I was surprised to run into a familiar face at the café I used to frequent. And before I knew it, I had butterflies. It was, after all, my school-time crush. I still remembered him as a complete bookworm. On the other hand, I… well, I was just the opposite. It took a wave of his hand to snap me out of my daydreaming. He asked me to join him. The day could not get any better, could it? We started chatting, and then he asked me the question I would rather not answer.
‘What is your favorite book?’
There was no way I was going to make a fool of myself before him, so I told him all the book titles I had heard of – mostly from my friends – like Rich Dad Poor Dad, Bird by Bird, and I Too Had a Love Story. However, far from getting out of trouble, I walked right into it. He was now curious about my favorite genre. Clueless as to what the correct answer to that question was supposed to sound like, I said my knowledge about books was pretty limited, adding that I was not a – *throat-clearing sound* – regular reader.
He handed me Claudia Gray’s A Thousand Pieces of You, with a couple of mantras to go with it. I still remember his words as if it were yesterday. ‘Read like you’re going to interview the writer tomorrow, and use your imagination while reading,’ he said. We met again a few times, and he kept giving me one book after another. Slowly but steadily, books kept grabbing my attention. While I am no longer in touch with him, the books he suggested me and the mantras he gave me have all stood me in good stead.
Today, books are an important part of my life. As hard as it is to start reading, it is even harder to stop doing so. Once you decide to invest your time and emotions in books, you get to learn so much. And for that, all you need to do is give books a chance.
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