Books and Me

I chose books because it’s something that I’m passionate about. Really, I’m a huge nerd about books. I’ve been a big reader for as long as I can remember. I remember getting so excited in school about the classroom trips to the library.  The library was this whole different world, where you could have so many adventures. I remember throughout elementary school doing the AR or accelerated reading tests on the computer to get as many points as I could. In second grade, I was one of the top readers in my class. I even got a t-shirt with top reader on it, which to a second grader was one of the coolest things ever. 

Books are wonderful pieces of art. Some may think that a book isn't art because there aren’t pictures. On the contrary, the words are the pictures. The words paint the picture in your mind. It activates your imagination, and soon you are inside the story or so it seems. I believe one of the best parts about books is that the characters and their life become so real. That you can become so attached to characters that you feel as they do. Happiness, heartache, depression and on it goes. These words on a page can make me feel so much that by the end of the book, I can sometimes feel as though I lost a friend or something great just ended. An example of this is when I read ​The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. If you haven’t read or watched, The Fault in Our Stars ​ then you should stop now if you don’t want spoilers.  

SPOILERS AHEAD!!! 

Anyway, when I found out that Augustus’ cancer came back, my immediate thought was no!!! Up until that point I was thinking that Hazel was going to die or that John Green was going to pull what happened in ​ An Imperial Affliction ​ by Peter Van Houten, which is the book-within-a-book of TFiOS. What happened is that Anna, the main character of ​ An Imperial Affliction, ​ dies from cancer or is too sick to continue in the middle of a sentence. On a side note, how completely evil would that be for a book to end in the middle of a sentence?!?! I, for one, completely understood the utter outrage that Augustus had when he finished the book. Back the point, I still didn’t think that Augustus was going to die. I’m not ashamed to admit that I had the fantasy that he would somehow get better, then Hazel would get better and then would all live happily ever after. Needless to say, that’s not what happened. When Augustus did eventually pass, I was a total wreck.  

Me reading TFiOS (mind you this was at 3am too!):  

 

This is just one example of how books can make you feel so much with just words. That is one of my greatest loves about books. That by the end, whether good, bad, or feeling like your heart has just been ripped out, you feel something. I believe that is one of the best parts about books.