How to Level Up Your Reading Experience? + Life Update

3:02 AM Unknown 0 Comments

We all know that music, alone, is great. Music in movies is phenomenal. But how about music and books? There is a conflicting preference when it comes to the latter and let's discuss why based on my personal experience.

In this busy world, you barely have enough time to make a good reading environment for your favorite novel or a brand new book you are itching to read for a very long time. Solution? Adjust and flow with the new rhythm.

I usually bring a book, or my tablet, whenever I go. It's handy to have something to read inside your bag other than your journal or your usual references in class. It can come in handy on the most unexpected moments in your life. A stranger talked to you on a coffee shop? Introduce them to the book. Out of ideas for a good project? Get some inspiration from the book. Stuck in traffic? Read the book. Too bored to listen to your professor's discussion? DO NOT READ THE BOOK for reasons you don't even want to know or experience.

A book is more than just an escape. It's a companion for those who want something more interesting than your usual social interactions with your real friends. I mean sure real friends are irreplaceable, but when was the list time you talked to a dragon? to a werewolf? to a God? to a soldier? I myself believe that the books have souls that will never be corrupted. They never betray and they never love.

Now back to the topic of music and books. I, myself, prefer reading in silence. But when you are sitting in a restaurant, a cafe, or a bench in public, you will never get the silence you dearly seek. Instead of plugging my ears with cotton, muffling the sound, I listen to music.

What kind of music?

I never ever listen to music with lyrics, never. Instead of doing what I am supposed to do, read, I sing, which is not a bad thing, unless you hear my voice. Anyway, I never listen to music with a single hint of an English/Filipino word and specially to songs that I like. They distract you easily from your real goal of finishing what you are reading. So instead go for instrumentals or those music that doesn't have lyrics in the first place.

The best part of this trick is the effect of the music to what you are reading. If you are reading something about romance and love and passion, choose a music that brings out your inner hopeless romantic. If you are reading an action or adventure, listen to something that pumps up your adrenaline and lifts your spirit. If you are reading a fantasy, find a music that takes you out of this world. You might get surprised on how involved you will be in the book's story line that you instantly forget everything that surrounds you. Right now I developed a liking to the soundtrack of Skyrim while reading my fantasy books. 

Note that not everyone wants to hear your Dragonborn song, so I suggest wear headphones when in a public place. Just a little respect to those around you who lives in a different world.

Since I decided that I want to try writing again. I am currently expanding my knowledge, creating new ideas, tackling new experiences, learning new words, reviewing basic grammar (this one might not be true) and making new friends. To accomplish all of those I dig down in search for the long lost tome of knowledge, good ol' books. Other than having something to read, which is the sole purpose of books for those who don't know, books have a big, big, big community. It never hurts to have friends loving the thing that you love and hating the thing that you hate or loving the thing that you hate and hating the thing that you love (relationship is complicated we never discuss that). So here I am devoting my time to finish my reading list, which is impossible since I add new books everyday and I finish a book in two days or more. Thank you Goodreads for that. Add me and send me your suggestions.