I Pledge to Read the Printed Word

With a hectic schedule as an IB student applying to universities, I've been unable to keep up with one of my most cherished hobbies: reading. It's shameful to admit, but I feel like I've been too braindead lately to pick up a book, even when given the spare time. Instead, I spent the last few months wasting hours on Facebook, Tumblr or Buzzfeed, which is just silly.

Thankfully, December break has finally rolled around, and I find myself a little less stressed than a few weeks ago. This means I can kick back with a cup of hot chocolate, turn off my computer and check out some printed text that has been neglected. I stepped into a bookstore today for the first time in ages, and it was magical - I can't describe how much I missed the feelings derived from flipping through pages or tilting my head to the side to read the vertically placed titles of myriad published works. These tiny moments have inspired me to immerse myself into the written world once again.

In order to keep track of this short (roughly a month) but hopefully fruitful adventure I'm about to embark on with books, I'll try my best to document my perspectives on the novels I decide to read over the vacation. I have a notebook in which I jot down summaries and thoughts about the different books I read, but I don't share that with anyone so this is definitely something new. I am so terrible when it comes to continuity, so there's really no telling how this mini project will pan out. One thing for certain though is that I'm extremely eager to reignite my interest in reading, which has been tucked away for too long.

Here is a list of books I currently have and hope to finish by the end of my winter break (January 20th, 2013):

1. The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald (doesn't really count, because I'm almost done with it)
2. Tender In The Night - F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. Mrs. Dalloway - Virginia Woolf
4. The Norton Book Of Women's Lives - compiled and edited by Phyllis Rose
5. The Canterbury Tales (A Selection) - Geoffrey Chaucer (the most ambitious title of all, because it's written primarily in Middle English and verse - two areas of the English language I am not comfortable/familiar with.)

Until the next update!