19Do it, because a girl who reads understands syntax. Literature has taught her that moments of tenderness come in sporadic but knowable intervals. A girl who reads knows that life is not planar; she knows, and rightly demands, that the ebb comes along with the flow of disappointment. A girl who has read up on her syntax senses the irregular pauses—the hesitation of breath—endemic to a lie. A girl who reads perceives the difference between a parenthetical moment of anger and the entrenched habits of someone whose bitter cynicism will run on, run on well past any point of reason, or purpose, run on far after she has packed a suitcase and said a reluctant goodbye and she has decided that I am an ellipsis and not a period and run on and run on. Syntax that knows the rhythm and cadence of a life well lived.Date a girl who doesn’t read because the girl who reads knows the importance of plot. She can trace out the demarcations of a prologue and the sharp ridges of a climax. She feels them in her skin. The girl who reads will be patient with an intermission and expedite a denouement. But of all things, the girl who reads knows most the ineluctable significance of an end. She is comfortable with them. She has bid farewell to a thousand heroes with only a twinge of sadness.Don’t date a girl who reads because girls who read are the storytellers. You with the Joyce, you with the Nabokov, you with the Woolf. You there in the library, on the platform of the metro, you in the corner of the café, you in the window of your room. You, who make my life so god damned difficult. The girl who reads has spun out the account of her life and it is bursting with meaning. She insists that her narratives are rich, her supporting cast colorful, and her typeface bold. You, the girl who reads, make me want to be everything that I am not. But I am weak and I will fail you, because you have dreamed, properly, of someone who is better than I am. You will not accept the life that I told of at the beginning of this piece. You will accept nothing less than passion, and perfection, and a life worthy of being storied. So out with you, girl who reads. Take the next southbound train and take your Hemingway with you. I hate you. I really, really, really hate you.
You Should Date An Illiterate Girl, Charles Warnke (via aeloquence)
bookworm slim, part II.
9. What are you currently reading?
- The Tipping Point (Malcolm Gladwell)
- Animal Farm (George Orwell)
- The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power (Jeff Shartlet)
- Awakening to Zen: The Teachings of Roshi Philip Klapeau
10. What is the last book you bought?
- Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)
11. Are you a person that reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one?
See above.
12. Do you have a favorite time/place to read?
If the bed is made, I love curling up on it. I mostly read on the couch. I make plans to read on the beach but never get there.
13. Do you prefer series books or stand-alones?
Either or. J.K. Rowling set my standards for series pretty high, though. I love authors with a specialty, too, like John Grisham.
14. Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?
Tumbling by Dianne McKinney-Whetstone, The Comfort Trap by Dr. Judith Stills and a few of Robert Greene’s lesser known works. I recommend Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus alot, but people tend to think I’m joking.
I’m not.
15. How do you organize your books? By genre, title, author’s last name, etc?
Formerly, alphabetically by author. Currently, by genre. I just put together a shelf of film & tv-inspired books, comics, etc. They made my itty bitty DVD collection look half decent.
bookworm slim, part I.
1. Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?
I don’t like to. I hate getting crap all over the pages.2. What is your favorite drink while reading?
I’m not that hardcore, but why not. Gimme a glass of sangria.3. Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
It used to horrify me until I got into active reading. If it’s a reference book or really philosophical, I’ll usually add my notes or underline.
4. How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ear? Laying the book flat open?
Random scraps of paper. Or business cards & an NYC metro card. I don’t know why, but dog-earing irks me.5. Fiction, Non-Fiction, or Both?
Both. Especially simultaneously. Good balance.
6. Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?
I’m slightly obsessed with finishing a chapter, especially with fiction.7. Are you a person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?
I’ve never experienced that type of response from a book. Maybe I need to break out my comfort zone.8. If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?
If my ipod or dictionary is near me, I always try to. I love learning new words. If not, I use context or underline it for later.
book survey by way of seaponies
