LEER

     People read for affirmation and distraction.  Books and stories serve as companions during hard times as they send the message of unity; no one is alone.  During hard times, stories in books send readers to different worlds, different realities.  Reading places a sense of hope that hard times will pass.  To be a reader, you don't have to read often.  You don't have to know every detail of the latest best seller, or know the writing techniques of Twain or Dickenson.  A reader is someone who enjoys to read.  All you have to do is read and enjoy it.  A good reader picks up whats underneath the text.  He or she realizes the message of the story and tries to analyze any further meanings.

     My favorite authors are J.K. Rowling for Harry Potter, Ray Bradbury for Fahrenheit 451, Suzanne Collins for The Hunger Games, and Brigid Lowry for Guitar Highway Rose.  J.K Rowling is that author for me who can take me out my reality and temporarily send me to a better one.  I liked how she didn't even know me, yet she could take away all my stress and uncertainties better than most of my friends simply through a book.  Ray Bradbury served as a teacher for me.  Fahrenheit 451 showed me how to use imagery.  It showed me the language it took to immerse readers and help readers see everything that's happening to better evoke emotions.  Suzanne Collins gave me (and maaannny others) thrill when life became a little boring and slow paced.  She gave me an action movie in the palm of my hands, and with every chapter, I rolled around in my bed giddy and shocked and furious and full of emotion.  Brigid Lowry came to me as an accident, a coincidence.  Looking back, I have no idea why that particular book stands out, but I can only guess it had something to do with the timing and my surroundings.  It has become a distant favorite because it was a book that I finished and thought, "This book is so delicate." I put it down and was afraid it would fall apart.  Honestly, it was cliche and typical, yet it really grasped me.  I almost envied this little world Lowry carefully put together.  It was definitely a simple read, nothing spectacular, definitely for teenagers.  I consider "good reader" part of my identity.  I love to read, much more than I love to write, and I do like trying to analyze relationships and events. 

     I learned to read because every night my mom would go over phonics cards with me and reads simple books with me.  I vividly remember poking her eyeballs and pushing her over trying to keep her awake so she would finish the night's book with me.  Reading stuck, and I read at home constantly.  I remember eagerly running to my mom and screaming, "I finished it by myself!" when I finished my first chapter book.  As a reader I am passionate, yet inconsistent.  I love reading.  I love reading factual information because I love knowing, and I love reading fiction because it forces me to open up my h blocked creativity.  But recently, time and reading have not been the best of friends.  With school and sports, all I ever have the energy to do is sleep.  Every once in a while, I'll push myself to read late at night, but I'll feel bitter sweet the next morning for staying up late.  As a reader, I want to do better in the sense that I want to read more, and I want to learn how to read faster.  By reading faster, I can read more in less time.  I choose to read books that interest me, usually realistic fantasy, but lately, going along with the trend, dystopian society books strike an interest.  I enjoy books that take me other places, but also booms that teach me things and give me new insight on common sitiuations.  I'm required to read books for school, but for the most part I enjoy them.  School is how I met Ray Bradbury.  However, I did not enjoy The Prince and the Pauper or Romeo and Juliet because I didn't like the subject matter or much of the era.  I fear readings that persuasively argue that life has no meaning because I am afraid they ring true.

     From this process, I reencountered my love of reading, and I realized how much I am missing.  I learned that all I need is time, and I should make time.  There should always be time.  This process seemed obligatory and not as enlightening as the process of writing.  I didn't have a problem with this process, it just felt more like homework and less like thinking freely like the first one did.  I think it's because it felt repetitive and there was less of surprise and less 'aha' moments. All in all, it was okay.