14.3.11

Date a girl who reads {Rosemarie Urquico}


Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve.
Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow.
She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a world of the author’s making. Sit down. She might give you a glare, as most girls who read do not like to be interrupted. Ask her if she likes the book.
Buy her another cup of coffee.
Let her know what you really think of Murakami. See if she got through the first chapter of Fellowship. Understand that if she says she understood James Joyce’s Ulysses she’s just saying that to sound intelligent. Ask her if she loves Alice or she would like to be Alice.
It’s easy to date a girl who reads. Give her books for her birthday, for Christmas and for anniversaries. Give her the gift of words, in poetry, in song. Give her Neruda, Pound, Sexton, Cummings. Let her know that you understand that words are love. Understand that she knows the difference between books and reality but by god, she’s going to try to make her life a little like her favorite book. It will never be your fault if she does.
She has to give it a shot somehow.
Lie to her. If she understands syntax, she will understand your need to lie. Behind words are other things: motivation, value, nuance, dialogue. It will not be the end of the world.
Fail her. Because a girl who reads knows that failure always leads up to the climax. Because girls who understand that all things will come to end. That you can always write a sequel. That you can begin again and again and still be the hero. That life is meant to have a villain or two.
Why be frightened of everything that you are not? Girls who read understand that people, like characters, develop. Except in the Twilight series.
If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2 AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She’ll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.
You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she’s sick. Over Skype.
You will smile so hard you will wonder why your heart hasn’t burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.
Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you’re better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.
Or better yet, date a girl who writes.

30 comments:

Caitlin Vincent said...

Loved this :)

Emma Pearl said...

This post stirred my soul.. Thanks for sharing.

Madeline said...

Thank you! This made my day. :D

- a writer

Unknown said...

Wow that was great! Loved it!

Elizabeth said...

I found this post in my facebook feed and I just wanted to say, I love it!

Anonymous said...

I Love this and it made my day. Everything that was said it so true!

Christin A. said...

'Tis beautiful Sarah!

Supriya and Deepa said...

Truer words were not written! I have always considered Books as my best friends. And I believe that I am the person I am, because I read. Truer words could not have been written and Non readers won't understand a word of this blog post! Kudos to you for writing such heartfelt words.

Rosana O. said...

This is me!!

Lance Knuth said...

I love the looks that I get from non-readers in a bookstore when I exclaim, excitedly yet gently pull the book toward me, and then smell it's innards.

Anonymous said...

This article moved me... This is really the way we readers see the world and what we expect of it...

PIYASHI said...

Good :)

Anonymous said...

hi, I'm a Brazilian, and I loved your post, you write really well, and I had to come here to tell you is how good writing, serious girl, never stop writing, sorry for the mistakes, kisses

Unknown said...

Lovely! <3

Manuela said...

I read it and I loved it! Thank you for sharing.

clary said...

beautiful text


and I must say also - date a man who reads


men who love reading [yes, I know a few] are the most enchanting ones

JLM said...

kkk, very funny.

Deanna said...

I'm pretty sure this is the best blog post, by anyone, I've read to date. :)

Hannah Alff said...

Well, you wrote this a long time ago, but just today I had the opportunity to read it. And I just wanted to say: It's incredible, I mean, It's all true and, besides it's so beautiful...

Zeina said...

Thank you :) You made my day :) What a beautiful post...
Take care.
Zeina

Felippe L.B. Katan said...

This beautiful words arrived in Brazil! Thanks for it! \o/

Luciene said...

This text is just adorable! It made my heart smile! Thank you.

Cami Rocha said...

Muito amor ♥

LionelC said...

nice, loved it...

txs

Rachit said...

Loved it! Amazingly written. :)

Ashna said...

Loved reading this! I mean, everything about girls who read has been described so perfectly... really moved me, especially the fact that there are people who understand things so deeply. I'm not going to forget this anytime soon! :D

Anonymous said...

finally found it... loved it! thanks

Ashwini said...

Super like ...!!Loved it...:)

--A Reader:)

mousekemom said...

Awesome. My daughter takes a lot of crap at school because she read so far ahead of her age. Your post is printed and pinned on her bulletin board to remind her that she is worth waiting for. Thanks!

Unknown said...

I have been reading this text since it came out.
Today it was a memory on facebook, so I came back and read it once more.
It still is as beautiful as the first time.
Thanks for this warm sweet feeling
Love from Brazil.