date a girl who reads.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Saw this yesterday. Thought I should share.

by Rosemarie Urquico

Date a girl who reads. 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 Twilightseries.

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.

27 comments:

  1. Everything you've said is so true and you expressed it so well. Yup, that's us readers (and writers).

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  2. I'm a girl that spends money on books and shoes ;-)

    Cute Jillian

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  3. I love this! This should be framed and hung in a reader's room.

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  4. This makes me super happy. Too cute!

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  5. Lovely! Thanks for sharing.

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  6. Pepca - The girl who wrote this is so on point, isn't she? Glad you liked it!

    Steph - Glad you like it. Thanks for reading.

    Marce - I spend way too much on clothes too actually.. guilty! And even more trivial things like make-up. Haha.

    Teacher/Learner - Hmm thanks for that idea. I might just do that. haha. And for my reader friends!

    Pepca - The girl who wrote this definitely is so on-point!

    Letter4no1 - It made me smile too when I read it!

    May - Thanks for reading!

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  7. This is just beautiful. I've seen it in a blog a while ago but I forgot all about it, thanks for posting! x

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  8. Very, very cute :)
    I love the pic and the words! Again, LOVE THIS!
    Thanks for sharing.
    Ninja Girl

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  9. Love this so, so much. I think Teacher/Learner is right, it must be framed and hung somewhere wonderful.

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  10. Great, you said it right! Can I follow your blog?

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  11. I love this! It's so cute and it just got added to my favourites. I'm a new follower btw
    Thanks for sharing! :)

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  12. HEARTS.
    I've seen this before, but i looove it! Have you read the first one (well, I believe it's the first one) Don't Date a Girl Who Reads http://thoughtcatalog.com/2011/dont-date-a-girl-who-reads/ I liked that too, though this one is obvs better ;P

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  13. says...
    it's so cute. and i wish boys would find it something as an impact upon choosing the right girl.
    i xoxo love this ♥

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  14. its cute...what make you beautifull......i hope i can find a readers girls..i'm not the reader one...this my first blogs that make me fall...thanks rosemarie

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  15. This is so beautiful.. :) Thanks for sharing!

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