There is something about book lovers I can’t quite put my finger on. They seem distant sometimes. Introspective most times and unpredictable in bursts. I could be describing me because I love reading all sorts of books. Fact is, you could fill up an auditorium with all the books I have read and still look for more space for quite a few more.
I’ll never forget the first novel I read. Akpan and The Smugglers by Rose Uwemedimo. This is what happened on that inauspicious day: I was playing Street football like any normal healthy kid when I was summoned home asap. I thought I was in for some robust spanking for playing too much. Instead my dad handed this old, tattered looking book to me to read. Not later, immediately. The title caught my eye immediately. You see, Akpan is my name too. So I really wanted to know what this dude between the covers of that old book was up to. I set to it. I never looked back since then. I was about 8 years then. I raided my dad’s library for any book to read. And there were quite a few. And that was how I got to read Chinua Achebe’s classic, Things fall Apart while I was still in primary school. These days I have a special time set aside for reading my ebooks
Because of that, one of the qualities I love in a girl is if she reads a lot. I have found to my eternal joy that ladies who love reading share my taste in good movies too. It seems love for reading is seriously intertwined with love for the finer things in life. If you have an opportunity to date someone who loves reading, don’t pass it up, because the benefits listed below are just some of the things you’d enjoy from them
They Can Easily Empathize with Your Feelings
Because they love reading, book lovers have learnt to easily appreciate the range of feelings in humanity. Reading so many books has exposed them to different personality traits and how these personalities confront the problems life has dealt them.
A lifetime of reading therefore has made book lovers a sort of store house for compassion. They understand the pains others go through easily. In a book lover, you’d have someone who is in touch with your feelings.
They are Liberals in a Good Way
Saying they can be liberal in a good way is to accommodate those who dislike liberals. Book lovers, due to their exposure to may great books, learn to appreciate others people’s way of life and respect them for it too. In that respect, don’t be surprised if your book-loving friend or lover knows so many things. Things you feel they have no right knowing. Being liberals opens them up to learning new things. Curiosity is their middle name.
A Book Lover is a Wonderful Listener and Communicator
Being a great listener is one of the side effects of reading. Reading in itself is the art of listening to somebody talking to you from a book. Book lovers inadvertently, transfer that trait to their dealings with friends, family and lovers.
And if you are dating a book lover, you’d know this from experience: they know how to express their thoughts deeply and profoundly. Getting a sweet text message or poem from them is very normal. That is how they love communicating.
Book Lovers are Patient
One of the queries I get from people is where I get the patient to go through books like Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. What can I say? I guess it is all about patience. I have being accused of having too much patience before. And you how they say too much of everything is bad?
Anyway, if your lover is a book lover, you are sure to have a person who is willing to give you a long rope to sort yourself out. They would never rush or push you impatiently to resolve a situation. They take their time.
They know how to Spin a Tale
Perhaps you need someone to transport you to beautiful fictional world before you sleep? Book lovers are your best bet. They can do that and much more. Give them a situation or a moment, they’d easily paint a rich tapestry of related events around that theme. It comes naturally.
They don’t Criticize for the Sake of it
Instead you’d find them very supportive. If they have to put you on the spot, you’d know instinctively it is for your own good. The care and the empathy they put in questioning you would leave you in no doubt that this guy’s got your back. Always.
Book lovers can be boring too and they can seem a little distant from time to time. But generally, if you find one as a lover, you are in for a thrill. Have you ever had any experience whether good or bad with one before? We would love to know about it.
