Friday, June 15, 2012

Summertime Book Fever

I have to wonder, is there anything better in life than getting wrapped up in a good book?

Sometimes I get so into books that it takes a few minutes after closing them to come back to reality.  It's like my life has become the story, and the "real world" is just a strangely hazy existence.  I can only think about and feel for the characters.  I ruminate on them until I can open the spine again, like I'm savoring the last bite of dessert all night.

I am conflicted between racing through the pages or not.  I rush to find out what happens next, but I also want to take in every last word and detail to get the full experience the author intended.  When I finish the last page, I am happy for a few minutes.  I sit in silence pondering what I just read and really taking it in, but then I feel an emptiness.  I wonder and doubt how any other book I read next could ever entrance me in the same way.  Then a few weeks or months later, the story leaves me.  I can recall the main gist, but those little intricacies that made it so addicting have fled my memories.

If I haven't had the time to start another book, I forget how the rush of emotions and adrenaline felt with each turn of the page, and I look at my bookshelf uninterested.  It doesn't seem worth investing time into a book to lose time to watch TV, browse the internet, play guitar, or indulge in other down time activities.

But every summer, my book fever starts anew, and I cannot imagine doing anything else but reading.

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