And then came The Boxcar Children. I met them in Second Grade and I quickly fell in love with Henry, Jessie, Violet, and Benny Alden. And of course Grandfather and Watch. I even had a crush on 10 year old Violet whom I had never seen but in my mind's eye, as she, along with the others, would solve mystery after mystery after mystery.
And then... My family decided to up and move to Dallas the summer after my Second Grade, and in this sudden transition and confusion, I buried myself in books; reading was my escape. I read anything and everything I could get my hands on, and I was always reading. In the car. In bed. In the bathroom. At the dinner table. In the hallway during the restroom breaks for class, where I nearly walked in the girl's restroom several times. Now you would think most parents would be thrilled if their kids read so much and had a general love for the written word. Well, I read so much that my dad literally tore up and threw away some of my books because he felt I had an unhealthy obsession with books and reading and no interest in anything else. Maybe he was right, who knows.
Social skills are overrated, right?
Now that you have a brief understanding of my not-so-secret nerd-ness, let me introduce you to my library. You have your young adult fiction, the classic literature, a collection of Stephen King and Michael Crichton, a few textbooks I chose not to sell, a Quran, Book of Mormon, some Bibles, a bunch of other randoms, and my current favorite: theological books. And of course, no modern library is really complete without a collection of movies, music, and seasons of Smallville.
All that's missing is a comfy chair, a roaring fireplace, and the Dewey Decimal system. I'll settle for just two, I'm not picky.
I love books. If I have a weakness in my spending habits, it's my book-buying. I love roaming through Half Price and perusing their inventory. Used books have character, man... Except the ones with food stains. That's just sloppy eating.
I leave you with this: read. Read and read and read. Not just for the sake of saying you read something, but so that your mind is exercised. Read to learn. Read for pleasure. Read to think. Read to grow. But above all, just read. Read... or perish.
This Post is by: Brice Johnson- Brice is a musician, singer, self proclaimed archeologist, and fellow lover of life. He will be have his very own blog soon, so stay tuned.
