Fundamental.

According to this link, 80% of the American population wants to write a book. All fine and good; few things probably match the feeling of getting your work published (and hopefully critically acclaimed). Unfortunately, the same link also points out some other disappointing stats that, frankly, crush my soul:

• 33% of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.
• 42% of college graduates never read another book after college.
• 80% of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.
• 70% of U.S. adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.
• 57% of new books are not read to completion.

*facepalm* This is freaking sad. As my childhood friend Captain OG Readmore says:

Read a book, you bastards

Is it fair to assume that in order to write a (successful) book, you have to have a passion for -- or at least an interest in -- reading? I'm thankful I never got out of the habit, finding myself at the bookstore a couple of times a month. And it's not just to take advantage of the free wi-fi or thumb through magazines. While Borders is a convenient and trendy place to drink a coffee and catch up on your email, it's a kind of cozy escape as well, perfect for leafing through the newest hardbacks guilt-free. And sometimes the bargain bins reveal some gems as well: I recently acquired Birds In Fall and The Dissident, among other books, for a buck each. (Fiction isn't my thing right now, but these seemed like great light summer reading. I've finished reading the first one and have just started the second, and have been pleased with both so far.) But I digress.

It isn't hard to figure out why so many people aren't reading for pleasure/leisure anymore. We're so saturated by more dynamic forms of entertainment that reading seems almost quaint and archaic by comparison. Even after the wide releases and popularity of e-readers, I'm probably more apt to see a Nintendo DS than a paperback in a someone's hands.

So ... how does it make sense that you want to write a book, but in all likelihood wouldn't even read it?

Okay that's it. I'm off to Half-Price Books to see if I can find some treasure.

Non-Fiction x 5.

Feeling the need to read things that aren't made of LCD screen pixels, I dipped into Half-Price Books recently and emerged with these selections from the non-fiction clearance shelves*:

2010 summer reading

1. Stumbling On Happiness by Daniel Gilbert: A Freakonomics-type of book that touches on why certain things make us (un)happy, even if we'd thought otherwise, and dips into "psychology, neuroscience, philosophy and behavioral economics," according to the back. Well all right, then.
   
   
2. Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser: Not that I eat fast food very often anymore (road trips are usually the culprit), but I'm looking for any reason to give it up altogether. This seems like a good way to do it.
   
   
3. Lucky Child by Loung Ung: Adding to my collection of Asian-American memoirs, this time from a Cambodian voice. I can't get enough of reading these.
   
   
4. In Defense Of Elitism by William A. Henry III: A semi-heavy book about the domestic policy debate on egalitarianism (obviously, the author argues against it). This should be interesting to read; I consider myself a liberal but I'm on the fence regarding this issue.
   
   
5. Apollo's Fire by Michael Sims: A tour of what happens on planet Earth during a single day through the lenses of astronomy, nature, physics and a little bit of mathematics. Ahhh, science.

I'm almost finished with Searching For God Knows What by Donald Miller, an accessible book about attempting to find the deeper, true meaning of God and life, recommended by a friend. It's kinda refreshing to read about religion once in a while and nicely kicks off a well-rounded set of topics. The addition of my five new books should make for very engaging reading for the rest of the summer months.

To the anonymous commenter in my previous entry on books: I tried to find Ender's Game in the store without success. I'll have to borrow it from the library.

*Total cost was only $10.44! Definitely worth it.

Page-Turners.

You'd think I'd want to give my brain some sort of break from reading after graduating a couple of weeks ago. After all, I'd been nose-deep in textbooks and PowerPoint presentations for months, scanning line upon line of text and trying to retain it all. Although my eyes sometimes felt like they were simultaneously melting away and turning into dried up little coconut husks, I find myself cracking open more books.

I've always loved to read for pleasure ever since I can remember. From Choose Your Own Adventure books and the Hardy Boys series as a little kid, to horror and sci-fi in high school, leading up to books covering sociology and different aspects of world history and culture today, you'd find me in a corner somewhere turning pages.

Topic-wise, my reading tastes vary widely. I still love reading fiction (although I tend to stay away from mysteries, westerns and romance novels) but I've branched out into philosophy, science, and the occasional foray into geopolitics. I've been slowly collecting memoirs written by Asian/Asian-American authors for a while; I am keenly interested in that particular perspective for obvious reasons and will resume building the collection once I have some income to devote to it.

For now, though, I've been reading random books found at the condo and my parents'. Over the past two or three weeks, I've read:

1. Insomnia by Stephen King: not nearly as scary as I'd remembered
2. Three Weeks With My Brother by Nicholas & Micah Sparks: recommended by my mom; a fast and light memoir
3. I'll Steal You Away by Niccolo Ammaniti: a dollar-store find! Sentimental, airy fiction that has me interested in reading some more work by the author

I've just started re-reading Forever by Pete Hamill, a strange but compelling fantasy novel spanning three centuries. I vaguely remember how it ends, but I saw it sitting on the bookshelf this past weekend and picked it up, having just finished my last book. I expect to have it completely read by the end of the week, so to the meager number of Perpetual Mixtape readers: Do you have any recommendations for (light or heavy) summer reading? I'm open to most anything. Please leave a comment!