The Classics

I think that one of the most catchy songs of my childhood was the theme for Reading Rainbow. I loved watching as Geordi La Forge from Star Trek would teach me about the importance of reading. He always ended the show with a segment called Book reviews where he said, "But you don't have to take my word for it," then kids would recommend books for me to read.

I loved searching out books to read. I spent tons of time occupying myself with different literary works. Roald Dahl books, The Giver, The Outsiders, Tuck Everlasting, Catcher in the Rye(that book was probably a little more adult for me at the time, but it became a quick favorite), Bridge to Terabithia, Rumble Fish, etc. Reading days were the best at school. Just being able to lay on the ground and read.

I wanted to illustrate some authors with some of my favorite quotes from them.

This one is about Edgar Allen Poe. His macabre writings entertained me during my teenage years. I thought that I was so cool drawing skulls while reading The Masque of the Red Death, then going to Hot Topic at the mall. The only thing that I've taken from that part of life is this: Skulls are still cool to draw. The quote underneath reads "There is an eloquence in true enthusiasm." Have you ever met a person that was genuinely excited about something? So much so that you too became excited. There is something special about that. I've always aspired to have that sort of passion.
The drawing above is of Samuel Clemens, or Mark Twain. The greatest humorist of the nineteenth century. His life has always interested me. He worked mostly on steamboats for the early part of his life and didn't publish anything until his later twenties. The quote used says "To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence." Think about it.

I would recommend books by these authors as well as the ones mentioned earlier in the post. Some other good books are: Anything by Jonathan Safran Foer, Chuck Klosterman, George Orwell, J.D. Salinger, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, Walden by Henry David Thoreau, Fahrenheit 451, etc. That doesn't even include all of the amazing graphic novels out there! If you're interested in those check out Watchmen, Goodbye Chunky Rice, Blankets, V for Vendetta, The Dark Knight Returns, The Dark Knight Strikes Again, Batman: Year One, etc. Reading isn't for just nerds anymore. If you have any recommendations, I'd love to hear them.

P.S. I was thinking about ending the blog post with "But you don't have to take my word for it," but that sounded lame. The more I think about it, the cooler it sounds though. Dang it! I still love that show.