I had never been the quiet kid around. I went out, played, and got into fights and a lot of trouble. In short, I had a great childhood – maybe even a memorable one. I watched a lot of TV. The absurd soaps and movies I watched meant that I always craved for drama in my life.
That was my life up until seventh grade. One of our small academic breaks saw me being forced to read Enid Blyton’s The Naughtiest Girl in the School as an assignment. Even though I started reading it out of the fear of my teacher, halfway through the book I had already fallen in love with it. My assignment on the book also turned out fairly well, and I was pretty happy with the end result. I even went on to read most of the books from the The Naughtiest Girl series!
Reading books has a certain charm to it – paperbacks to be exact. They transport you to another world, to another era. I once read that a book read by a thousand different people is a thousand different books. I think that is absolutely true and interesting. Every book has its fair share of tiny details that have different effects on different people.
One of my favorite books is A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. It was such an unputdownable work, and it left me thinking for several days. That was the time I started believing in the magic of books. I have never read with the intention of improving my vocabulary. In fact, I think that no one should ever read with that mindset; it makes the whole process seem very businesslike. I read a book to get to know its characters, to learn more about life, and to later share the story with someone else. Honestly, storytelling has to be the best part of my life.
I am also guilty of copying the quotes, mannerisms and expressions of some of my favorite characters. For example, whenever I am asked who I am, I come up with a different answer each time. If you were to ask me that today, I would probably say that I am Elizabeth Bennet with a hint of Lady Macbeth.
I would like to conclude by saying that it is never too late to start reading. It really never is. A book has the power to become the friend that you have always wanted in life. You don’t think so? Well, get a book and find it out for yourself!
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Inspirational and catching words