30 April 2010

Book Club!

About a month ago, I decided that I need to "culturalize" myself. I decided a good way to do that would be to start reading. I had planned on picking up a good book when I got down here to BYU and low and behold, at my BYU 56th ward, I was talking with some new found friends. They talked about a book club in the ward. I asked if I could join and they told me the book was "The Little Prince" and we would be meeting this week to discuss it.
Unfortunately, I'm a slow reader, and school started to get pretty intense already! So I was unable to finish it completely. Fortunately, though, it's a pretty short book (a normal reader could read it in about 30 - 45 minutes, for me, it's a bit longer commitment) so I was able to finish most of it.
I've never been much of a reader! Historically, I've had a hard time staying awake reading books. However, I've done quite a bit of reading (for me anyway) over the last three days, and I must say that it's been a lot more enjoyable than it ever was before my mission. I wonder if my mission had anything to do with it.
I particularly was surprised at how much I enjoyed the book club meeting. It was quite fun to discuss the implications of the author, and the meanings we can create from the story.
The next book we will be reading is "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins. I've heard great things about this book. I look forward to "cultralizing" myself a little more. My hope is that my vocabulary will be broadened and my reading comprehension and speed will be increased. And that's the Bright-side of life :-D

2 comments:

Rachel said...

YES! I LOVE READING! I am glad you had fun discussing the book. That is essentially what I get to do ALL THE TIME. Read, then discuss write about the author's intentions, how it fits in history, characters, meaning, etc. :) Yay for culturalizing Kent!

Kim and Jim said...

You sound like Jim- he has been reading more in the past few years than he did his whole life prior to that. I think he has found that reading is so much more enjoyable when he can choose what he wants to read (rather than being forced to read stuff in school). Keep at it- you'll definitely get faster! Even though it may be hard to keep up with your spare-time reading while in school. I'm in a book club in my ward, and it actually forces me to read, since I know the book will be discussed. We've read some pretty interesting books. Right now we are on "John Adams" which is a bit overwhelming (650 pages!!!!) but I am enjoying it. I've heard great things about Hunger Games and that is next on my list to read!