No matter your favorite genre, fiction is more than entertainment. It is often through fiction that we find our deepest truths. I’ve heard many people talk about how their favorite detective story, sci-fi, or romance helped them through a difficult time in their lives. I’ve mentioned before how my husband took me to the book store after we lost our home to a fire. He knew I would need a book to help me through the chaos and displacement of losing our home. I still remember the book, it was The Truth About Lord Stoneville by Sabrina Jefferies. The book gave me a way to escape for just a little while. It helped me recharge my batteries so I could go on.

Fiction, whether it’s reading a book or watching a movie or even a television show, can do more than even the most well written non-fiction book. It can immerse you into a world vastly different from the one you know, and help you see things with new eyes. It can allow you to step into someone else’s shoes and live for a moment a life unlike your own. Fiction can teach you new things, open your mind to questions you have never thought to ask, and help you empathize with people of different cultures, religions, ethnicities, and even sexes.

One of my favorite series has always been Sherlock Holmes. I’ve enjoyed the original stories, but I’ve also enjoyed the many interpretations of Holmes in movies and in television series, but I’ve also read stories where he was a secondary character to a younger sister. Each of these have allowed me to experience Holmes in different ways, and they have all peeled back layers of the character and his abilities, as well as give a little enlightenment on his flaws and weaknesses.

How does reading Sherlock Holmes help anyone other than by giving entertainment? For me, it helped me think of things in a more logical manner. I learned to peel back layers to uncover the truth about people, life, choices, etc. It also gave an inkling that problems in someone’s mental health didn’t always cripple a person, but could give them a strength others did not possess. One’s strength could become one’s weakness depending upon the situation.

Through fiction we can gain insight, knowledge and strength in enjoyable little bites. We find characters who represent us, who understand us, and who allow others to see us and relate to us.

So the next time you feel guilty for picking up an enjoyable book of fiction instead of something more enlightening, remember, fiction does more than just entertain, and it’s okay to indulge.