Apologizing… Without Saying “I’m Sorry.”

Often passion has a way of skimping on positivity. I was watching (insert eye-roll) one of my favorite food network shows, where one contestant was describing the dish she made. She started out by saying her dish was not like (…something or the other). The host(s) frowned. They were looking for a reason to WANT to eat her dish, which in all fairness I was thinking if the dish didn’t taste like …let’s say… asparagus egg salad, I might want to eat it.

All said, I get the point. Knocking particulars that (as we’re so claiming) have nothing to do with what’s so great about our passion, can easily offend others before ever reaching the point where they want to taste the dish.

Apology forthcoming. I’ve got to clearly distinguish between READING, and reading books COVER-TO-COVER.

Reading books cover-to-cover is different from reading directions… and following them… something I struggle with. I mean, reading ‘take two before bedtime’ confuses me. Do I ‘take two’ together or nine hours apart? And what if I go to bed every 3 hours? Should I take two every 3 hours? See, in this case I need the whole story, since I’d rather be sure than assume.

Reading books cover-to-cover also is different from READING magazine and newspaper articles… and blog posts such as this one. It IS reading, but it is different reading, similar to what makes reading textbooks, and big thick nonfiction (almost like) textbooks, and reference books, and spiritual books like the Bible singular.

…And oh, speaking of the Bible, let me insert the story of my mention to a relative, (nicely now…very timidly), how I couldn’t see how another relative read the Bible when they couldn’t read… at all. Oh.My.Goodness, y’all missed it. I’m still rubbing my head on that verbal butt-whipping I got!

LET ME BE CLEAR…I respect all types of reading, even when I’m bested by passion distinguishing between the different types of reading, in advocacy of reading books cover-to-cover.

Glimpses of other novelties that fuels this passion.

Once someone described a book so downright interesting that I got off the phone and bought the book. The description sounded so good I didn’t even check the book’s biblio stats. All be dern if the book didn’t arrive and I opened it, and read the first few pages before thumbing through it, instinctively knowing good and well that someone hadn’t read (collectively) more than 10 pages of the book.

This kind of thing is often irksome, HOWEVER… and still, I must kick this type annoyance aside. I must do better about distinguishing between ‘some’ advocating books they have not read, from ‘others’ advocating books they have not read.

Heralding Harking Angels, thanks to the other day, I just might have another Band-Aid. Like how convenient was it that I would happen upon a post on the The Writer's Circle; "Rare JFK Signature Found At A Book Fair Turns A $1 Find Into Huge Windfall.”

The actual incident happened a couple of years ago, but oh man, not that it was all that funny…in light of my passion, but none-the-less funny as YKW when it dawned on me the last time that book had been opened. Right away I had the perfect caption. “How to clearly tell ‘no one’ even cracked the book open, much less read it.”

Now, don’t everyone run out at once trying to hunt down windfalls. The point is, I want readers who’ve read this far to accept my sincerest apology if my robust reading campaign has offended you. See me like that old-fashioned parent disciplining their child, talking about “this is gonna hurt me far more than you.” I only want readers reading books I’ve read and found hard to put down. Stories that foster empathy, and reading the story… thus the book… cover-to-cover.