see mj write: day 14 {a non-fictional book}

i'm an avid reader.

okay, i used to be an avid reader. i used to stay up late at night, reading from the light of my pink nightstand lamp until my mom came in {for the third or fourth time} and said it was really time for bed. at which time i would begin to read under my pink and white striped sheets with only the light of a flashlight and the green glow of my alarm clock. i read and i read and i read and i read.

i still like reading now just as much as i did then, but i guess other things fill my time. and i cherish my sleep a little more now than i did then {which is why i'm typing this at 11pm, right?}.

currently, my goal is one book a month. i'm not batting 100% for 2010, but i'm close.

i very rarely read books more than once, but when i find one that really hits home or makes me think or compels me to be a better person, i have no problem flipping its pages a second, third or fourth time.

the last lecture, by randy pausch did this for me. you've probably read it. if you haven't read it, you very likely could have seen part of his actual last lecture. if you haven't read or heard it, you've most likely heard of him. and if you haven't heard of him, then you like in a cave. {just kidding. kind of.} he is a college professor, a husband, a father, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer at a much-too-young age.

his messages are simple. although his last lectures reached a worldwide audience, he wrote them for his kids and first gave the advice to a group of college students. he knew he was going to die and he wanted to give his kids, who were too young at the time, some advice that would be helpful for their futures. i think we can all use this kind of advice. the pure, unadulterated advice from someone whose true intentions are in our best interest.

the book is simple and humble and funny and sad. it's about hopes and dreams and triumphs and love. and also about tradgedies and trials and defeats and heartbreak. it's a relatively quick read, but still leaves you wanting for more. more advice for you, as a child {or an adult who still feels like a child sometimes} from your parent who you know loves and adores you and wants nothing more than for you to succeed and be happy.

it's the kind of book i want my mom to write so i can always have her with me. it's the kind of book i would be reading, late at night, amidst the glowing green light of my alarm clock {which is now my cell phone}. hopefully she wouldn't make me put that one away just to go to bed.