Do you read much? What is much?

As long as I can remember I’ve loved books. I don’t even know if there was a time in my life when I didn’t love books or had a book in my hand. But while I failed to grasp concepts of math or be interested in volcanoes that spurted baking soda, I always read at a higher level than the grade that I was in.

Lately with all the technology and Netflix in the world I feel like people have forgotten books. And I am so guilty of this. I’m currently binge watching Gilmore Girls because it is coming up guys and if you’re not on #teamjess I don’t know if we can be friends.

When I was small I was super shy, it’s kind of funny to think about it now because I don’t see myself as a shy person anymore, or very rarely. Books definitely played into my shyness though. For me if other kids didn’t want to play with me or if I was too shy to play with them ( more often than not the case ) I had books, they were my friends and they always wanted to play with me.

Going over to other people’s houses was common when I was younger as we had a lot of family friends that we saw often. More often than not the kids wouldn’t necessarily be my age so while my brother would go play I would wander off and go in search of books. Every house had a bookshelf you just had to know where to find it. Hallways were a good start, and more often than not you had to go upstairs to find the really good books because they were never on the main floor. When it was time to leave the house my parents would always have to look for me because I’d have found some corner, some stair and have tuned out the world by reading a book that I had discovered.

I was always the kid that loved indoor recess because it meant I could read whatever book I was currently into, and not have to face Winnipeg winter. My love of books continued into junior high where my first few years of middle school were not my favourite and I spent the majority of grade seven in the library. Technically you weren’t allowed to eat in the library but I went there every lunch hour with my book and the librarian probably took pity on me and let me eat my lunch in the cubby hole with my book.

If people ever wonder ( they probably shouldn’t at this point ) why Jess is my favourite on Gilmore Girls one of the main reasons is because he’s as much of a book person as Rory is. He was incredibly smart, and find me a guy that would write notes in my favourite book for me and I’m sold.

Lately I feel like I’ve been reading less and it makes me sad. I could use all sorts of excuses but I really blame no one but myself. When I was younger I dreamed of having nothing but spare time and avoiding homework so I could read my book. I feel like my younger self would be disappointed if she knew that my spare time now consists of Netflix, naps and only reading stuff when I have auditions to prep for. That’s not to say that I’m not trying to read, because sometimes I forget how much I love it.

I’m currently reading The Heart is a lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers because my dad went to Mcnally Robinson and like me has a hard time not buying books when he goes into a book store, and he picked it out for me. The title alone has been the title of so many television episodes that it was already a reference in my brain. I like it so far and I’m not even halfway through yet.

I’m a great believer in books, I probably always will be. When I’m at work lately sometimes it’s hard to read my book when everyone is on their phone but I think of myself when I was 10 and that girl had no problem tuning out the world to focus on her reading, so I’m going to try and do the same. When I look after my niece she always wants me to read to her and I hope that she still wants me to in five years. Plus, I do voices which is the best part.

 

Here is one of my fave Jess/Rory moments ( of which I have many ) but I mean I don’t think you can read too many books. What is much anyway?

 

Also if you haven’t read Allen Ginsberg’s Howl I recommend it. As someone who doesn’t normally like poetry- I’ve tried trust me- I really like this poem.

Here’s a link to it-

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/49303

( Also Allen Ginsberg is one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation, which Jess is obsessed with and I also love)

Another recommendation is a movie that explores the beat generation from Allen Ginsberg’s point of view and is one of my favourites, definitely recommend it called Kill your Darlings here’s the trailer: