Literature is the greatest 'reality simulator'. 

• You can safely experience what it's like to get a divorce or kill someone and feel remorseful.
• It lets you speed up time. It gives you the keys to the palace so you can assess your life in relation to others.
• It introduces you to fascinating people: a Roman general or an 11th-century French princess.
• It takes you across continents and centuries.
• It shows us what things look like from someone else's perspective.
• It shows us the consequences of our actions on others.
• It shows us examples of kind and generous people.

We have a general sense that bookshops are filled with deeply important things.

It might seem like a big waste of time, but it is ultimately the greatest time-saver, for it gives us access to a range of events and emotions that will take years to try and experience directly.