I honestly don't think I've actually finished reading a book in about six months. (It was Fight Club, completed on a two-hour car ride back to Tucson from Phoenix, but I don't think I'm supposed to talk about it. It's like a rule, or something.) For the past semester, I've been trying to read various books, but I always end up not continuing it for whatever reason and never reach the last page, the oh-so important last line. I've come to realize how hard it can be to simply sit down and read. Most of my attempts end with me reading some article on Buzzfeed, logging on to Facebook or checking my phone. But, this winter break, I'm hoping to rediscover my love for reading and find new characters and stories to fall in love with.
Because it's a great feeling to rediscover a love for reading, finding books that just make you realize why you should read things other than textbooks and notes and funny Buzzfeed lists (but, I mean, you should read those too...). Because you'll get reminded of what it's like to fall in love with a character and a place and a time that you've never met or been to, but at the same time, you know like the back of your hand. Because you'll remember what it's like to come across a sentence or a paragraph that just resonates with you and you can already tell that this quote will stay with you for quite some time.
I think finding great quotes is one of the main reasons why I want to make reading a hobby again. You just stumble upon a few sentences that really hit home for you, that sum up how you're feeling or where you're at or what you've wanted to express but couldn't find the words to do so yourself. So, here is a list of quotes that remind me why it's important to log off Facebook, turn off my cellphone and laptop, and rediscover a love for reading.
1. "And Lot's wife, of course, was told not to look back where all those people and their homes had been. But she did look back, and I love her for that, because it was so human. So she was turned into a pillar of salt. So it goes." Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five
2. "So I walked back to my room and collapsed on the bottom bunk, thinking that if people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane." John Green, Looking for Alaska
3. "I was surprised, as always, be how easy the act of leaving was, and how good it felt. The world was suddenly rich with possibility." Jack Kerouac, On the Road
4. '"If you don't know what you want," the doorman said, "you end up with a lot you don't."' Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club
5. "I don't know what good it is to know so much and be smart as whips and all if it doesn't make you happy." J.D. Salinger, Franny and Zooey
6. "I have always believed, and I still believe, that whatever good or bad fortune may come our way we can always give it meaning and transform it into something of value." Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha
7. "We laugh and laugh, and nothing can ever be sad, no one can be lost, or dead, or far away: right now we are here, and nothing can mar our perfection, or steal the joy of this perfect moment." Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler's Wife