“I read to escape to a different place. It’s just nice to be somewhere else besides the real world.”

This sentiment from Megan Deierling, a sophomore broadcast journalism major, is common among avid readers.

Maxwell Nobis, sophomore multimedia journalism major, agreed.

“I think it’s to escape,” Nobis said, “but also to think and focus on something else besides the day.”

In the United States, 76 percent of adults read a book in 2014, according to a study conducted by the Princeton Survey Research Associates International.

Books are popular for a reason: They have the power to take the reader to a different time and place and provide a sensory experience all at the same time.

Nobis said that he feels the sense of taste most strongly while reading through each page of a book.

“I’m currently reading ‘For Whom The Bell Tolls,’ and each time I’m done reading it, I feel full,” Nobis said. “It’s like a meal.”

Deierling, on the other hand, said she feels the sense of sight is stimulated most when she reads — but not due to the words she sees on the page.

Deierling said she gravitates toward dystopian and nonfiction novels, describing a sensation of actually not being able to see while she reads.

“I see only what I’m imagining reading in my head, which is portrayed through the lines,” Deierling explained.

For some, memories are called to mind more than any of the five senses when perusing a favorite book.

For Jasmine Jefferson, a first year experience librarian at the Kent State University Library, she remembers her grandmother when she picks up a book.

“My grandma used to read to me in front of the fire,” Jefferson said. “I associate books with the smell of wood because of the fire.”

Although one might name a library as a destination to read books, both Deierling and Nobis said their favorite place to read is in bed.

“I love it when I’m about to fall asleep,” Deierling said, “and I tell myself  ‘one more chapter,’ which turns into three more hours of reading.”

Contact Felicia Guadagni at [email protected].