Making Reading More Interesting

Getting Lost in a Book

            I have always been a big reader. Ever since reading my first chapter book, "Charlotte's Web", when I was six, I have loved to delve into a good book and get lost in another world for a while. Of course, not every work of fiction can capture my interest so easily. There are certain books that seem to take forever for me to get through.
             Once I start reading a book and have read at least a chapter of it, there's no going back for me. I have to finish it completely and find out how it ends, for better or for worse. This habit of mine can get quite annoying sometimes, especially when a book gets particularly boring. However, recently, I have discovered a way to instantly make a story more interesting.
       

Music and Reading

About a month ago, during Christmas break, I had been listening to the soundtrack for the movie "Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" on my ipod. For those of you who are not familiar with this movie, you should know that it contains quite a bit of action in it, among other things. Therefore, the soundtrack for the movie sets a mood of drama, yet at times lightheartedness, which makes you expect some sort of adventure to be happening.
              The soundtrack for this movie contains musical scores, so there are no lyrics or singing in it. This being the case, I felt like I could focus my attention on something else while still listening to the music. That was when I decided to pick up my rather mundane book and start reading it with the soundtrack in the background. The result amazed me.
                The storyline that I had found so boring and hard to get through had now become much more interesting with the exciting music in the background. The soundtrack did for my book what it did for the movie: it evoked emotion from me. I found it easier to concentrate on the details and follow what was happening in the story because it all seemed more important with the wonderful scores keeping me alert and attentive.
           

Results of Combining Music and Reading

It took me about 3 weeks to finish that book, but without the music to spur me on, it would have taken much longer. I followed the story faster and I paid more attention to it because I had the music to go with it. Although I would never consider that book one of my favorites, I did think it was educational and somewhat entertaining to read and I don't consider reading it a waste of my time.
                 If you have started a book that you aren't motivated to finish, don't give up on it too soon. Try listening to some musical scores that match the mood that the book is trying to create. That once boring book may turn out to have a story you can get lost in.