Books

I love books. I really am a book person. My favorite series of all time remains to be Harry Potter, but yesterday, I was gifted with an experience I haven't had since first reading Harry Potter.

I had borrowed The Hunger Games, book one, from my best friend who had become hooked on the series. I trust her taste, and since we are both in love with Harry Potter, there was no way I could pass it up.

I realized I wanted to read the book eventually. Especially before I see the movie. I always believe that the book is better than the movie, but I recently started to reinforce that by inspiration of this website:
http://readit1st.com/ This site was produced by one of the Vlogbrothers, whom I have blogged about it in the past.
Did I actually pledge? Well, no. But I made it a personal goal to participate in the cause (can you even call it that?) as much as I can.

So I start reading, and I read, and I read. I like it. It gets to the beginning of the main plot, after introductions, and I like it a lot. Middle of The Hunger Games, I can hardly put it down. Then there's a twist, and I'm clutching the book at my side wherever I go. A surprise encounter in the story, and I lose sleep reading more.

It's a normal Monday in school, when I REACH THE CLIMAX of this wonderful novel. Or at least what I thought was the climax. It continues to climb in suspense, and I find the "climax" to be about three chapters long, each ending in a cliff-hanger. I am completely absorbed, and I have the urge to drop everything, and find a solitary corner where I can read, and do nothing else.

It felt weird walking in reality, when the majority of my thinking remained in the book. I read more at lunch than I ate. By fifth hour, I was doing more reading than schoolwork. My debate teacher, Mr. Tolly, was completely understanding, but still made fun of me. By coincidence, the guy sitting behind me was also absorbed in his book, which happened to be Catching Fire, the sequel to Hunger Games.

By the time I finished the book in sixth period, my mind felt hazy. These feelings were so reminiscent of how I felt reading Harry Potter, I became extremely happy.

This is why I LOVE books. And wonderful authors who can craft a novel that pulls you into their alternate-reality for a brief time. Like a dream. As opposed to a movie, which metephorically, I think is more like....well....a movie. I guess I don't see another way to describe it. Usually, I feel more involved in a book than I do a movie. I guess it's a bit harder to explain than I thought.