Top Ten Tuesday: I Love Being a Blogger/Reader

Top 10 Tuesdays is a weekly meme hosted over at The Broke and The Bookish

This weeks topic:

I <3 Being a Reader/Blogger

I LOVE being a blogger and a reader. I became an avid reader in high school, dropped off slightly in college, but then picked it back up my super senior year of college. Since then, I've always been in the middle of at least one book. I absolutely love reading and it's always a mystery to me when people don't enjoy at least some aspect of reading.

1. I'm never bored. I either have a book in hand or within reach (wheter it be a physical copy or through the Kindle app on my phone). I never have to complain that "there's nothing on TV" or sit through commercials - though waiting for the next book in the series is like one big LONG commercial.
2. I can travel the world and different worlds. This is probably cliche, but it's true. I saw something once that said "I've gone to school in Hogwarts, traveled to Narnia, fought in the Hunger Games," something along those lines. I couldn't find it, but while searching I did find this article from Nerdy Girl Notes which puts everything quite eloquently.
3. It's a nice escapism from the real world. When I'm stressed over one thing or another, reading a book always helps. It also makes me feel better to know that in comparison to saving the world from evil, my problem may not be so big a deal. Other times, it makes me wish that I was saving the world instead of dealing with whatever I'm dealing with. Oh, life.
4. There's always a new book/author to discover. I never have an issue with having nothing to read - and my ever growing TBR piles on Goodreads can attest to that. While (good) TV shows and (worthwhile) movies only come out ever so often, there's always some new book by a beloved author or new author with an amazing debut waiting to be read.
5. Time just flies by. Whether I'm waiting for some big event in a couple hours or it's that weird time where it's too late for a snack and dinner is like in an hour, reading can turn hours into mere minutes. I've been so engrossed in books before that I've completely skipped over meals - not intentionally. But I'm reading and the next think I know it's 7:00pm and I haven't eaten since breakfast.

I started writing reviews of Goodreads before I started my own blog in October 2012. I did that for a while before becoming co-owner of Bookish, this lovely blog you are currently on right now. And while blogging has come with its ups and downs, at the end of the day I love my little hobby.

1. I've made great friends. I love the people I've become friends with through blogging. It's really nice getting to connect with people who have such similar interests and ideas. Even when we all don't like the same books, we can discuss them with one another. It's also nice to vent when certain authors bring on the feels and we can't deal. (Not meant it a bad way!)
2. Along those lines, the blogging community is extremely supportive. If I'm ever in a  slump, can't decided which book to buy, or just plain crabby, I know I have somebody (or multiple sombodies) in the blogging community to vent to. On some level we're this big dysfunctional family, but it works for us. I'll admit that I've seen blogger drama go to the extremes before, but for the most part we're all pretty happy and carefree.
3. I've gotten the chance to connect with authors. Before blogging, I never really tweeted at authors or dared to email them! *gasp* But blogging has allowed me to connect with authors on such a deeper level than I could have expected. I've gotten to interview them, chat with them, meet them, a bug them to finish the next installment of their series sooner rather than later - all in good fun of course.
4. There's always a new book/author to discover. See above. The only addition to this thought is that through blogging I've been exposed to authors and books I might not have come across otherwise.
5. An ever-growing TBR pile. Okay, this is kind of a double-edged sword. For every book I read I probably add two more to the pile. Guess that just means I'll never run out of amazing books to read - can't complain about that! :)

What are some things you love about being a blogger/reader?