#3 in 2010

#3 Thing to Do in 2010: Read something you never thought you would.

A majority of my friends and myself included were liberal arts educated. I'm not going to go on about what a superior idea I think that is but rather turn the conversation in a different direction and say, some of us, including myself, are, for lack of a better term, nerds. We can list off classical literature the way some people can list their boyfriends, we can quote obscure poetry lines and actually know what they mean, we like discussing theology, philosophy and history. Like I said, nerds. And I mean that in the most loving way.

And a majority of us would never aspire to read a contemporary piece of fiction or non-fiction that was on, say, Oprah's Top Books List or on the front table at Barnes and Noble or on the NY Times Best Seller List. However, for #3 of 2010, I suggest doing just that. Throw away your inhibitions and be that person who buys the books that were turned into movies and have the movie poster's cover on the book. You know what I'm talking about (I always feel like a moron when I pick those up because when I see people reading those, I have a sinking feeling that those unsuspecting souls didn't know it was actually a book first.) If anything you will leave with a greater appreciation for your liberal arts education. And you'll be thankful you've read the good stuff.

For example, I recently was re-gifted the book Eat, Pray, Love. The cover of the book proudly displays, "#1 NY Times Bestseller." The tageline is "one woman's search for everything across Italy, India, and Indonesia." Sound enticing right? I will confess I'm only 3 chapters in but already I find the protagonist shallow, selfish and completely devoid of any substance. She is one of those woman who has been married for 4 years and suddenly decides that she doesn't want to be married anymore and needs to take a life quest that no doubt will involve eating, praying, and perhaps cougar-like trysts with international men. Now, perhaps some women do indeed experience this sort of feeling but what irks me is that the woman uses prayer and God even to justify leaving her husband. She is not leaving her commitment for frivolous reason, merely she needs a "spiritual" journey to find God. Not to mention that she spends an entire chapter explaing why she chose God and not Allah or Buddha or anything else and ends up spewing nonesense in order to pacify readers of any religion. As if to say, "Dear Readers, I want you to keep reading so I'm going to go teach you about relativism." However, I am going to keep reading because in order to fully judge the book, I'll need to actually finish it, as painful as it is.

And, on a side note, the book is being turned into a movie starring Julia Roberts. I rest my case.