Read

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.” 

This will be a rant.

I do not understand why many people do not read in their spare time. I mean like, books. And it doesn't make sense to me when people say "I don't like to read." My response to that is that everyone loves to read, but you have to find the right books for you. There is SO MUCH out there, and I cannot read enough of it. 

There are those that say that they would rather watch the movie version of the book anyways. What good is that? With a book you use your imagination, things can look, sound, smell, the way YOU want them to. Movies do all of that for you. You don't have a say. With a book, you often are let inside the minds of the characters, and you learn what they learn.

Another thing, DO NOT judge a book if you have not read it. I mean that about everything. Even Twilight. You are not allowed to have an opinion until you have read something. I have read Twilight, I'm allowed to say I don't like it. Don't come to me and say that you hate Harry Potter, or Lord of the Rings, or any other book ever if you have not read it. If you have, then you have the right to an opinion. I had to write about that because people act like that quite a lot.

Please Read Something

“Read, read, read. Read everything -- trash, classics, good and bad." -William Faulkner

I doesn't care what it is. Read Dr. Seuss, read a haiku with me everyday a la http://hikeoo.blogspot.com/, read magazines, read my blog ;). Reading is the greatest thing ever. If you don't know which books to read, here are some of my favorites in no particular order.

1. And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

This is a murder mystery, the best of it's kind. Every time I have read this, I have read it in one sitting. Literally, it was like if I put the book down, one of the characters would be murdered and I would miss it or I would forget a really important detail. You will be kept guessing until the last sentence of the book. My brain exploded when I finally found out who the murderer was. If you've seen the play, it's a totally different ending! So it hasn't been spoiled for you at all.

2. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

Honestly, this is not a children's book at all. Don't let the cover fool you. It's actually pretty graphic and makes you cry and stuff. To warn people who are protectively religious, Philip Pullman is an outspoken atheist and leans on it heavily in this series and writes about homosexuality, direct opposition to the Magisterium, the death of God ("the Authority"), among other things.  However, Pullman's motive is NOT to condemn religion. He is quoted saying,

"My point is that religion is at it's best-it does most good-when it is farthest away from political power, and that when it gets hold of the the power to (for example) send armies to war or to condemn people to death, or to rule every aspect of our lives, it rapidly goes bad. Sometimes people think that if something is done in the name of faith or religion, it must be good. Unfortunately, that isn't true; some things done in the name of faith or religion, it must be good. That was what I was trying to describe in my story."

To me this story is about friendship, love, adventure, and intellectual curiosity. OMG AND TALKING POLAR BEARS. Good things if you ask me. I love love LOVE it. The whole series is excellent.

3. Harry Freakin' Potter

Everyone knows the basic idea behind this one, so I'm just going to say this. Do not be intimidated by the size of the books. If you force yourself to read the first one, I swear that you will love it and you will continue through the series and then when it ends, you will wish that there was more. I swear to you. Harry Potter has changed my life and has made me a better person. I wish that everyone would experience Harry Potter. It is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. Please just try it. Don't just watch the movies. There is so much more to the story.

4. Fan fiction. While going through Harry Potter withdrawal after the last movie, I started looking at fan fiction. There is actually a lot of good stuff. There was a really good one about how George and Harry used a time-turner to save Fred. I cried everywhere. Anyways there is a lot of cool ones if you're willing to look.

“The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.”

 -Oscar Wilde 

4. Huckleberry Finn

Feeling devious? Try out some banned books. I kid you not, Huckleberry Finn is a banned book. There were recently plans to actually censor it actually. I'm not sure if they went through with it though. The plan was to take out the "N word." What for? To make white people feel better about themselves? I don't know. Censoring it just irks me. It takes away from what the slaves went through and also takes away from the culture of the time. It's not a pleasant word, but it doesn't make sense to distort the truth and pretend it didn't happen. 

Anyways, this book is AMAZING. Mark Twain is a god. Tom Sawyer is a good book too, but it's aimed more for a younger audience. Huckleberry Finn is a very very good read, and isn't too challenging. Go try it.

I'm going to end this rant for now. 

Please. Read. Something. There are so many other worlds out there, many better than our own.