Moho and Jack

I am saddened, Moho, that you still have not posted. It really won't help your writing to say you're going to write.

In the meantime, I would like to discuss today's topic: reading.

It was not too long ago that I found myself reading regularly, plowing through books with the force of a freight train. I finished the first six Harry Potter books in approximately a week — the seventh in about a day. But since I discovered the internet in its entirety, I've found myself reading less and less. Now, this pattern is occasionally broken; I read The Hunger Games in six hours, and Macbeth in two days. But on the whole, that's about all I've read by choice this year.

So what I find myself questioning how severely a lack of reading affects me. It is clear that my writing and speaking has gotten worse as a result of it, but has it impacted the rest of my life?

I would contend that yes, it has, though the impact is minor compared to that on my grasp of the English language. For example, my spelling has gotten much worse. But, most subtly, I know less.

When you read, you pick up knowledge. Be it random, useless facts or fascinating historical anecdotes, reading teaches you things, and a lack of these things can hurt you and your personality.

The difference is gigantic in quiz bowl, where you never know what you will be asked. Honestly, I think that if I read just a book a week, I'd be even more of an asset to the team. After all, my biggest weakness is the liberal arts; if I could shore up my skills in that area, I'd be akin to superman, a veritable super-quiz-bowl-man. At least, that's what I like to think. It is equally likely that my ego is now getting in the way of my logic.

In conclusion, it's fine not to read, unless you want to be a writer or you anticipate being on Jeopardy any time soon.