Smart People Read
I came to the United States in the summer of 2000. It was an exciting time, with the little English I knew, I managed to say things like “I am going to America!” or “When I go to America I want CD player”. Most of my accent is gone now so when I make a mistake people don’t think I’m an exotic man with a sexy accent. They think that I’m an idiot. This is great because it only pushes me more to become a better English speaker. Most of my language skills did come from being an extremely loyal customer to Blockbuster. I remember averaging two movies a night. After all I didn’t have anything else to do at the time. That’s where my love for movies started. An alternate reality that I can exist in as so many different people. Little did I know that there’s yet one more way I was able to become the English speaker I am today.
I finally started taking college classes and just like so many great things in life, I have stumbled upon a “Great Books” course. I met a great professor in that course and couldn’t help but take another course with him…and then 3 more. He taught me that reading is a lost art. That I need to do my best to enrich my life with as many books as possible. I know it might sound cheesy at times but without books and movies, my life would have been incredibly miserable. Because I started late I’m still trying to catch up and as much as I can to fit books in my brain and heart. I have been lucky enough to have come across so many amazing people that showed me what great pleasure comes from reading a book. More lucky to have been able to work in a library where shelving books was a treat to get to know them more personally. I think I might be the last person to ever get an ebook reader due to the fact that I LOVE the smell of books. It brings an incredibly blissful smile to my face every time I smell one.
My last class with this professor he spoke to us about books and how they changed his life. He said that an important person once told him “smart people read” and he never stopped reading since. With all the undeniable sentimentality that came along with the moment, my eyes sparkled and I vowed to myself to never stop reading…ever!
I am always interested in new things that would encourage me and others to deepens our relationships with books. I have discovered two fun tools or “toys” the past few days that I wanted to share with you.
The first is I Write Like. A fun way to determine what popular author you write similar to. You copy and past a writing sample from your blog, journal, long comment, etc. A click later it reveals to you an author that the site thinks you write like. I told you it’s fun! I have to thank @MarisaVictoria for introducing me to the site.
The second one is Project Gutenberg. Someone amazing out there decided to “put at everyone’s disposal, in electronic versions, as many literary works from public domain as possible for free”. You can even get them via an application on your smartphone! I know it might go against what I have mentioned earlier about ebooks but this is a great way to start reading on the go or when carrying books around is not an option.
I hope that this has inspired you to go out and start reading. If you have a reading story or a favorite book you’d like to recommend to me, please leave it in the comments box. Would love to hear your thoughts and recommendations! Even better tell me what author do you write like!
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