Reasons to Read Less

One fearfully cold afternoon not many weeks ago, I found myself at the bus stop, reading "The Mysteries of Udolpho" while waiting for my red, even-numbered conveyance to arrive. So enthralled was I by the eerie happenings narrated in the novel that I missed the bus when it at last came. Miffed, and unwilling to wait for the next one, I set out for home on foot, braving the the inclemency of the icy hiemal weather. The result? A bout -fortunately not too severe- of pneumonia. As you see, books can be dangerous to your health.

The worst thing is that, to tell the truth, I didn't even enjoy Ann Radcliffe's novel that much.

Another reason to read less is that during coffee break at work books are seldom discussed. Instead, conversation frequently drifts to the topic of noteworthy recent series on TV, none of which I have seen. (Mad Men does sound interesting).

Knowledge of soccer jargon would also improve my coffe break chit-chat prowess. In fact, not knowing how to talk about soccer games is considered a severe disability here in Spain, at least for the male citizen. There should exist publicly-funded academies where people not versed in soccer hermeneutics could learn the rudiments of the discipline.