the character gets into situations throughout the story even though you never quite had to undertake the customs of a native tribe in Africa. You become completely in tune with each character that your own opinion might conform to theirs.
             Personally, I don't agree with all books, but I do believe that the connection you make with the character will help you understand their point of view. Even if you think them foolish and blindingly gullible, you still have that connection tha...