First and foremost, I apologize already that this may be a long one.
I'm close to turning 30 years old and I have never been much of a bookworm. Not that I thought books were for nerds or anything, I just didn't see the appeal when I have so many movies and video games to enjoy at any given time. That said, I'm a real sucker for all things analog. I yearn for the decades past when I wasn't even alive. I crave for the simple living that people had in the 80's for example, although I never experienced it myself. So it comes as a no surprise that I'm trying to incorporate more simple and analog things to my daily life. Using an actual pen instead of typing memos on a screen etc.
This "shift" to a more analog lifestyle is a long, gradual process. Bit by bit. Then somewhere along the journey I realized that there was a huge part of the analog world that I haven't ever even thought about, nor experienced. Books. I started to do a few innocent google searches. "Books, history", "Greatest books of all time", "Autobiographies about historical figures". The well started to form. A well that grew deeper and deeper the more I searched. 40 tabs now open on my browser with different books on each one. Should I take the plunge?
I decided to order just one book to try out. Tip my toes in the well, if you will.
I won't lie, the book arrived and stood untouched for about a month, until I decided to actually give it a go. It was surprisingly difficult to start the habit. Like there was a massive cinder block on top of the book, denying me the rides that waited inside. I forced myself to open it and started to read it. It only took about 10 pages of somewhat forceful reading and in the blink of an eye, I was completely hooked.
I read 50 pages in that first sitting. After I was done, I was completely overwhelmed by the profound impact this book had bestowed upon me. That was amazing. Absolutely amazing. I didn't have any clue that a book, a blank white page with small little letters on it could take you on such a journey. I haven't ever realized the power of your own imagination while reading a book. You don't even think about it. Your mind does it so automatically and it's so much better than any movie could be. In a movie, you see someone else's vision. In a book, you see your own. I'm blown away. And to think, there are millions and millions of books, all waiting to be experienced.
I know this is old news to anyone in this sub and my almost child-like enthusiasm about such a mundane thing may be odd, but you have to understand: I have never experienced this before. Remember your first experience with an actually GREAT book, how it felt reading through it? I'm experiencing that now, for the first time.
It goes almost without saying, but I would really appreciate some good book suggestions, especially about history. Absolute dream reads would be books about the explorations through then unknown Africa or books about feudal Japan.
by UkkePainter