The Value of a Good Read

I am an avid reader.  Like many of my friends, and all of my family, I love to read.

When people ask me what I've read lately, I matter-of-factly tell them, "I can't remember--I haven't read a book in over a year."

Wait....what?

While I love reading, and I have a short list of my favorite books, I rarely do it.  Why?

Because I can't find much that is worth reading.  Magazines?  I love them--Time, National Geographic, Games.  But books?  Not so much.

There is nothing worse in my mind (on the scale of not-really-important scales) than wasting my time, reading a mediocre book.  I hate it when it's a chore.  When I feel like I am slogging through it.

My friend and visiting teacher encouraged me to read "The Host", a book by Stephanie Meyer (the author of the Twilight series), because the movie is coming out in March and she wants to go see it.  Having only read the first three pages of the first Twilight book (and having put it down in disgust), I wasn't too excited about this book.  However, John read it a couple of years ago and gave it his stamp of approval, as did Johannah.

Turns out, I'm about a third of the way through it, and I'm about to give up.  I won't though, because I can't handle the thought that I have already wasted so much of my precious time getting to the point where I am now!

This darn book is over 600 pages long, and I feel each and every page.  It's never a good sign when I'm actually counting down the pages.  Johannah insists that the first half of the book is extremely slow, but it picks up afterwards.  Really?  Is it worth it to read 300+ pages of slogdom?

On the other hand, I received a book for Christmas from my friend, Sarah, entitled "Fifty Places to Dive Before You Die" by Chris Santella.  Not wanting to open "The Host" this morning, I opened this book to the foreword, written by Ethan Gordon:

"What is your favorite place to dive?":  A reasonable question frequently posed to me when I am dripping wet and half naked, usually as I am peeling out of my wet suit along with a boatload of divers doing the same.  It is typically during this not-so-sexy strip tease that the post-dive euphoria peaks and people's minds spin wildly ahead to answer a basic question.  "What dive destination could possibly be better than the one I am at right now?"  There is no simple answer.

Most every destination has something great to offer:  whether it is a pristine coral reef or a luxurious hotel with convenience of diving.  I know this may sound like a stock line from a travel brochure, but it is true.  Sometimes the diving at a particular destination would rate average as far as the underwater world is concerned, bu the personalities of the locals, the dive guide, or your fellow divers make that trip one of your most memorable.  Other times the topside accommodations may feel more like rundown army barracks, but the diving is so off-the-charts incredible, that you just don't care.

Regardless, these inquiring divers don't want to hear my "politically correct" response.  They want to know where they should be headed next, and so I am hard pressed to answer.  It is at times like these that I steal a quote from quarterback Tom Brady, who when asked which of his Super bowl rings is his favorite, answers, "The next one."

This 30 second read is more interesting and more worth my time than the hours I have spent with "The Host".

Yes, I will never regain those moments in my life that I have squandered on a stupid book, but I'll do the best I can to make up for them:  I'm going diving.