Why do you read?

I've always loved reading but could never put a finger on why I read. I've never admitted to reading as a means to escape since to me that translates into - 'My life is horrible and I need the help of books to transport me to a happier, more exciting place'. However, I now realize that while escapism is one of the reasons I enjoy reading, there's no shame in admitting it because what I mean is simple: Now and then, I love to live the life of others; the rich and the poor, the beautiful and the damned, the joyous and the distressed. To create a parallel life and alternate between the two at will is a miraculously liberating feeling to say the least.



However, a recent conversation on Twitter made me think that for a majority of people escapism comes from the fantasy genre only. The success of Harry Potter and The Lord of the rings are prime examples in this case. Here's one bit:

Follower's tweet:  i love d fantasy genre, takes ur mind off real life, the reason for reading books.

My reply:  hmm im sure.bt im nt into d fantasy genre.i need 2 b able to relate 2 the characters in d real world.

So my question to you, dear readers is: How can you relate to wizards who go to a school of wizardry, vampires who live for centuries, and hobbits who inhabit the lands of Middle-earth rather than characters rooted in the real world with actual human problems?

Maybe its a limitation of imagination on my part but when I read I need a strong sense of place. I need stories that are grounded in reality; in a fully real world. But that's just me. Feel free to differ.

Liebster Blog Award

A big thank you to Auggie from Auggie Talk and Candace from Read between the covers for the award! 

 
The Liebster Blog Award is given to upcoming bloggers who have 200 followers or less. It helps people to get to know you as a blogger while introducing your blog to new viewers.

The Rules are as follows:

1. Each person chosen must provide 11 facts about themselves.

2. Answer the 11 questions that the blogger who tagged you has given, then think of 11 questions for the people you tag.

3. Choose 11 people to receive the award and link them in your post

4. Be sure to tell these people that you've tagged them.

5. Remember, no tag backs (in other words: don't tag the person who tagged you.)

11 Random Facts About Me

1) I prefer writing10 facts about myself.

2) I don't like celebrating odd number birthdays. 

3) At bookstores, I put shelves in order if the books are in disarray. 

4) I write letters to friends and acquaintances without the intention of ever sending it to them.

5) I've been keeping a journal since I was 10. 

6) It takes me almost a month to finish a novel even if I read it every day. 

7) I like to hold a Kit Kat finger like a cigarette.

8) I can climb high places but need at least 10 people to help bring me down. 

9) I wanted to be an archeologist as a kid. 

10)I am not going to write the 11th fact because I hate odd numbers.

Questions for Me:

 
1.   Why did you start your blog?
      To connect with like minded people and maybe turn this solitary passion into a shared one.  

2.   What are your top 3 to-die-for characters?
      Lord Henry in The Picture of Dorian Gray

      Rebecca in Rebecca

      Fermina Daza in Love in the time of Cholera

3.   What are you top 3 favorite books?
      Love in the time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

      The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

      The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald

4.   Where do you live?
      Karachi, Pakistan

5.   Future release you are drooling over?
      The next book by Marquez (if he ever writes one).

6.   Favorite author?
      Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Oscar Wilde

7.   What "paranormal" creature would you be and why?
      Aloja- A female water spirit because water fascinates me.

8.   Can you read more than one book at one time?
      Yes

9.   What is your worst habit?

       Plucking dead skin from my lips. Even writing about it grosses me out but I can't help it.
 

10.  Book you were suprised you LOVED?
       Like the flowing river by Paulo Coelho. I had given up on Coelho after Veronica decides to die but this book was revelatory and gave me inspiration at a time when I needed it the most.       

11.  If you could live any story, what would it be? 

       Hands down! One Hundred years of Solitude.

Questions for those I tagged:

  

In one sentence: Who are you? 

What's something a lot of people do that you disagree with?

What's something no one can take away from you?

What's a common misconception people have about you?

 Your favorite quote?

 Do you believe honesty is the best policy?

 Describe yourself in three words.

Which dead author would you want to be haunted by?
What do u want to be known for?

What do you do when nothing else seems to make you happy?

Who do you think is the worst writer?

Blogs I am Tagging

MadauG's Attempt at Book Reviewing

read that also

A reluctant mind
Views and Reviews 

Positive Fountain 

Bound 2 astound 

books devoured

coffee table reviews

about happy books

an abundance of books

alaskan bookie

I think its a great way to support upcoming blogs and hope you will participate with me. :) 

I dream a dream of a library (2)

Back in end of February I started setting up my library with a mere 18 books. See: I dream a dream (1) Over the past three months I've added almost 30 more books. Not qualified to be called a library still, but it's finally starting to look like the picture I have in mind.

                                          Taken in February 

                                                    

                                                     In June

Good progress, eh?

Anyway I bought a couple of books at a Liberty Books sale today.  Here are the ones I got:

1) Night by Elie Wiesel

2) Selected Poems by Gulzar

3) Reading like a writer by Francine Prose  

4) Selected Short Stories from the 19th Century by David Stuart

Reading One hundred years of Solitude these days has me trapped in the imaginary village of Macondo and its daily life of atrocities, resilience and miracles. Marquez truly is a master of Magical realism. I've been reading the book at a slow pace and its already been a month since I started it. No rush. Masterpieces are too precious to be glanced at and brushed past by; they are meant to be savored, experienced and appreciated.

Type away!

Ms. Procrastination over stayed her welcome, hence the blog was not updated for weeks but I've got to write now. Sometimes I feel like I'll explode or die of an emotional overload if I don't write. I know I must but sometimes, I just don't.

Anyway, I'm sure nobody who reads this blog wants to comb through my mental debris so I'll let you know something that may interest some of you. I'm getting myself a TYPEWRITER! Okay so I have wanted to get one for the longest time but wasn't able to find it in my city but now I finally know where I can get it from and next week I shall be typing away from the ultimate writing machine of the 1800s. 

I think my love for typewriters and other vintage items stems from a fascination with bygone eras, very much like Owen Wilson's longing to belong to the early 1900s in Midnight in Paris. Something about the fantasy-nostalgist theme of this movie made me wonder how incredible it would be to personally know these writers from almost a century ago who are now considered literary Gods. What insecurities had they faced in regards to their writing? Self doubts? The extent of their passion? I want to know everything about them!

I can't jump back in time but I can own something that was used by them, and so, using a typewriter is my way of getting a little closer to the writers I've admired all my life.

Source: molsrock.tumblr.com

Books are magic!

"What an astonishing thing a book is. It’s a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you’re inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic." - Carl Sagan