Reading Binge

Last week I caught Hilton reading a Murakami while in our Bio 11 lab class. Being that ancient, I concluded that he was just too uninterested in our activity that he opted to read instead. Valid point. When I asked him why he was reading, he told me he was following the advise of Jessica Zafra that it is good to bring a book or two so that when you feel the urge or the need to read then you can do so. In this case, he was reading because our class has gotten so boring and he didn't have enough interest to revel in things Bio 11.

Maybe to maintain the number of books I have unread, because Bea gave me the complete works of the Grimm brothers, I picked up the last addition to my pile of unread books: Jane Eyre. I finished it over the weekend, as I relayed in my other entry. Hilton's suggestion in mind, I put Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Chronicle of a Death Foretold in my bag last Monday. I chose it because it's a short novel and it won't add significant weight in my bag. I kind of forgot it was there until this afternoon.

My classmates and I were waiting for our turn for our second Bio 11 lab exam in one of the unoccupied rooms at IB. Everybody was buzzing around, cramming every morsel of information one can. We were the last class to take the exam, and I was getting tired of cramming that I might just go blank when I step into the exam room. I remembered I had a book with me; in the middle of all the mad cramming, I started reading.

I must say that being well-read is a dream I'm afraid I may never get to fulfill. My reading habits are quite erratic: when I am on the reading train, I read book after book and when I am off the reading train, I don't see books. While I love going to the bookstore to browse titles and I like to hang there while waiting, I don't buy books not recommended to me or not praised by critics. Little glitches in my brain allow me to buy books on a whim but they're quite rare.

Reading Chronicle of a Death Foretold has gotten me into a high I can easily recognize. Buoyed by the delight I got from the said novella, I was impatient for another read. My feet took me to Fully Booked, and I browsed the titles in anticipation. I dismissed the idea of buying another classic since I was bent on going to Bookay-ukay in UP Village one of these days. Trippy enough, I got a book that I haven't heard of from someone I know, The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. It appealed to the history lover in me, as it promises a thrill ride through history. Apparently it's a vampire novel but not Twilight-like from what I reckon, but let's see.

I have always considered books to be good investments, I hardly hesitate to buy good books. Unlike food that can be diminished or clothes that you can outgrow, I think books are more or less absolute and always in fashion. That being said, I don't mind that I am growing a heap of unread books, I'll get to read them later. But if my current momentum is enough, I might get to read a good number this time. :D