Epiphany

I believe apologies are in order.

To begin with, apologies for not writing in as often as I should’ve. I’ve decided I am going to apologize everytime I get lazy and miss blogging for more that 2 days. I’ve heard guilt is a strong motivator for accountability. And why do I think I’m going to be writing practically every other day? Because of my one true love: books.

I’m driven by panic into writing this post. Ever since I’d discovered the world of Torrents and TV shows, the addiction had taken over my entire life, including my notorious (I’ve done things I’m not proud of to satiate my love for books) reading obssession. Barring the Song of Ice and Fire series, I had hardly managed to read or finish reading books, let alone an entire series. Sacriligeous, I tell you.

I never gave up though, always trying to read a random book once in a while. But I was working a demanding job which took up 90% of my waking hours. And the remaining 10%? Let’s just say, when I returned home from work every night or on a relaxed weekend without social commitments, I gladly let the comforting arms of my weekly TV shows wrap themselves around me like a cocoon. See, it was effortless (no wonder they call TV the idiot box). Reading demanded focus, even something as breezy as chick-lit. Also, it put me to sleep faster.

Facebook, lovingly reminding me of how seriously I was in need of TV rehab 😦

I was embarassed. I was the one who stayed up till 7am finishing a book. I had to always keep backup books at hand because I was a monster that devoured them greedily. And I was proud of that adorable glutton. I cursed when I thought about the last time I had walked between the shelves of a bookstore (mostly because online stores were cheaper). I dreaded a situation where someone would ask me about the last book I had read because I was afraid I wouldn’t remember. And suddenly, I realised that the glutton was no more.

My Goodreads Wall of Shame 😥

I’d like to think, and somewhere I know this to be true, that my blog suffered because of lack of reading. Because to write, you need to fall down the tiniest of rabbit holes and reading helps widen those holes a bit. Thus, a promise was born out of my sheer hatred for what I had become. And the timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Every show I watched was on a season break. I had just come out of a 6-season binge-watch of Gossip Girl. It was time to follow up The Binge with what I like to call The Purge.

It started with reading The Fault in Our Stars. I followed it with Me Before You. The latter was a new book buy in a very long time so I immediately opened the Goodreads app to scan the barcode and add the book to my shelf. I rated it and decided to read a few reviews to see what others thought of the book. I disagreed with some reviews on such a level that I found it imperative to voice my opinion about the book. That was it.

A book review was written. I went back to my rating of Fault and added a review there. I was on fire. I wanted my blog readers to be able to partake in this fruit of my labour too. Within minutes, a new category was added to my blog menu to house all my book reviews from Goodreads. Creating that section on my blog felt like a responsibility that I had to commit to, even if out of embarassment for not maintaining it regularly.

You know, I always thought reviewing books wasn’t my cup of tea. I can never really not like a book (except, maybe Chetan Bhagat’s); they are all someone’s babies and, more than that, they are stories. Every story has an audience. So who are we to trash that, right? But being on Goodreads and reading other book-reviewing blogs, I realised that it was not always about writing a professional piece like in a newspaper or magazine. I could simply pour all my feelings about a book in my usual, conversational tone and still motivate someone to read that book. As easy as talking to a friend or writing in a journal about my emotions at the end of a long day.

I am still getting the hang of writing these reviews but I am sure as hell burning through books like wildfire. Consider this me boasting about finishing 3 books in 3 days (1 paperback; 2 ebooks), reviews and all.

A proud bookworm’s Goodreads Wall of Fame 😀

Epiphanies are a funny thing (Epi-funny! Haha! Sorry 😛 ). They make you want to act the very next minute. They sure do make you rant a lot, considering the size of this post! My epiphany? I like being a couch potato. But I like being a bookworm more. And I am never forgetting that again.