Why I Can't Stop Reading

I just can't stop reading! Everyone I know knows I love to read. When I pick up a book, I get so completely engulfed in whatever it is. I meet new people. I can't hear anything or anyone who's talking to me, and sometimes that gets me into trouble, but I can't help it. My current can't-drop-it-so-don't-even-try-to-talk-to-my-book is Kyle's Island, by Sally Derby. (Momma interrupted me from it to write this :) I actually love writing almost as much as reading. I've started 2 different books, (one of them I think is pathetic, and I've given up on,). The one I'm currently writing is sort of mix of pretty much every type of writing you can think of except for mystery. I'm getting pretty far on it, if page 42 font size 12 is far, which I think is a great way to combine writing and reading. I also think of it as a sort of hideaway. If I need to get away, I read. It's an incredibly good distraction.

When I read, it's like I'm being sucked into a different world. I feel descriptive words, for instance, when I read the sentence, "An sharp, icy wind cut through the woods, making him shiver," I feel an unnatural, unexplainable, involuntary shiver running through my spine. If I hear "She ran through the cobble streets, hearing the tap, tap of her shoes against the ground," I actually hear the tap, tap of shoes on cobble streets. It might seem a little creepy to you to be that interacted, that involved, with a book. That's just the way I feel. I don't know if it's normal. I just know its what happens for me.

When I read, I meet new people who I never would've gotten to meet, and I'm attached to them like I'm related to them. I match their emotions, sometimes so much so, I even make an attempt to imitate the look on their faces. In fact, I'm so attached, it reminds me infinitely of the empathy link between Grover and Percy in Percy Jackson and the Olympians, by Rick Riordan. I'm terrified when they are, I'm happy when they are. I know how hurt they feel, when they are torn apart from friends. I really--I suppose I really-- can understand whatever is happening.

Another thing about reading is the tension. I never realize how tightly I hold the book when something bad is happening. I grip it so hard sometimes that I crumple it a bit. To not read, I can't even imagine. at least a quarter of my life would be gone. You might think that that is an exaggeration, but I'm totally serious. It's been one week of this summer, and I already have read 13 books, a total of 2,233 pages. I read a lot! I read every single day, usually whole books. It really helps with my need to read. I always squeeze it in somehow.

Some of my favorite series are Guardians of Ga'hoole, Percy Jackson, The Kane Chronicles, the 39 Clues, and the list goes on and on. I really can't describe nearly how I feel when I read, but I've done my best to explain it. I hope you all read up a great summer, because I will know if you don't. Just kidding. :) I just hope you read more, 'cause if you're not reading, Great Glaux in Glaumora*, you don't know what you're missing!

*A phrase written by Kathryn Lasky in Guardians of Ga'Hoole. To know what it means, read the book! : )

Written by B