Reading and why I love it.

I used to hate reading. When I was younger, I wasn’t a big fan of it. Probably because I wasn’t good at it. I have dyslexia, so that always made it more difficult. I didn’t understand what I was reading, so it was just frustrating. It wasn’t until about 7th grade that I started to enjoy reading. Our English teacher had us read “The BFG”. I fell in love with that book and that’s when my love for book began. I wanted to read more like it.

I remember reading Little Women my Freshman year. My teacher was telling me how good it was and how she thought I would really enjoy it. I did my book report on it and I thought it ended strangely. I felt there was a lot more story to be told, but I still loved what I had read. When I got my book report back, I got an F. I was shocked. My teacher called me in and said, “You didn’t read the whole book.” I was shocked at the accusation. I did read the whole book. I told her that and she was telling me all the stuff I had left out of the book report, important stuff. I told her that was not in the book, “Are you sure, because I read it all.” I went to my locker and showed her the book. I was right. I did read the whole book. She was right too, there was more to the book. Apparently, our library had the book in two parts. I read the first one. I didn’t know it was supposed to be in a series, which it wasn’t. She wrote in the book and took it to our librarian. . . Do you ever write in a book and then take it to the librarian? The answer to that question is NO! They got into a huge fight. Entertaining for a teenager, but as an adult, I would side with the librarian on this one. For the next book report, I did finish and my love for Jane Austen was sparked. I read all her other books.

In high school I was a closet reader. I only read in my room, when I knew I was alone, and I hid the books I read. Why? I have no clue; I was young and did a lot of weird stuff. I loved “Gone with the Wind”, and I believe I have read that book 4 times and listened to it once on Audible.

The older I got, the more in love I became with books. I loved writing as a kid and teenager. I wrote poems and loved doing reports for English. I got to express my creativity. I often wonder why I never took writing classes when I was in college. I would write from time to time when my older boys were younger. Noting special, but it helped get some of that creativity out. It wasn’t until I was in my mid-thirties that I would turn that passion into a purpose. I wasn’t able to do the job I had been doing and got depressed. My friend reminded me that I loved writing and had many great ideas. “Why not become an author?” I was so glad she reminded me, because I have been in love with writing even more. The more I write, the more books I read. I want to see what else is out there. I feel in love with a few more authors who are in the same genre as me. I might have never found these authors had it not been for that push I needed.

My favorite books are retellings. I love a retelling more than anything. It gives a look into stories we grew up in, that are more dangerous, enticing, and adventurous. Some of those stories I heard as a child didn’t spark my interest, but twist it a little and add some danger; I am in.

My favorite thing about reading is getting lost in the book. Seeing what the author has laid out and imagining you are watching everything unfold, page by page. Seeing yourself as one of the characters, getting a book crush, or being so enthralled in the world, you don’t want to put the book down. That actually happened to me yesterday. I was trying to take my time and read this book, since the second one will be released in September, but that didn’t happen. I couldn’t put it down and I finished the book last night. It’s not like I don’t have about 150 other books on my reading list, but I still get anxious waiting for the next book in a series to come out.

I hope that you have fallen in love with reading or want to. Find those books that you just can’t put down. Get friends to tell you what they are reading and check out your local libraries. There are so many books out there, something will make you catch the reading bug.

Here are a few authors I have really enjoyed:

Chanda Hahn

Marissa Meyer

Colleen Oaks

Melissa Marr

Alyson Noel

Kendare Blake