Over and over again

Today's prompt from The Daily Post is:

Tell us about a book you can read again and again without getting bored — what is it that speaks to you?

I couldn't believe my eyes when this question popped up today of all days because I had just picked up one of my most favourite books from childhood for another round of reading: The Call of the Wild by Jack London.

I got my grubby hands on this book in primary school. I was flipping through the Book Club catalogue, saw a book with a dog on the front cover and without knowledge of the plot or characters, I filled in the form and ordered it. That's right, I bought the book (or rather, my mum did because ten-year-old me had no money) because a dog stood proudly on the cover. I was in an animal adoration phase at that time.

This lovely cover made me buy the book.

Weeks later, the book arrived. I snatched it and eagerly flipped to the first page. From then on, I was swept away by the beauty and simplicity of the writing. The story sucked me in and opened up a whole new world, filled with the harsh snow of the Artic, the greed and cruelty of man, the loyalty and ferocity of dogs, and the list goes on forever.

It was all so new to my ten-year-old brain I'm surprised my head didn't explode. I zipped through the book in a few hours and it left me with feelings of wonder and emptiness, feelings which I have ever since used as a benchmark to compare other books.

The Call of the Wild was unlike anything I've read and even now, ten years on, I can't find a book I would love to re-read more.

Lord of the Rings

I’m not much of a movie buff and I don’t do the fangirling thing (except with select anime and manga) but a few months ago, I talked with a bunch of kids about books and they couldn’t believe it when I confessed I hadn’t read or watched Lord of the Rings.

Feeling significantly inferior, I resolved to get into the series but nothing happened until two weeks ago when I went shopping and spotted a bargain—all three LOTR books printed and bound in giant book for a measly $22. I didn’t hesitate to buy it and when I proudly showed it off to my mum, she said, “You bought a dictionary?”

I suppose it looks like one. The cover is fire-engine red and it’s the thickest book in my shelves.

I decided to watch The Hobbit, which came out recently and I loved it. So I went bought The Hobbit book and read that first, which I also loved and once I was done I delved straight into LOTR. I’m almost halfway through my fat book *mental celebratory dance*.

Now when people ask what I’ve been to, I tell them about my new-found love for LOTR and instead of being happy for me, they’re scandalised I only got into it now. To be truthful, I’m kind of scandalised myself.

The characters are vivid and their habits make me laugh. I like Gollum and Treebeard best, then Merry and Pippin. When the Ents went on and on in their language, I giggled at Pippin’s reaction and I had to smile at Gimli and Legolas’ rivalry when they killed Orcs.

I’m having so much fun reading this series and I have to ask myself why I didn’t pick this up earlier.

Found at http://9gag.com/gag/6421931