Thanks for an enjoyable blog entry, it's the first time I'm reading your account but I really got a feel of the passion you have for reading books and how reading more can help us to connect more to the World around us.
"essentially living a thousand lives and experiencing what thousands of people have experienced before you" -
"self-improvement by learning and understanding to see the world in a better light"
I agree with many of the points you make. For me, whether it's a 500 page-turning novel or classical works of poetry, we need to read more.
The reader's imagination, being able to picture words expressed through experience and thought processes play a big part.