Reading

 Reading

A love of reading was instilled in me from an early age.  Some of my earliest memories are of my mom reading to Joan and I before we went to bed at night.  Mom would sit in between us and read us wonderful stories.  Recently, for Christmas, Grandpa Ken found copies of two of my favorite childhood story books:  Three Little Horses and The Contented Little Pussycat.

 I loved those books so much and was so thrilled and surprised when Grandpa gave them to me. 

Once I could read myself, I loved to read.  It was always my favorite subject in school.  My favorite part of every day at school was just after lunch when our teacher would read to us from a book for about a half an hour. 

I have wonderful memories of my eighth-grade reading class.  We had to read a book in each of several categories and write reports on them.  I’m sure I don’t remember all of the categories, but here is a list of some that I remember:

Modern fiction, Historical fiction. Fantasy, Animal Stories, Non-fiction, a poetry collection and a fable collection.  There may have been others. 

Looking at the list was like looking at a Christmas wish list.  I was so excited to read the different kinds of books.  Well, except fantasy and animal stories.  I didn’t think I would like those.  But they are the ones I remember most.  It was probably because I didn’t think I would like them.  I read A Wrinkle in Time for one of my fantasy books, and I read Where the Red Fern Grows for one of my animal stories.  I loved both of them.  I don’t remember the others that I read, but I loved that class- even writing the reports on the books.  I think there was also a “Your Choice” category where we could read any book we pleased. 

In ninth grade, I read a lot.  I would go to the school library every Friday after school and look through the shelves.  I would choose as many books as I was allowed to check out and take them home, looking forward to a delicious weekend of reading.  My dream was to go to sleep reading on Friday night and then wake up early and read and read on Saturday morning.  I remember being irritated that my dream got interrupted because I had to get up to go the bathroom on Saturday morning.  My mom bought me books in those days, many of which I have down on our bookshelves now.

In our backyard, we had a large tree.  The lowest branches were pretty high, so I would get a ladder out of our shed and climb it to reach the lowest branch, and then climb up into the tree to read.  Because of my extensive reading, I had read about people doing this and it sounded so wonderful and romantic to me.  The reality, though, was that sitting on a tree branch to read is really not very comfortable.   It sounds way more romantic than it really is.  But I kept trying.  I could often be found reading up in that tree.

Later, when I was a junior in high school, I took an elective class called “Individualized Reading.”  Talk about the perfect class!  That eighth grade reading class was awesome, but this one was even better.  For the entire period each day, we sat in our desks and read.  We could read anything we wanted.  Anything!  When we finished a book, we filled out a form about it, then put that form in Mrs. Elliot’s “in” basket.  Then, we went on reading.  When it was our turn, Mrs. Elliott would call us up to her desk and interview us about the book that we had finished.  There were no grades.  It was a pass/fail class.  I loved that class. I don’t remember all of the books I chose, but, because we were studying the New Testament that year in Seminary, I chose to read the New Testament in its entirety for one of my books.  That one took a while.

In college, I loved my freshman English classes where we studied literature.  I had a teacher, Mrs. Bennion, who made Shakespeare come alive and I fell in love.  She also knew how to teach poetry.  How I loved that literature class.

Later, at BYU, I took Children’s Literature.  Much as in my eighth grade reading class, we had to read so many books in each category and review them in a certain form on large index cards and keep them in a file box. Some of the categories I remember: Modern fiction, Non-fiction (one had to be a biography), Poetry anthologies, Fantasy, Fable Collections, Animal Stories, etc. I remember we had to read and review several Mother Goose collections and choose our favorite one.  My teacher said that should be the first thing we buy for our children’s layette.  I loved, loved, loved that class.  I really loved reviewing the books, and long after I finished the class, I continued to review the books I read.  I kept them in that file box.  I still have that file box of book reviews.

Through the years since, I have continued to read a lot. Now, in our retirement years, I am following the example of my father.  When they lived in St. George, he would walk to the library often, pick out several books, and walk home.  He would then read and read.  He always read two books at once- going back and forth.  He finished a book most every day.  Because of his example, I too read two (or sometimes three) books at a time.  I average finishing two to three books a week. 

I used to could name my favorite books, but because I have now read so many, I can’t do that anymore.  My favorite social media site is Goodreads.com.  I get to continue my love of book reviewing by reviewing the books I read on that site.  I publish those reviews on our blog. I love reading others’ reviews on goodreads as well.  At present, I have reviewed about 500 books on our blog.  That number will probably increase by tonight!  It grows, if not daily, at least weekly.  Each year end, I write a blog post, listing all the books I’ve read that year.  I choose a favorite book and a least favorite book from each category: fiction and non-fiction.

I have tried a couple of different book apps online.  I loved Audible.  It is audio books to listen to.  Then I switched to Scribd.  There are audible books, as well as ones you can read for a monthly fee. But their format changed, and it was no longer a good deal.  So I am now using Libby through the library.  Also, I read some on Kindle books.  But still my favorite is to actually own, hold, and read a real book.  I love looking at the cover, marking my spot, knowing exactly how much is left, and feeling and smelling the book.  It is my joy.  Seeing the bookmarked book sitting there, waiting for me to come back to it, literally puts a smile on my face.  Joy, pure joy.  I love reading!

Nothing is more satisfying than seeing a delicious stack of books to read.

 

Our downstairs bookshelf.