In the past three years, I have become a reader. I am proud of this fact.
All through school and growing up, I was always a non-reader. I just was not interested in wasting time reading when I could be watching television and/or playing with my Barbies.
Sure, I participated in Bookit, but I never got very far with it. In high school, I was always adamently against the required readings for Advanced English. Sure, I still read (most of) them, but I usually resented these books and hated them simply for the fact that I was forced to read them.
But really, look at some of the crap I was forced to read:
-Siddhartha (worst book ever! I was also supposed to read this in college, but I used SparkNotes instead)
-A Seperate Peace (this one was alright, I suppose)
-The Old Man and the Sea (seriously?)
-1984 (was kind of interesting, but only in parts)
-The Jungle (who doesn't love learning all about Socialism in the early 1900's?)
-Things Fall Apart (oh good, I always wanted to know about wrestling in South Africa)
-The Scarlet Letter (a classic, but I chose to watch the movie instead)
-Ellen Foster (this one was good because it was like 4 pages long)
-Jude the Obscure (I really don't know what this was about, I didn't bother reading it and dropped the class before school started)
There are plenty more crappy books I was supposed to read in college too, but I've blocked them out.
Looking back on it, the reason I didn't want to read these was not only because I was being forced (and most are really awful), but I also didn't want to read them because at the time it seemed like so much work. I just was not interested in reading at all.
But then a few years ago I watched the first two Harry Potter movies with my brother. I had heard of Harry Potter, but I wasn't really fascinated with it until I saw the movies. My brother suggested if I liked the movies, I should read the books.
I lazied around a while. Finally I was visiting a friend in Durham and he had the first three Harry Potter books and told me I should borrow them. I did, and I was instantly hooked. I read the first three within a month and borrowed the next two from the library. The sixth book came out two weeks before I finished the fifth book, so I got to read that one too. It was really nice being able to read the first six books all back to back.
After finishing those, I found myself needing to read more. I stuck to what I wanted to read, pirate books. I read a whole lot of pirate books, and a few romance novels. Then I kind of slumped off of reading again.
As the time for the final Harry Potter book to be published drew near, I decided to reread all of the first six books. This is when I became truly hooked on reading.
After finishing the final Harry Potter book, I have been pretty much reading something or other ever since. At first it was Patricia Cornwell novels, because that's what Jared already had. Now, I find myself pretty much reading anything that's a novel. I like the suspense books mostly.
I like being a reader. It's cool. And it makes me feel smarter. This is why JK Rowling is so deserved of my thanks. Thank you.
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7 comments:
I still maintain that Siddhartha is a good book!
Anyway, I'm glad you've become a reader. I was there for a while when I worked that 3rd shift job and had a lot of spare time. I would like to pick up that habit again.
If you're looking for some interesting books to read, I suggest Chuck Palahniuk's stuff. Check out "Choke" if you get a chance.
Separate Peace was on my son's required summer reading list maybe last year. I read it too and found the book boring.
Dude. I totally didn't read Sam's comment before I suggested ol' Chuck. That means you for real have to read some!
Sam-Palahniuk (good job with the spelling) has 2 books that came out in the last year or so I found on Amazon. I haven't read them yet, but every single one of his other books are awesome, so I can't wait. And, Hi there!
OK-for some reason, the website didn't save my first comment, so the one above doesn't make sense. I wrote a really long comment about the books we had to read high school, and then I recommended Chuck Palahniuk's books, and then I read Sam's comment, and thought it was cool that we both said the same thing.
You do read a lot, and it is certainly better than just watching TV all the time. Go you and your brain!
Hey Carmen!
The last Palahniuk book I read was "Haunted." I bought "Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey" but never even started it. I'd like to read it and check out the new one. Like I said, I've been lazy since I got my new job and haven't read anything. It's a shame that I'm two books behind with my favorite writer. Hopefully I'll catch up someday.
haha- hey Carmen, check out the comments on my last blog entry. I think you left something. ;)
I LOVED Bookit!!!
Sorry, I liked Old Man and the Sea. Still read it every now and then. But I don't have much to say about the others.
On the other hand, I'd like to get back into reading and meet people at the same time. I'm kind of on the lookout for a bookclub in the area.
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