Happy Monday!
Yesterday, my youngest daughter texted me about a book she was reading. Most writers are prolific readers, but when you are working on a novel of your own, reading becomes difficult. It’s hard to turn the inner editor off. She was so happy, because for the first time in a while she sank into the book. It grabbed her and wouldn’t let go.
Sadly, the story didn’t end well, because I knew the book she was reading, and it does a stand on its ears at the end that completely ruins the whole thing. But that got me thinking about how wonderful it is to sink into a new book. There is nothing quite like it, is there?
My addiction to books began as an escape sometime in childhood. I don’t remember not being able to read. On the way to school, I would pass a children library, and at some point someone told me that I could go and get a library card and check out anything I wanted. Every couple of weeks I would show up at the library and select my stack of books. I brought a special bag just to load them all. They would let me take out 7 books at the time.
There was nothing like hauling that bag of books home. I still remember that feeling of anticipation and just simple happiness. I was 8 or 9, and that memory still makes me smile.
How did you start reading?
I have no memory of not being able to read, my mother read to me all the time but firsts are lost in the mists of time…I know I was reading by the time I went to kindergarten because me and my friend Aliette would go read on our own when it was story time, unfortunately mostly Dick Jane and Spot….not too thrilling stuff. I loved serials, little house on the prairie, Nancy Drew, Cherry Ames, The lion, the witch and the wardrobe opened the door to fantasy and thus began many years of dragons and wizards and other planets…..I wish I could read Elizabeth A. Lynn again for the first time, did I adore all her books…..books are ❤️
I had difficulty learning to read as a child due to having dyslexia. After I started though, I became a voracious reader!! I began reading well above my grade and my first series was ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’. After that it was all sci-fi and fantasy all the time. Andre Norton, Anne McCaffery, Alan Dean Foster, Piers Anthony, Ursula K Le Guin, Douglas Adams, Ray Bradbury and Terry Brooks. I read all the books in my school libraries. When being presented a reading award at a High School assembly, I missed the first request for my name because…I was reading *laughs*. My classmates and teachers had a good laugh over that. Although my taste in books now skews more towards romance as an adult, I love how the genre has changed and grown over the years, so it now includes Sci-fi, Paranormal and Fantasy themes.
My maternal grandma was a schoolteacher (in a 1 room schoolhouse) in SD. I was born shortly after she had retired and my Mom went back to college so I spent lots of time with her over the next 4-5 years and she taught me to read, simple math, ect. I can remember going to kindergarten being able to read.
I had a teacher reading Charlotte’s Web to the class for 10 minutes each day. I wanted to hear what happened so I went to the library and checked it out. First time I’ve ever read a book haven’t stopped since.
I’ve always loved stories, but I prefer audio books. I started listening to audio books when I was preschool age. I had a lot of stories on cassette tapes. I’ve kept a few of my favorites. I still have Harry Potter on cassette tape, but I don’t have a cassette player anymore. My audio book collection has always been larger than my book collection. I’d check out books from the school library, and beg for the audio book version of my favorite stories for Christmas and my birthday.
Lloyd Alexander’s Taran series in the fourth grade followed by Piers Anthony’s Xanth series. I have been a fantasy junky since age 8. Before that it was Beverly Cleary or Caldecott winners. I’ll never forget the magic of learning to read at age 4. Max the Cat unlocked infinite possibilities. My greatest joy as a mom is watching my kids disappear into books.