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“for i am forever changing”

reading is my life

Monday, January 23, 2012 || 10:29 PM

Yeah; I probably should be studying. But you know what? It's Monday. I've got the rest of my life to study.

So anyway I want to talk about my favourite favourite subject ♥

My favouritest hobby in the whole wide world! ♥
Is reading ♥ of course! Of course of course!

I never understood why so many people hated reading, or didn't bother with it. I've always loved reading.
During kindergarten, I think, I took private phonics lessons. My tutor's name was Andrea! I still remember hahaha. So I guess what I'm saying is that I started to read before other kids.

In elementary school, I remember being assigned into reading groups; consistently being placed in the highest level reading group was an endless source of pride for me. I thought I was better than everyone else because I could read "better" than they could. ♥

In Grade 5, though, for some strange reason I was placed in merely the second highest reading group. Technically, the teacher never told us the levels... but we all knew. Well, that is, except for me. I was so used to being in the highest level group that I stubbornly insisted and argued that Bridge to Terabithia took a higher level of reading comprehension than The Giver.

Authors that I loved during this period of my life include: Louis Sachar, Eric Walters, Kenneth Oppel, Cornelia Funke, and more that I've forgotten :) I also loved reading the Silver Birch and Red Maple books (though admittedly, the Red Maple books seemed to have gotten worse and worse.. but that's just my opinion)
I still would read any book that Louis Sachar publishes now, though.

Then Grade 8 rolls around. Something that I will never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever understand even if I live to be a thousand, is how I ever could have possibly landed myself in the second to lowest reading group. My teacher was obviously a lunatic. >:(
Perhaps this was what drove me then to choose to read Frankenstein for my independent study. And later on that same year, 1984. These books I think were wasted on me. In my eagerness to redeem myself (and patch up my pride), I completely overestimated myself. I heaved through Frankenstein with so much difficulty; it was seriously the most boring book I'd ever read. 1984 was even worse for me. Yeah, it was a bit easier to understand than Frankenstein (as its language was more modern), but the themes were also much too complex for my tiny eighth grade mind to absorb; on top of that, it was another ISU.
Sometime in my life, I will make it a point to reread these books.

It was also around this time (Grade 8 year) that I started my "I must be well-read" phase in life. Since reading was (and still is) such a point of pride for me, I'd felt as if I needed to read all classic/famous literature there was. Then, when people asked (which they never did... sad face) if I'd read [insert famous book here], I could answer with a yes. Anyway, I suppose I just wanted to be impressive.
I think the first book I started with was Pride and Prejudice (such follower I was). This was a struggle for my Grade 8 self; I kept a dictionary with me while I read this book and of course, I still didn't really understand everything that was happening... so this "frontrunner of all romantic prose" fell rather short with me. (Oh how proud I am to say that I've read this book twice since then and that I do really like it ♥) Even after this experience with Pride and Prejudice, I just had to go on and read Sense and Sensibility. Honestly, though, that book was an even worse experience for me.
Well anyway, I believe it was then that I started to read Sherlock Holmes. This should be Grade 9. Now, Sherlock Holmes, written almost a century after Jane Austen's works, I could take. In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed reading all the Sherlock Holmes stories and was soooo devastated when he "died".

So my um "well-read" phase has not entirely passed. Haha, but it has sort of died down a little bit. But I'm still really proud when it comes to reading. I'm too proud to browse the teen section anymore. And honestly, even though the climax of my "well-read" phase was really sort of superficial, I am proud of it. I have read many many famous books! >:D

I'm sure everyone wants to know my favourite books. There's no sarcasm there, boys and girls, honest!
Anyway
I really like The Hunger Games of course... The Name of the Wind, Jane Eyre ♥, Eragon,
Honourable Mentions: Chicken Soup series, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Holes ♥

And the king of them all, the book that holds the deepest spot in my heart of course belongs to Harry Potter. There is no doubt :)
The depth of the story combined with the absolute beauty [AND HUMOUR AND WITTINESS AND ELEGANCE AND CLEVERNESS AND OH MY GOSH I COULD DIE] of Joanne's (YEAH THAT'S RIGHT, I'm calling her by her first name because because because I ... love her :')) writing style that is so uniquely hers... is enough to capture anybody's heart.
I feel like every time I read the books, I learn something new. Not only in terms of the story... but in terms of language. I love Harry Potter so much so that I cannot even begin to describe - oh my goodness, excuse me, I seem to be tearing up. Ahem.

But what I'm trying to say is..
Reading is my life.

Yes, ok I do realize I'm a bit nerdy in this aspect.

This has been a thoroughly boring post. No wonder everyone hates reading.