Reading memories


For those in Australia – are you doing anything special this year to celebrate the National Year of Reading?

Reading is such an integral part of my life, I couldn’t imagine not being able to read, I read every day no matter how busy I am — it keeps me sane!! 

I read in my lunch hour, I read before I go to bed and I read on weekends.  Life is too short not to find the time to read, even squeezing in one chapter of a good book.  There is always a few minutes each day to read.


What early memories of reading do you have?

My earliest memories are of my mother reading to me - curled up on the couch in the evening listening to fairy tails, poems and stories such as Wind in the Willow and Mary Poppins. However, as I was such a poor reader, I remember looking at pictures (rather than attempting to read) in our National Geographic collection or spending ages examining the large world atlas we owned—pictures can be worth a thousand words.  My first and more memorable moment is when I read an entire book on my own (Mrs Pepperpot by Alf Proysen) at around the age of 10ish, it was like climbing Mount Everest on my own!!   Now I was free to discover books and travel the world from the comfort of my chair (or bed).

Whilst my mother influenced (but didn't dictate) many of my early book choices by selecting books that she had read as a girl (the Anne books and the Australian Billabong series to name a couple), my brother (Nick) played a large part in influencing my older book choices, not that he may have been aware of this (as I headed into my early teens). If he could read Swallows and Amazon, so could I, likewise Sherlock Holmes (and what a great read they were). But when he went off and read War and Peace and Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables—well, my reading ability had to develop quite rapidly, as these were no ordinary book for a young teen and especially one who had only been reading for such a short time. But I managed to read both and went on to read many other classics.  Later in my teens I moved onto Dostoyevsky and other Russian classic authors as my brother had an interest in Russian history!!

Perhaps he should have kept influencing my reading, as in my later teens I became hooked on romance novels - not quite in the same class as Victor Hugo. Now I tend to read biographies and autobiographies and the occasional novel (I quite like a "who-done-it" mystery).  My workplace has a fantastic library so I can spend my lunch-hours wandering up and down shelves looking for books to read! The perfect way of spending an hour!!

Who influenced your reading as a teen?



Comments

  1. Jo- my Father loved to read and he was a great influence in my love of reading. He always told me that reading was the gateway to the world. I took his book out of his lap when he passed away--- reading was such a comfort to him during his illness. I try to read a little every night-- it helps to relax me--- especially after a crazy day at work Right now I am reading The Language of Flowers--

    Vicki

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    1. My dad wasn't allowed to read as a child as it was considered a waste of time according to my very stern grandfather, but when he met my mother (who was a bookworm) he discovered "reading for pleasure" and has certainly made up for lost time. He now loves to read and always fines the time to read a little each day.

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  2. I have always been a bookworm - as long as I remember anyway - and can't imagine not reading either. I don't know that anyone influenced me by what they read, but I sure consumed a lot of the books on my parent's book shelves. This meant dozens of books about World War Two, and as a consequence my interest in this part of history has never waned! I have read literally hundreds of books from all kinds of perspectives on this topic! Even a huge 600 odd page book on Hitler (not Meine Kumpf - sorry that might not be spelt correctly) as a teen!
    Now I continue to read every day, even children's books! =)

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    1. I also read many books on survives of WW2 because my family was interested in them. And just think of all those children growing up in homes where their parents don't read, what they are missing out on. It's really sad:(.

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  3. i love to read! even these days i didnt have the chance..working and stuff at home...but reading developed wisdom ...thanks for sharing...have i told you how much i love your blog ? blessings from arnhem

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  4. I love to read too, and remember reading books as far back as my memory goes... However I don't remember really becoming an avid reader until high school. Now I don't get a lot of time to read books, but I love books and encourage my children to read every day; and we're constantly enlarging our library to keep up with their reading needs. :)

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  5. I have spent most of my life reading, I was about 10 or 11 when I read my first book without pictures, I always pass my books on to friends if I enjoy them if I don't I never get to finish them.
    Merle....

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  6. I guess I didn't know I had such an influence on your reading -- though I suppose I've had a similar influence on my own children, with Carmen reading Oliver Twist when she was around 13. I always found it hard to decide which book to read next ... in case I didn't like it. I could never give up on a book and would read it to the end; Don Quixote was the hardest read I think. On the other hand, when I stumbled across a book I really really enjoyed, I would buy a copy and add it to my library. Russian authors fascinated me because of the brutal reality -- Oliver Twist ends with a serious of serendipitous discoveries; Anna Karenina ends with her stepping in front of a train. I try to avoid such depressing books these days :) I enjoy biographies now -- at least I feel all the emotion one pours into the book isn't lost.

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    1. I remember when you read Don Quixote, but never attempted to read it - perhaps I knew my limits. What you never told me was how some of these books ended, I am not sure I would have read War and Peace if I knew the tragic ending!! The same could be said for Tale of Two Cities that I read because you read it - very sad in parts but so beautifully read. I am with you, I tend to read biographies these days, I find the truth can be more amazing that a novel, but there is still many a good novel to read when I have the time. I am going to give Freckles another go soon.

      I also like to finish all books I start, its not fair on the author not to read all the book. It would have to be a really bad book for me not to complete.

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  7. Tale of two cities is a book in a class of it's own. It has a bitter-sweet ending. Interestingly, all my children had to read it for school, and all found it an amazing book.

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