I'm obsessed with Nicholas Sparks. I've literally read every

“I’m obsessed with Nicholas Sparks. I’ve literally read every single book, because every time I travel, at the airport, I always buy a new Nicholas Sparks book.” Thus spoke Emma Roberts, and though her words appear light, they carry a hidden truth about devotion, about the hunger for story, and about the way literature becomes a companion in the long journeys of life. In her confession, we see the ancient bond between the traveler and the tale, between the restless road and the comfort of the written page.

When Roberts speaks of being obsessed, she reveals the timeless power of storytelling to captivate the heart. For an obsession with books is no weakness, but a passion for the worlds they open, the emotions they stir, the lessons they impart. To read every single book of one author is to enter deeply into that voice, to walk alongside it through its many variations, to let it shape one’s heart again and again. Just as the wanderer returns to a trusted path, so the reader returns to a writer whose words have become like home.

Her mention of travel is no accident, for books are the companions of the road. At the lonely gate of the airport, where hours stretch long, a book transforms waiting into wonder. On the flight through clouds, where the world below seems far away, a book anchors the soul to emotion and memory. The ancients, too, carried tales with them. Think of the Odyssey, sung by bards across seas, or the medieval pilgrims who told stories on their long road to Canterbury. Travel and storytelling have always walked hand in hand. Roberts’ ritual at the airport echoes this eternal tradition: to carry not only luggage, but a story for the soul.

The choice of Nicholas Sparks also holds meaning. His stories, woven with love, loss, longing, and hope, are tales of the heart. They remind us of the fragility of life and the depth of human connection. To read such stories while traveling is symbolic: for just as journeys take us from place to place, so love and grief carry us from one season of life to another. Sparks’ novels are not just entertainments; they are mirrors, reflecting back the universal experiences of longing and devotion that all humanity shares.

History gives us a parallel. Consider Alexander the Great, who carried with him a copy of Homer’s Iliad, which he kept beneath his pillow on his conquests. Though he led armies across continents, he found solace and strength in the tales of Achilles and Hector. Even the mightiest warrior sought comfort in story during the trials of travel. So too does Emma Roberts, though not a conqueror, embody the same principle: wherever the road leads, the written word is a shield, a companion, a treasure.

The lesson for us is clear: let us too cultivate the habit of carrying stories as companions. When life sets us on journeys—whether across oceans, or simply through the uncertain days of existence—we must not walk empty-handed. A book, like a lantern, guides the spirit through the unknown. To find one author, one voice, that speaks to us deeply, as Sparks spoke to Roberts, is to gain a friend who never leaves our side.

Practical wisdom follows: seek the writers who speak to your soul, and let them accompany you in your travels, both great and small. Read not only for distraction, but for depth, for the shaping of the heart, for the quiet wisdom that stories carry. And when you travel, whether by train, by plane, or by the silent road of your own life’s struggles, take with you not only possessions but words—words that can lift you, sustain you, and remind you of the eternal bonds of love and humanity.

Thus let Emma Roberts’ words remind us: obsession with story is no folly, but devotion to the food of the soul. For stories, like journeys, change us. And when we combine the two—carrying books into the journey of life—we discover that we are never truly alone, but always accompanied by voices that sing to us across time, keeping our hearts alive.