12 Vital Reasons To Lose Yourself In Books

Read on...(as in this list and in general).

1. Cultivate an air of mystery...

Mark Hooper / Via paperlover.tumblr.com

...like, ooh there's that guy who reads all the time, what's his deal?

2. Increase your personal resources...

Hikaru Cho / Via hikarucho.com

...then you won't have to use up the lifeline when you're on a quiz show.

Body painting by Hikaru Cho, created for the Amnesty International "My Body, My Rights" campaign.

3. Learn the naked truth...

Body paint by Adam DuShole/Photo by Bill Wadman / Via billwadman.com

...to tell "a smile from a veil."

Here is Bookstore owner Cici James, camouflaged amongst her bookshelves at Singularity & Co. bookstore in Brooklyn which she founded. (Wow, beauty and BUSINESS SAVVY)!

4. Hide from unpleasantness...

Maija Luttonen / Via beautifuldecay.com

...let's face it, (or not face it),--your nose in a book is a great way to escape annoying people.

Photo by Maija Luttonen from her series "Please Let's Pretend" (series of images in which people camouflage themselves into their environments in order to hide).

5. Go on a road trip while lounging in your armchair...

The Beat Museum of San Francisco / Via kerouac.com

...by reading On the Road, for example.

Here's Garrett Hedlund (who played Dean Moriarty in On the Road film) covered in 25+ translations of On the Road.

6. Escape a painful childhood...

Polen Erciyas / Via Flickr: polishyourdreams

...like Dean Koontz, who said, “Books were this wonderful escape for me because I could open a book and disappear into it, and that was the only way out of that house when I was a kid. ” Koontz lived with an abusive alcoholic and schizophrenic father who tried twice to kill him.

This photo by Polen Erciyas is called "Entre les trous de la Mémoire" (Between the holes of Memory) based on the painting of the same name by Dominique Appia.

7. Enjoy a slimming effect...

How Very Dare / Via etsy.com

...by power-reading. (Just a guess, not sure if this is true).

Anyhow, you can certainly show off your love of books with fab skirt by Ashley, Katelyn, and Lizzie of How Very Dare which they call the Sexy Pages print "Tight Ass" Skirt.

8. Get into the head of another person...

B O E K F A C E / Via boekface.wordpress.com

...perhaps starting with Silenced: China's Great Wall of Censorship.

Photo is from the Dutch site Boekface, where people have themselves photographed with a book for a face.

9. Be a better conversationalist...

Pulp Books/Lowe Bull Advertising / Via adsoftheworld.com

...(that is, if you care to look up from your book long enough to chat).

This is from an ad for Pulp Books in Johannesburg, South Africa, a bookshop and wine bar who say: "We are giddy over the beauty of books...We believe in empowerment through reading and writing and so we want to break down the barrier between people and books."

10. Get the dirt...

Happee Monkee / Via denydesigns.com

...from sordid tales, then close the book and step out of the stories as a completely clean person yourself.

Buy this disguise of a Venice bookstore shower curtain.

11. Know thyself...

Rekha Garton / Via Flickr: _rekha_

...so that when somebody says, "I can read you like a book," you will have read that book before anybody else.

This is Tim Andrews, a man with Parkinson's Disease who's been photographed by over 270 different photographers.

12. Enrich your dreams...

Rebecca Miller / Via rebeccamiller.co.uk

...with dreamy, fantasy, or nightmarish tales. According to J.R.R. Tolkien, dream worlds contrast with fantasy worlds, in which the world has existence independent of the characters in it.

This photo is from a fashion shoot by Rebecca Miller, purple tights and mint striped ballet flats may not always be in style, but books will forever be classic.