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So, lately, I've turned into a bookworm.

I always thought that I was a bookworm before. Now, I'm a different type of bookworm. I can remember back when I was in the fifth grade. I always checked out the books on science topics or history. My teacher was borderline ticked at me because I never read books “about people”. That really pissed me off. Who was she to tell me what I could and could not read? To this day, I still hold some resentment. The problem is that I don't know why: she was right.

Now, I would love to read books that really don't serve an educational purpose. The problem is that I never end up finishing them. Oh, I've started to read Les Misérables, War and Peace, the epics… I just always get through the first chapter and then put the book down.

Last year, I made a valiant effort to get through Augustine's City of God, but even that didn't even make it halfway through (even the abridged version). I couldn't even read the assigned readings for my literature class (and I hope that Dr. Himes isn't reading this). Sometimes, I had to read books for classes. Dr. Jones assigned us to read Peter Godwin's When a Crocodile Eats the Sun — his memoirs of Zimbabwe's political turmoil and his family's secret. I would very much have liked to read it, but Dr. Jones spoiled the ending for us.

Sometimes, I'll give my father books that I think that he might enjoy reading. I usually regret it when I discover that the books end up becoming used as lumbar pillows (a thought that I can't stand since I hate seeing books destroyed). I've come to realise that giving him thick, tiny-print books like Josephus' The Jewish War won't get read despite the subject matter that I think that he'd find interesting. He did very much so appreciate reading Elie Wiesel's Night — his memoirs of surviving the Holocaust.

My father has also given me a few books to read that he feels I might find interesting. He lent me his copy of Mere Christianity years ago, and I've never even cracked it open. Months ago, he gave me a book called Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. I did what I normally do: read the first chapter and then give up. However, after I got back to Colorado, I picked it up and actually started to read it. After I got past a few chapters, I almost couldn't put it down. Krakauer is a fantastic writer. I was familiar with who he was before I picked up the book, and I have to say that I am surprised that an outdoor-life writer for a magazine can write a book dealing with serious philosophical and personal issues while having a fantastic understanding of other literary works outside the realm of camping and fishing.

Anyway, I wasn't even finished with the book before I went out to the bookstore to make some acquisitions. I looked for the Penguin Classics as Penguin Classics have a characteristic that I all books should have: they are all exactly the same size — specifically 5 in × 7¾ in. You might think that that's a trivial reason to purchase a specific series of books. If that's the way that you feel, that's okay; buy whatever books that you want. Just remember this: you're an idiot and are going to need more bookshelf space.

After reading Into the Wild, I was immediately interested in Jack London's Call of the Wild as they take place in the same general region of the globe. Herman Melville's Moby-Dick was another one that I selected since by all standards, it's an amazing literary piece, and I have no idea what it's about, so I'm sure that it will be very interesting. I also grabbed Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter for pretty much the same reasons except for knowing the basic plot. Realising that my entire selection was composed of American authors, I found a copy of Cervantes' Don Quixote which I have always wanted to read, but only had the opportunity to read a condensed version. It would appear that after making such an investment, I have no choice but to read them, so I think that I'll use all of that time that I used to spend studying in college for reading books. Although, it might make more sense to get a job instead…

…but that chapter might just be starting!