There was a time I stopped reading books much. I know I loved reading biographies in elementary school, but then I got out of the habit of reading for fun. Mom kept telling me how she loved reading Les Miserables in 4th grade or War and Peace in the 5th or whatever. I looked at those books and was turned off. I still haven't read them.
Then somewhere around middle school age, my kindergarten to forever friend, Diane persuaded me to read Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart. I think it was sort of a gothic romantic mystery... Jane Eyre-ish in a way. Whatever the case it got me reading. Once I finished Nine Coaches Waiting, I started reading all her other books. Then I started reading Phyllis Whitney who was also a mystery writer. Then I got into Agatha Christie. And on and on.
Eventually I moved on to Science Fiction with Ray Bradbury.
From there I moved on to English novels with my favorite Jane Austen.
I nearly flunked a psychology final in college because I picked up Gone With the Wind to relieve all the text reading I was doing. BAD mistake. I couldn't put it down.
When my son was little, he got out of reading for a while too. I tried to entice him with all kinds of books, but they didn't work... until we got him Sports Illustrated.
OK... so it wasn't a book exactly, but it got him started.
What really did the trick wasn't just a magazine or book however. It was being isolated in an African village in Mali with no TV or electronics, just the Peace Corps library. He read everything he could get his hands on.
Did you have a special book that turned you on to reading?
Eventually I moved on to Science Fiction with Ray Bradbury.
From there I moved on to English novels with my favorite Jane Austen.
I nearly flunked a psychology final in college because I picked up Gone With the Wind to relieve all the text reading I was doing. BAD mistake. I couldn't put it down.
When my son was little, he got out of reading for a while too. I tried to entice him with all kinds of books, but they didn't work... until we got him Sports Illustrated.
OK... so it wasn't a book exactly, but it got him started.
What really did the trick wasn't just a magazine or book however. It was being isolated in an African village in Mali with no TV or electronics, just the Peace Corps library. He read everything he could get his hands on.
Did you have a special book that turned you on to reading?
I started going to the library every Saturday in 3rd grade, catching the bus home after spending the morning there. But, what really excited me was the Nancy Drew mystery series! I read one after another. It was addictive.
ReplyDeleteI loved Nine Coaches Waiting, too. But my all-time favorite from that period in my life was Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier. If you haven't read it, you must. Start with chapter two, read to the end, then go back and read chapter one. I taught Rebecca as recently as the early 2000s, and my high school students loved it.
ReplyDeleteI don't really read all that much these days, beyond news, the odd magazine and surfing the internet.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember reading any books as a child, other than Dick and Jane and Little Lulu comic books, but I'm sure I did. As a young mother books saved my life, and my first job was at the Base Library shelving books. I read so many, but none of them stand out. Now, however...
ReplyDeletegood question, I started reading fairy tales in 4th grade and throughly believed in happy ever after and finding my prince charming...lol then life happened. I still love reading but self improvement books now.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh I had forgotten Mary Stewart...I'm going to look her up. I used to love going to the library as a kid and get her books. My all time fav book is Chiefs by Stuart Woods, his first and best.
ReplyDeleteOh and in junior high it was Wuthering Heights that got me!
ReplyDeleteI've always read a lot, but only nonfiction. At this time in my life I want to read fiction. The problem is I find myself drifting back nonfiction. For some reason I never developed a sense of fantasy. Oh how I wish I had.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great topic! I've always loved to read. I remember reading Bobbsey Twin books when I was very little. I read all sorts of books and I still read kids books too. I used to have the excuse that I needed to check out the books before my kids read them, but now they are older, so I have to give up that pretense. I often reread a book, but wouldn't I love to go back and read some of my favorites for the first time!
ReplyDeleteMy mother took me to the library when I was very little, and later on I would go to the library every week and come back loaded with books.
ReplyDeleteMy far and away favorite books were the Oz books, and my special favorite was Ozma of Oz. It was a severe disappointment to me in later life to learn that the author, L. Frank Baum, was a racist who favored exterminating Native Americans.
I also loved adventure stories and the Bronte sisters and, yes, Du Maurier, who is perfect for romantically inclined young readers. Their work irritates me now. But my tastes have changed over the years, of course.
In short, I have read all my life and I think of the past a lot in terms of what I've read.
I can't remember earlier than when I started reading Trixie Belden books as a child. I loved them so much.
ReplyDeleteMy brother was in the peace corp in Malawi in the 60's! He loved the concept and enjoyed his time in Africa.
I don't think they teach english in schools anymore.
ReplyDeleteAja is now 10 and we put on the dvd during dinner, Austen's "Pride and Prejudice." (the one with Kiera Knightley) ...holy smoke, she couldn't stop watching and giggling, even though she would require periodic translastions from olde english.
walt
I have been an inveterate reader since I learned to read in first grade and got my library card.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I own about 700 books and have read countless more -- many of which I share with you.
I love Mary Stewart's novels on the Arthurian legends so I was glad to see her as your catalyst.
I loved the story of Susan, the pioneer girl who lost her doll Arabella and then rediscovered her when she met an Indian family. The little girl in the Indian family had found the doll and was playing with it.
ReplyDeleteMom read 'Ferdinand the Bull' to me about a 1,000 times, and I loved the Jabberwocky and other Lewis Carroll poems like the one with the line about the "boiling sea" and whether "pigs have wings."
When I was older I read other books and loved them.
Wow Kay -- I would have never imagined that you liked science fiction.
ReplyDeleteAnd Hattie - oh gosh, she knows more about Kansas and Oz than I; what horrid information on Baum! At least he didn't completely win.
I loved history and autobiographies as a kid, and took a year to slowly read Tolkien's Hobbit and Trilogy.
My son got hooked with serious reading with the Harry Potter series. One book came out during Scout Camp, and he insisted I get it and bring it to Visitor Day at camp. When I first read some of the Potter books out loud to him, it reminded me of Tolkien's talent. The kid is now an expert on most of Tolkien's works.
Since my son's Dad isn't much of a reader, I used to tape my voice reading his childhood books, and he'd take them to his Dad's on alternate weekend visits. Now, recordable books are available at Hallmark stores. I should have applied for a patent myself! DrumMajor
my memory is vague, you're referring to olde print editions aren't you. What impressed me though was the kids who read the Harry Potter tomes.
ReplyDeleteMy Mom said, "When you have a good book, you'll never be bored."
ReplyDeleteMom was a genius.
Zane Grey. As a teen I read during the summers, after I got home from working in the fields. We would go the the Molalla Public Library for books when we had time off. I read every Zane Grey book I could find.
ReplyDeleteI grew up on a farm quite a distance from any friends so books became my friends, still are.
ReplyDelete