August 6, 2011

Ain't Books Great?

I'm pleased to say I've finally gotten back into reading! I must preface this I suppose by explaining that as a child I did not particularly like reading. I'd read books, but they were all far below my age level. All that changed when I went to England when I was 7. A friend of the family, who's name I cannot even remember gave me a copy of Happy Potter and the Philosopher's Stone which we took along. The first night my Dad and I were there, we simply could not sleep, so he read me the first two chapters of the book until his eyes started to droop. But I just couldn't stop, and I devoured it and ever book within a day of its release.

Now, that passion was not solely reserved for the young Mr. Potter, but extended to just about everything until late in my stay in Thailand. I'd been reading books like I'd been popping candy, and then I just couldn't. At home with my family I'd spend my time on the couch watching mindless television, a trend that has sadly continued for the past year. Perhaps its simply because I've had so much reading to do for classes I simply had no energy to read for pleasure, but now, it the final month of the summer holiday, I've finished three books in the space of a week. True, one was a 24 hour reread of the adrenaline filled Hunger Games (Which if you haven't done so already, read it before the movie comes out and ruins it), but whatever it takes! 
But any recommendations, my few friends? Every time I wander into a bookstore I'm overwhelmed by choice, and fear that what I pick up will simply be bad. Is it just me, or are the shelves full of vampires, cheap horror/crime, and lack-luster confessions?