On Reading..

I used to be an avid book reader.

As a child and young teenager, I read constantly. My school district even had this reading contest called a Book Bowl that I participated in for 5 years (and went to the city finals 3 times) which required reading 10 specific books and answering questions about them. Yes, I read all ten multiple times in preparation for each bowl.

At the start of high school, I continued to read all the time. I read Gossip Girl and Catch-22 simultaneously in 9th grade and always had a list and stack that continued to pile up. I read some of my favorite books in 9th and 10th grade including The Perks of Being a Wallflower, The Memory Keepers Daughter and The Time Travelers Wife. 

As school went on, my love for reading stayed put but my time and energy did not. In the middle of high school, I started becoming a lazy reader.

As a college student, I remain a lazy reader. I buy book after book that I seem to never get to or that I read most of and then don't finish. I have a library of Shakespeare waiting to be cracked open and a multitude of Hemingway's that i've started and left. Last week I purchased a book on writing and a book about my new camera that I have yet to even take out of the bag.

It makes me sad to think about all the good times I have had with books and what I can't seem to return to now. I think about the nights where you just have to finish the book before bed, the reads that have you wanting to write your own sequel, the ones that get thrown in your purse for a free minute and the feeling of being curled up simply reading.

If you think about it, it's truly amazing the way the mind works while reading. While absorbed in good writing, its impossible not to make pictures, find yourself there and feel for the characters. It is one of those things where even if you are alone, you can't feel that way because your so wrapped up in whats happening.

That's why I prefer books to movies (or TV) almost always. I can't watch a movie based upon a book until i've read it (or at least tried to read it--I mean, sometimes, the movie is actually more exciting). I read Gossip Girl from 6-9th grade. Every.single.book multiple times and I personally think they 1000x better than the show. I can't even watch the show.

That's the other great thing about reading--you can think something totally different and still be right. You may hate the Gossip Girl books but count down the hours until the show every week when it comes on and thats okay. Maybe you didn't like the writing, maybe the subject wasn't interesting or maybe you felt no connection to the characters and it doesn't matter because its your interpretation.

I remember being in English class at school and sometimes feeling as though I was wrong because I didn't completely understand the book or I didn't like it at all. Then, I realized reading is like clothes or food. You can appreciate something for what it is even if you don't necessarily like it.
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So, even though I already made a resolutions list writing this post made me truly realize how I need to get back to reading. In 2011, I will aim for 2 books a month for a total of 24 books by time 2012 rolls around.

thanks for reading even if you didn't like it or care, etc.  :)