National Book Lover’s Day is sometimes celebrated on the first Saturday in November and also on Aug. 9, but for real bibliophiles, every day is Book Lover’s Day.
Of course, reading is more than books. You can read magazines (like Black Enterprise), Web posts, comic books, journals, and so on. But, there is something about reading a book that you can sink your teeth into. That’s how I read David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. I wanted something literary, engaging, but also humorous. David Copperfield fit the bill.
Reading for Pleasure
Life today is hectic, so it’s easy to neglect the reading of books. If you’re lucky enough to commute to work, you can use your commuting time to read books for pleasure. I’m treating myself to a Kindle, so I can read the thick books in the Story of Civilization series on the train.
If you don’t commute, try reading before bedtime or after dinner. You don’t have to watch TV every night. You do? OK–tape your shows and watch them on the weekend, and save your evenings for reading instead.
Don’t like to read alone? Join a book club, or start one. My block doesn’t have one, but the next block over from ours has a book club. It was through one of its members, our neighbor behind us, that my husband and I learned about the Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Known World, which examines American slavery from a unique–and historically true–angle; that of some of black Americans who owned slaves.
Read If You Can
I once read a chilling statement: What’s the difference between not being able to read and not reading? In an office I once worked in, someone had left a note for the custodian tacked up on his door. Near his office, he engaged me in a little friendly conversation. Then, he said to me, in an off-handed way, “What does that note say up there?†I was indignant. “Can’t you read?!†and I walked away, annoyed. Later I learned that he couldn’t read.
But, if you can read, and you don’t–really, what’s the difference?
As the daughter of aging parents, I would add read while you can. My dear mother died two years ago, and I know I got my love of reading and words from her. She was an avid reader for most of her life, but as she aged, she lost interest. In the last year of her life, I read the biography of William Carey to her.
It’s National Book Lover’s Day. What book will you begin reading? Tell us in the comments below.