When I was younger, I remember having a love for reading. Over time I began to grow out of it, as I assume most people do. A part of me has my suspicions that school was a factor of my growing disinterest – no one likes required reading, it takes all the fun out of it. However, I think that there are still quite a few avid readers out there. I’d like to become one of them.
I think reading could be relaxing for me. It could almost be seen as a de-stressor for some people. Since I have decided to become an avid reader, I have also made a list of a few books I find interesting: The Warsaw Orphan by Kelly Rimmer, The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff, The College Girl by Laura Gray-Rosendale, and Beautifully Brave by Sarah Pendrick. Back at my home in the valley, I have a book that I have yet to finish: The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris. Multiple times I have sat down and tried to finish this book. But then there was school, and I never got to read the ending. When I have to abruptly stop reading a book, and don’t attend to it over a lengthy period of time, when I come back to it I have to re-read it as a refresher. I like to be in the moment when I read. I can’t recall what chapter I stopped at for Morris’ book, but I do remember that I happened to really like it. My first goal as a new member of the avid readers is to finish that book when I get the chance.
In middle school and high school, there were a few books that I can remember liking. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand, and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini to name a few. The reoccurring genre that I seem to find the most appealing is historical fiction – my go-to.
I think that because I’m an English major that people assume I read a lot. I don’t think that should be a pre-requisite for English majors. I think that if reading isn’t your forte then there shouldn’t be any judgment, it should just be seen as a personal preference.
I’m trying my best to get back into reading, I miss falling in love with the characters and watching them grow and change throughout the story. Some people view books as just being words on paper, but I feel like there is so much more to it.
This is a statement of purpose for me, a promise to myself, that I will try to get back into reading once more. I will join the avid readers of the world and become one in the same with them. I’m ready to enjoy a different aspect of life.