The exact date of the day, I cannot remember. It was raining and a cold depression was a fitting description for both the weather and my life. However, the year will be engraved in my memory until the day I die. 2012 was the year, I discovered a love for books I did not know existed inside me.

Being in matric and not coming from a rich household my future was bleak and not promising. Walking around my humble home town of Escourt I was lost and confused at just what my life would become. My intuition had lead me into a book store. Though wet and cold from the rain I was gravitated to a book which strange as it was to me, I had to buy. Laughing to myself believing that I was wasting money on something deemed “boring” I could only hope that there was some form of method to my madness.

The book was none other than Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Having discovered something that was to become so special in my life I consider reading Frankenstein an act of fate. As a result, I discovered my passion, if not purpose in life, which was to become an exceptional writer. I felt such joy after reading what was officially my first ever novel. Since then, I’ve read well over a thousand novels, quite incredible. What was an even more crucial factor was the book I had read. Intrigue, suspense and riveting, are words I hope do justice to describe such an incredible book. Having finished reading a novel with well over two hundred pages in under two days the term “binge reading” would be a fitting description to show how obsessed I was with the book.

I can sadly attest to the fact that our society is saturated with so many distractions ranging from; social media, gadgets, technology, celebrity news, sports, the list goes on and on. One could almost assume that we are killing ourselves with pleasure and passion. This state of society seems to be a prophetic prediction from the book Brave new world by Aldous Huxley. Seven years have now passed and to this day and Frankenstein is a book I hold near and dear to my heart. Reading is a gift I discovered is one that I now hope to pass upon others. For that gift is the greatest gift we can give away.