Two For One

You'd think that attending two Portuguese classes in one night would make you double-good at Portuguese. You'd be wrong. I decided to sit in on Jeff's Portuguese II class tonight after my class, since the kids aren't here and since I wanted to test drive it before I sign up for that session in the Fall. Now my brain is fried and I'm definitely none the wiser. It was way, way over my head. And sitting in on the class means participating in the class, so I was quite embarrassed when it was my turn to read. I must discipline myself to study more.
And speaking of reading and ignorance, I simply must share these stats with all of you that Jeff posted on his brand new blog. It's shocking and appalling. The data is quoted by Para Publishing, who is quoting Jerrold Jenkins:
--58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school.
--42% of college graduates never read another book.
--80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year.
--70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.
--57% of new books are not read to completion.
--the average person stops reading a book on page 18.
I'm proud to say that I am not helping to make up these statistics. I absolutely love books--I love to read them, to hold them, to smell them, literally everything about them. And I think everyone should be able to find some book that they can enjoy past page 18! Here are some of my favorites:
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Lord Of The Flies byWilliam Golding
Of Mice And Men by John Steinbeck
A Woman Of Independent Means by Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard
The Devil In The White City: Murder, Magic andMadness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson

That is just to name a few. I am currently reading My Gal Sunday by Mary Higgins Clark. I urge you not to be a statistic. Pick up a book and read it to completion. Do it for yourself, and do it for America.