Book Marked

Having nothing decent to do for two hours, I decided to blog hop only to find an entry from my boyfriend's sister's blog which caught my attention. I had to reread it over and over again just to confirm to myself that she was really serious. (Until now, I still don't want to believe it. - It took me a real long while and some convincing from friends before I resolved to post her a comment. Damn, I'm utterly shy to, but I just can't help it.)

I had the luxury of seeing their father's book collection once, I believe (or was it just the house..) - most as I could recall are medical ones.. and I am really amazed how well he managed to preserve their quality. Being a "bookworm" (as my friends call me, but I personally don't feel to be), I was somewhat taken aback by the decision of selling the books to a "recycling center". The idea of donating books to a library was a real issue for me - what more reducing the thoughts, sleepless nights and hard work of many authors into a senseless heap of "pulp".

Books are portals, as many movies may have tried to portray (eq. The Pagemaster). It brings one into another intangible dimension, which exists beautifully in accordance to our individual imaginations. The writer only imparts descriptions, but it is the mind that creates their essence and reality.

Back in my elementary days, I remember my obsession with R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series. Everytime my family would go to NBS, I would throw in five to six books only to finish them in two to three weeks time depending on my schoolwork. As I progressed into the horrific world in the mind of Stine, I began collecting special edition books as well as a bookbound compilation of the three "Night of the Living Dummy". I've collected over a hundred books and proudly displayed them on my study table shelf. Unfortunately, mom noticed how much space these books eat up and thus decided, on account of aiding the needy, to donate them to a nearby local elementary school.

Recently, my sister is of the same age as I was and is currently experiencing a poor grasp of the English language. Her spelling and grammar, as my mom would exclaim, is petrifying. Also, as my mom would like to blame the gameboy and PS2, she lacks focus in her endeavors. I'd like to believe that had my mom not given away all my precious books, my sister would perhaps have had an easier time getting hooked on more literary works than electronic pokemon battles due to its accessability. The suspenseful world of Goosebumps (although corny, now that I'm all grown up) seems lost to her. My mom defends though that after that collection was received by the school, the number of students who visit the library increased dramatically - to the point that the school received an acknowledgement award due to that progress.

The price of charity - a sibling who seems to exhibit the vocabulary deficiency syndrome.

I need to find a remedy for this badly, else mom gets me chained to teaching her spelling words for another whole day to no avail!