Beating boredom: Got books?
Oh why hello there dear readers. Hope all of you are doing splendidly. It’s that time again, time for another lovely suggestion of how you can possibly fill your time if you are as bored as I am.
As we are completely immersed in the digital age these days, some of you may scoff as you read what I am about to propose, but I’d like to think that I’m just an old soul who enjoys the simpler things in life.
Without further a due I would like to inspire my fellow time-wasters to pick up a book and read.
I can hear the ‘boos’ as I write, but hear me out. So statistically speaking Canada has a very high literacy rate and you can read more about why reading is important to our economy here, but from what I’ve noticed about a lot of people that I have come into contact with throughout my time is that less and less people actually pick up books.
Most people are too preoccupied with the Internet and all its glory, as well as video games or going to the bar, and there are fewer people in this world who even remember what a library card is.
Personally, there’s little that is better than cracking open a new book and curling up with a cup of tea and immersing yourself in a world outside of your own.
Not to mention the social benefits of actually being well read. You have no idea how nice it is to actually find people to have intelligent conversations with about various topics because they have taken the time to read up on them. You can learn so much more from the people you meet if more people actually took the time to read.
You’re probably thinking I’m a major dork, but so be it. I will freely admit that I can spend hours upon hours in bookstores or libraries and I’m significantly considering moving to England and working in a small bookstore upon my graduation. When I’m there I can’t help but get this overwhelming feeling to just read everything, to know everything.
Just me then? I figured as much.
So next time you are sat twiddling your thumbs, head to the library, or a bookstore, or even grab a newspaper. Who knows maybe you’ll even enjoy it.
Here are a few book suggestions, as complied by a few Reflector editors, to get you started:
The Help by Katherine Stockett
The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon
Fried Green Tomatoes by Fannie Flagg
The Stand by Stephen King
Ballad of the Whiskey Robber by Julian Rubinstein
The Birth House by Ami McKay
Harry Potter 1-7 by JK Rowling
Reservation Road by Richard Yates
1984 by George Orwell
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
Sword of Truth by Terry Goodkind
The Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger (R.I.P)
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen
Not only are library cards cheap for a student budget you can also get books for super cheap at used book stores, antique stores, the MRU book sale and garage sales…although there is nothing better than the smell of fresh ink as you crack open a new book!