The Book Store

Oh, my poor little neglected blog, I've missed you!

To be fair, I've missed my whole poor little neglected life for the last 2-3 months. All work and no play, etc, etc.

Anyway. A couple of weeks ago I managed to have an entire Sunday free from work, so I used it to brunch with Jordan and Steve -- not crazy-bloody-mary-and-mimosa-brunch, relaxing-coffee-and-waffles-and-conversation-brunch. It was nice, and only took about an hour, so Jordan and I popped into the book shop next door and nerded over reading material for a while afterward. When I finally got home, I spent much of the rest of my day with my nose in a book, and my mood improved hugely.

On Friday last week, I had another unexpected day off, where I was specifically told not to do any work. I slept late, spent the late morning and early afternoon catching up on chores, then put on some Emiliana Torrini and cracked open a collection of short stories. 275 pages later, I had read the last line, and it was dinner time. What a wonderful day.

Thing is, I forget that most people don't have days like that, because books have always been part of my life. My mother (not at all kidding) started reading to me before I was born. By age 3, I was reading to her; at 17, I skipped school at least once a week, preferring to sit in a cafe with a book of my own choosing instead. I tend to always have a friend or two who can waste hours book shopping with me.

But that's not everyone. Jordan and I often get lost in literary conversations, and within a matter of minutes have alienated all the non-readers from the discussion. I went to a very working class high school, and between freshman year and graduation, while I was being bored by the honors classes, a full 30% of my classmates dropped out. I watch documentaries like Waiting for "Superman" and The Lottery, and remember the large disparity between the well-educated and the forgotten; I realize how lucky I am to be so literate.

As much as Oprah would like us to believe the entire world is in a book club these days, it's just not true. Even most of my highly intelligent urban cohort are not interested in reading anything more than their horoscope online.

So are they missing out? Maybe not. And it's probably too late for them anyway. But in my opinion, everyone, kids and adults, should have a book available for their idle hours, and they should have a level of literacy that allows them to enjoy it. I don't care what they read -- automotive repair manuals, musings of a famous comic, Ayn Rand -- just dig into the book and enjoy it.

I mean, I was maybe 5 in this picture, holding a book as usual, and I definitely look happy. I am also a total TV junkie, always have been, and still managed to develop a love of reading while growing up. Shouldn't all kids have that option? I absolutely think so.


I'm just not sure how to make it happen. As usual, I have only opinions, no  answers. Maybe I should take a look, it's in a book....