What is so great about reading, about books?
First, let me put forward my theory on the difference between 'Readers,' people who read because they like it, and 'Nonreaders,' people who don't read because they don't like it. Readers, like myself, and Nonreaders alike may have eyes that take in words on a page, and brains to interpret them, but Readers don't see words on a page.
If you're like me, when you read it's like a movie playing in the mind's eye. Unless there's a particularly witty saying or turn of phrase, I don't even remember books in words. I remember in images what I've read. I enjoy reading stories that really pull me in, that excite me, that I can immerse myself in. And I read the stories for the stories sake.
However, I can't say that's all books offer; witty sayings and pretty images. If nothing else, being an English major in school has taught me another way of reading my favorite books.
It's true, some books contain no more - and no less - than the story contained within its pages. But there are even more books that contain so much more than that.

Sometimes only a lie, a fiction, can tell the truth.