I Love to Read

Contrary to popular belief, I do not read all day. I wish.

I've noticed myself reading more as I get older. Perhaps it's the stigma that reading has among teens in America. Reading isn't cool. One of my favorite quotes from a book belongs to Thomas Friedman from The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century. "In China today, Bill Gates is Britney Spears. In America today, Britney Spears is Britney Spears -- and that is our problem."

I like to keep reading as a habit because unlike other habits, reading seems to help me as a person. Books contain so much wisdom (The Bible being the prime example). People who write books don't just write them because they got bored one weekend (at least I assume). Authors write because they have something they feel is worth saying. How much wisdom do I gain from watching tv? Few shows give me that edification. 

My only other cultural love that comes anywhere close to books is my love of music. But here again, how many musicians have something important to sing about?

Over spring break, I read the rest of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (now in paperback). This is a sad story. It made me wonder about what samples exist from my body that might be in a lab somewhere being tested. I give plasma twice a week and have signed off to let my plasma be researched for science. Supposedly some lab in D.C. has samples taken from most kids at birth for the last 40 years! Crazy stuff. The book is mainly sad for the secrecy that surrounded the value of the immortal HeLa cells. Besides encouraging you to read this book, the only other thing I have to say is: Know what you're signing in the hospital!

I've since started reading the beginning of one of this years best reviewed books, Swamplandia!.

Time read: 7.5 hours

Total time: 20 hours

I also spent 14 hours listening to the audiobook, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. I LOVED IT! I will not count this time. You should really read/listen to this story. Check out the book trailer (books have trailers?).