Reading Is Fun

As I go through another night of not sleeping, I was about to pick up a book to read when I took a moment to ponder the action.  There was a time where you would have not found me reading a book that was not required for a class.  Shocking, I know.

As a child, I was not a big fan of reading (Unless it was Goose Goofs Off in the Sweet Pickles series, which I still have memorized).  In fact, according to my mother, if given the choice, give me math flash cards over a book any day of the week and twice on Sunday.  I actually remember being in the lower reading class in early elementary school.  I also remember (while in second grade, I believe) my mother trying to help me with reading by having me read aloud to her.  I read what I saw, which I was told was incorrect and to try again.  I remember at some point my mother becoming a little exasperated with me, because I continually did not read it correctly.  If I recall, she felt I wasn’t paying close attention to the words.  I remember being confused because I was just reading what I saw.

In the middle of third grade something must have “clicked” because I was moved from the lower reading class to the upper one (mind you, this was back in the day when schools actually taught to the student’s ability level, before we “Left No Child Behind”).  From this point on, with the exception of spelling, I was typically a straight A student (to this day, I am still a horrible speller).

Fast forward to my early 20’s.  At this point I am married to the son of an English teacher (Aaron has many other qualifications, but not relevant to this particular blog).  As the son of an English teacher, he reads books for fun (yes, I know, the horror!).  Aaron cannot understand why I don’t.  I just don’t find it fun or entertaining.  However, I decide to give it a try, in little snippets.  Enter the Chicken Soup for the Soul series.  The stories in this series were short and I found them entertaining, strangely enough.  From there, I moved on to books by Janette Oke.  If you are unfamiliar, she is a Christian historical fiction writer.  I enjoyed reading Ms. Oke because her books were short and typically dealt with the settling of the western frontier.  I continued to branch out from there.

Somewhere along the line I became a rabid reader (I actually read the entire Twilight series in under a week).  I re-read books when I run out of new reading material.  I read every night.  Books have become such an integral part of my life I can’t imagine not reading.  I actually read MORE books than Aaron does now.

I believe reading has helped me become a more well-rounded person (it has certainly helped with my spelling).  It’s definitely made me a more informed person.  So, why am I blogging about this?  For one, it’s the middle of the night and it gives me something to do.  Secondly, I wish to share my reading joy.  If I can transform from a person who shrieks in horror at the thought of reading for pleasure to book worm, you can too!

Until tomorrow – Melissa

PS – I’d love to hear about your favorite books and what you’re reading now.