My Reading Life

I honestly don’t remember a time where I didn’t read. Even before I could read, I would listen to books on tape (some were even on 45 records) or I remember my mom reading to me every night before I had to go to bed. I read a lot even as a kid. When your mom was an English teacher, one grandma was an English teacher then a librarian, and the other grandma worked in a library - you don’t have much choice but to read. But, add in the fact that I was an only child with no kids my age who lived near me (before I went to school anyway), reading was one thing I could do at anytime without needing anyone else around.

Picking a favorite book is really difficult for me. I have favorite authors: Ernest Hemingway, Anne Rice, Rainbow Rowell, JoJo Moyes, John Green, Christopher Moore, and Jonathan Tropper are a few of those. Their books are usually toward the top of my favorite’s list. And I’ll always pick up their books when they have a new one out. These are also usually the same ones I’ll reread - for example, I used to read Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire - I even have a first edition of that one - and Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises yearly. But picking a favorite book is hard because it depends on my mood and my attention span at that moment. I usually tend to gravitate toward literary fiction, supernatural and historical fiction - but I do like a good “popcorn” book every once in a while too. These are ones I don’t have to think about much while I read; Janet Evanovich, James Patterson, and Tim Dorsey are some of my favorite brain break authors. While I’ll usually give anything a try, I barely read anything that’s strictly romance (my husband says I may be the least romantic person in the world), and I try to read war/military books, but that usually isn’t successful either (although Tim O’Brien writes some fantastic stuff based in the Vietnam War).

Even though I read a lot (almost 100 books last year, and I’m at 100 right now for this year), I still have weaknesses. Sometimes I read too fast or I skim too much (the downsides of being a former copy editor), so I’ll miss out on stuff and have to go back and reread (sometimes chapters back) because I wasn’t paying enough attention. Another weakness is that I will rarely abandon a book. I always hold out hope that it will redeem itself by the end or that it will become more interesting. This usually means I will read some books that make me want to scream - and these are the ones that I frequently read too quickly because I just want to finish it! It also means that I usually greatly dislike that book because I feel like I wasted too much time on it when there are so many other great books out there to read. While that’s a weakness, it can also be a strength. It has exposed me to new authors and genres or books that I wouldn’t likely read in the first place.

I can’t imagine not reading. It’s how I wind down at night, and it keeps my brain active. I get exposed to so many other cultures and ideas - as well as learn history sometimes. It makes me want to go and explore new places, and when I finally get to go to those places, I feel like I’ve already been there thanks to the book. So, I truly believe that reading expands your world and takes you to places you’ve never been.