“I did not realize that you read recreationally”

This is an exact quote of what my friend Eryn emailed me today, when I mentioned using my mall gift card to get books. We met each other in college, played rugby together and have been friends ever since. I think we've emailed each other at work every day for at least the last three years and we have been friends for about 10 years. Just yesterday she found out that I like hockey. I guess our worlds didn’t really revolve around reading anything but textbooks, what with the drinking and casual sex that run like a river throughout college and rugby, but yeah, I like to read! As a matter of fact, when I was a child I had this book called “Milton The Early Riser.” It was my favorite book, so much so that I memorized it (I’ve always had a really good memory for such things that will never really impact my life unless I were on Rock and Roll Jeopardy, like license plate numbers, movie quotes and song lyrics). When people would come over, I would “read” it to them, because not only did I memorize the words, but where to turn the pages. Clever kid, I was. Anyway, my mother used to push me outside in the summer to play with the neighborhood kids, even though I’d rather be inside reading the latest edition of “The Baby-Sitters Club.” Every few months I order five or six books from Amazon.com to get me through, as I try to read during my lunch hour. So, I was mentioning that to Eryn, and that was her response. In her intense shock, I had to tell her my favorite authors, although I really don’t have one. I read everything I can of David Sedaris and Augusten Burroughs, as I harbor a love for memoirs and humor writing. However, the book that may be the best I’ve ever read is “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius” by Dave Eggers. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend. Hell, I might even reread it, as it’s been a very long time since I’ve done so. I find the book is almost always better than the movie and being an author has to be the best job in the world: You’re rarely recognizable but you make some pretty good loot doing it. It’s too bad that “Henry the Pig” children’s book I wrote in my youth never took off. I'm only 30... there's still time. Maybe the world is ready for my rugby tell-all.... I guarantee Eryn's name will come up... ;)