Reading, not my favorite hobby

wpid-book_clipart_2-2011-03-10-02-01.jpgI must admit that I love literature, but as a rule I hate to read. I love books, but hate to read.

Don’t get me wrong, I want to have a passion for reading, but I supposed it is more that I have a difficult time reading. I’m not sure if it is a reading disability or what, but reading is not a hobby. I am a SLOW reader.

In high school we had to read Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities and William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. I LOVED them both. They were “page turners” for me.

Back in the “dark ages” (junior high school), I forced myself to read Herman Melville’s unabridged Moby Dick. YUCK! YUCK! YUCK! It was over 900 pages of pure YUCK! All I remember is there was this dude (Ahab) who was hunting and a whale (Moby Dick). That’s it… it was a stupid-a$$ book. After that I didn’t read unless I was forced to.

In college I was required to take Fiction. UGH! We read Red Badge of Courage and Where the Red Fern Grows. Classics… still have the books. Again, don’t remember much about them… Remember Red Badge of Courage being good, but that’s it.

I remember “way back when” (early 1990s) I went to a first Star Trek convention. YEP you read that right, I’ve been to a Star Trek convention… actually, I’ve been to three. My last one was in 1993… I bought a reserved seat because the speaker was none other than William Shatner and I was I was hugely pregnant with The Offspring and wanted to be sure that I was guaranteed a place to sit. But you’re not here to read about me going to a Star Trek convention… well, I supposed you are since that’s how this paragraph started…

…Anyway, at the aforementioned convention one of the dudes emceeing mentioned Peter David’s book titled Imzadi. It’s about Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Will Riker and Deanna Troi had a love affair on Betazed long before they were on the Enterprise. People were raving about it. So I, the one who hates to read, went to the store and bought it… my co-workers were stunned that I brought a book to work to read at lunch… they knew I hated to read.

Well… I finished all 300+ pages in less than 7 days! That was a MAJOR feat. Yep, me… the one who hates to read… I couldn’t put it down. I loved it! I couldn’t stop reading it… it was a “page turner”. Go figure…

When I got my first audiobook I was ecstatic! I have more audiobooks (CDs, tapes, MP3, etc.) than I even know. I wish I could get them all listened to. Some of the books I like so much I bought the hardback or paperback so I could follow along or have to go back to reference.

I have seven books (I think) sitting on my night stand… I have one sitting here next to me on the sofa… it’s just calling to me… so it is now time for to close my computer and curl up and read a chapter before I go to sleep. Yep, read… not listen, but read… There is hope for me yet… 😉

What is your favorite book? What book is sitting on your nightstand?
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