Bookworm

The perfect day

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. day, and we had no classes at LHU. I saw this as the perfect opportunity to catch up on some reading. I enjoyed it so much that I now wish we had off every Monday. I don't know how so many of my friends can say that they don't like to read. I just don't get it. How can someone never experience that feeling that comes from finishing a really great book, a classic? It makes me feel so proud of myself and so much wiser and more worldly. Or when I finish a great love story, one that makes me cry and inspires me. Or when Ifinish a really interesting political book, that makes me think about your views on important issues. I think that if I never read books and just constantly took things in through TV, movies, and the Internet I would be pretty stupid. I mean, most of the choices I have made throughout life have been influenced in one way or another by books that I have read. I don't always realize it while I'm reading a book, but I often realize it later- a good book can change the way you see yourself. It can change the way you see life.

Jodi Picoult is an author I discovered in high school from my journalism teacher, and she is still my absolute favorite author. He books have made me think about tough issues in so many different ways. She has such a great way of making characters come to life, and I pull for them so much that I can understand all the choices they make, even if they are choices that I would previously have disagreed with quite strongly. Picoult has made me change my views- not so much change, but broaden- on everything from miracles to suicide to school shootings. Her books show the reality of situations, and the fact that not everything is in black and white. They also show that you have to live with your decisions for the rest of your life- unlike in the movies, where you make a decision and the story is over.

So this is my appeal to all my fellow students and other blog readers: The next time you have a day off, read a book. You might be surprised at how much it changes you.