Category: reading

Reading hangover

‘She clutched the knife and drove it right into her lover’s chest. Her lips quivered as his blood slowly stained his shirt, and he screamed from his sleep, feeling the cold blade. His eyes grew wide as he gripped the knife, before passing out. Taking her gloves off, she went out of the hotel room shaking. I did it! Miranda thought. And now for my husband. She grinned mischievously, feeling up the gun that she kept in her purse.’

I close the book, my nerves rocketing through sky limit. She killed her lover! Now she’s going to kill her husband. The cafe seemed to quiet down around me. I look around, and I notice people staring at me. Did I just talk to myself? An old man just looked at me. I talked to myself again! I shut my mouth and walk out of the cafe. The warm weather envelopes me, and I make my way home. I burrow my brows together, my thoughts still hanging by the thought that the protagonist killed the man who made her happy. What kind of twisted world was I living in? I pause for a moment, and I laugh at myself. It’s not my world. It’s a book. 
“Something funny?”
I look up and see him, in all his handsome glory. And he was smirking! The nerve! I walk past him, a tint of blush on my cheeks. 
“Hey I was just kidding.”
I feel him run up to walk beside me, and I walk a bit faster. I hold my book to my chest, and I flag my hand to stop a jeepney. I get into the front, so that he won’t sit beside me. I sigh, exhaling the breath that I was holding. I open my book again, and in an instant I am lost in the sea of words.
‘After getting in a cab, she prayed silently that her husband would be home. The cab ride home was excruciatingly tiresome, and her heart was beating so loudly she hoped the driver would not hear. She tossed her red hair to the side, stepping out of the cab. Her hands were still shaking because of the adrenaline, but nervously tried to compose herself as she walked up towards the apartment. Just as she was about to open the door-‘

“Hey!”

I look in annoyance to my book thief, who grinned like a wolf. He was sitting behind me, holding my book by its cover. Rage seeped through me as he stuck out his tongue out at me. He began reading my book, his brows furrowed as he read the page I was reading. Jerk. The jeepney was near my drop off now, and I was thinking of ways to get the book back. I paid the driver, glared at the thief and got off. Predictably, he got off too and he walked towards me, closing my book. He didn’t even use the bookmark! Now I have to search the book for where I left. I huff, and I try to reach for my book. He held it up over his head, and I curse under my breath. 
“Give me the book Dennis.” I look at him in the eye, trying to muster the angriest look I could. I only received a howl of laughter from him.
“You’re so cute when you’re angry!” He says between his laughter.
I turn around so he wouldn’t see me blush, and I walk towards my house. I hear him call my name, but I pretend not to hear him. I feel his hand on my shoulder, but I just shrug it off. I walk faster, and soon enough I was running towards my house. I try to slam the door, but his damn foot got in the way.
“Hey Clarisse, don’t get mad. I was just curious what the book was about.”
I smack the door to his face, and soon enough I hear an “omf”. I smile with satisfaction, and I walk into my house. I hear him close my door, and I open the TV. He sits beside me, nudging me with his elbow. He slowly slid the book to my lap, and he remains silent. He’s smart after all. I immediately open my book, eager to know what was about to happen next. It took me a few minutes to find where I stopped, no thanks to Mr. jerk-a-lot. 
‘Just as she was about to open the door, she hears a woman. And not just any woman. It was her sister. She stuck her ear on the door, and her heart breaking in two after hearing her sister moan her husband’s name. Filled with rage, she opened the door and her eyes confirmed her suspicions. Her husband was in an intimate position with her sister, whose eyes practically bulged out when she saw her.’
My heart hammered right out my chest, as I read on. But unfortunately for me, the jerk started to sing to the theme song of Phinneas and Ferb as it played on TV. I sigh, and reached for the remote to mute the sound. 
“Hey! No fair!”
He tried to get the remote from me, but I lose immediately when he reached for my book. I reluctantly give it to him, and soon he was blaring the episode. Why did he have to be my neighbor? Why can’t my neighbor be someone who is actually nice to me? But lo and behold, I get a bully. I sigh, and return to my book. I shake my head at him, and he sticks his tongue out again. I open my book, and soon my anger melts. Soon I get lost between the confrontation of wife and husband, my mind drifting into a world woven by a writer so brilliant. And soon, I get drunk again with words from a simple book.

How to read :)


I’m just going to get right to it: My generation hates reading. 

We’ve become more of a “visual” generation, who has the attention span of a goldfish (9 seconds) who needs “music”, “colors” and other “moving” things to keep us entertained. I say it’s pretty pathetic. We are all hanging by the wire, clinging to an electricity charge that flows through our wires. And while we fry our brain while playing video
games, burying ourselves in social networking, sticking our eyes to the television, while the works of Shakespeare, Dan Brown, Paulo Coelho, and all the other brilliant writers are stuck in a bookshelf waiting to be read. So to those teens who are willing to give up their game consoles and other gadgets for even just an hour of reading, here’s how to read:

Pick a good book. Pick a book that perks your interest. Books have different genres, like: 

It could be about anything you’d like to be, just as long as you’re interested in it. Remember, no one else is going to read it for you, so it better be something you really like.

Find a place to read. The best thing about books is that you can read anywhere. You don’t need to be near an electric outlet. You can read outside by a tree and enjoy the breeze that’s not from an electric fan or air conditioner. Again, it all depends on you where you’d like to read. Just make sure you’re comfortable. As long as you don’t read inside a moving vehicle because it would just damage your eyes-not good.

Reading position. This is kind of the hard part-finding the perfect reading position. Although it is advisable to read with your book in front of you, you can’t help but feel stiff after a few minutes. Just make sure you won’t get sore in whatever position you chose.

Read. Now this is the main part. When you read, don’t just read the words. Don’t just flick your eyes from one corner of the page to the other. When you read, read with your imagination. If the book shows you a scene where rain is pouring, imagine that it’s really raining around you. Watch the scene unravel right before your eyes. When there is a conversation between the characters, imagine you’re listening to it. Use any actors voice when reading their conversation. Just make it real to you. It may seem tiring, but I promise you that when you get used to it, it’s a breeze. You can imagine yourself as the main character, or as the enemy, or as the love interest. That’s the best thing about your imagination-you can go as wild as you can. If you can, read with your heart. Cry when a character dies, get mad at the enemy, laugh when something funny happens-bring your emotions with the ride.

Use a bookmark/make a marking where you stopped. To make sure you don’t get lost when you put the book down, mark it with something so that you could easily open to where you stopped. That way you won’t have to bother yourself with looking for the page where you stopped.

Finish it. Always finish what you started. You’d leave yourself hanging if you don’t finish the book. The endings are always the best part, that’s why they say “save the best for last”. You’d know whether the couple you’ve been rooting for ended up together, or if the murderer got caught, or you could be left with an open ended ending, making you wonder what could have happened.

Learn from it. The best thing about the book it that no matter how random a book may be, there would always be a lesson from it. So instead of doing the mistake yourself, learn from the book. You can learn that you have to stack up for a zombie apocalypse, that you should not go down the stairs when there’s a murderer in the house, that you should not take anything for granted, and others more. 

So the next time you’re about to drone yourself into a marathon of facing your beloved gadget, try to pick up a book once in a while. Stimulate your brain into doing something that could enhance it, rather than deteriorating it. Books are there at your disposal, and your imagination will always be at bay if you don’t read something. Reading is fun believe it or not. It just takes some perspective.

Happy reading!