DAY 25: Lugging Books

It's not really Day 25, but you already knew that.

I watched a video of Susan Cain's lecture for TED yesterday, in which she said she once carried a bag of books to a summer camp.

Something in me stirred: I used to carry a book everywhere, too. Nowadays I rarely do, because Twitter has poisoned me so badly I almost lose the stamina it takes to read long passages. Every day of course I read textbooks and long articles to help me prepare my lectures, but what I really long to do is to read satisfyingly good, in-depth works of fiction. There is something serene, something calming I associate with reading fictions, particularly those categorized as "literary".

I finished reading a book of fiction in early February, so I have been going without my supply of fiction for almost two months. I wonder if that is why I feel very restless. Did I say I use to carry a book everywhere? I really did. There was always a (fiction) book in my bag whether I went to a mall, or to work. I used to book Saturdays for chats over coffee with friends, and while waiting for them in the coffee shop, I would devour my book. This was long, long before the era of smartphones.

One memory stays vivid inside my head: I once brought a Harry Potter book along to a job interview. It was an interview for a lecturer position in a newly opened college, and I was made to wait for more than 15 minutes for the interviewer. Of course: I opened my bag, took out my book and started reading. The interviewer walked in while I was deep in Hogwarts, and I believed she was surprised, or concerned, or both, when she saw my reading material. I still remember that interview, the chat with interviewer while my heavy hard-cover book was sitting nearby inside my bag.

Now, definitely need to buy more fiction books to accompany me around, if not to interviews, then to malls and coffee shops.

PS: I succeeded in that interview, a proof that reading a Harry Potter book before a job interview brings you good luck.