I finished my hundredth book for the year last night. I've kept track the past two years, and usually I don't reach the 100 books mark until sometime in November or December. Although since I'm keeping track and I'm very competitive (in case you missed that) maybe I'm reading more and more each year out of some twisted competitive drive. I am enjoying the books I read for the most part though. I even liked some of the stuff I read for my Mythology and Literature class from hell (okay, not exactly Hell. Just a suburb of Hell. Right near Confusion Circle and Exhaustion Avenue. Nah, it wasn't a bad class. I ended up enjoying it. But we read a entire book every week. Of Greek Epic or Plays). And books read for school totally count for books read. Unless you never finished them.
Anyway, being a quick reader isn't exactly a new thing for me. I've loved books since I was a little kid. In Kindergarten, my teacher noticed I was trying to read the books in the classroom, when we probably wouldn't have started learning to read until 1st grade, and brought in a special tutor for me (Yes, the days when educations still mattered. Scary to think this was only 15 years ago). Every Wednesday morning we went to the library and she read with me, helping me figure out how the words were put together. I even have a tape (yes, the days before CDs) of me reading, which was a final project we did at the end of the year.
Then of course, I was a child of the Harry Potter generation. I got the first book at seven (ironically my younger sister, who cannot stand Harry Potter, brought it home from a book fair) and though it took me a while, three months later I finished the book. The next book took two months, the third a month, the fourth a week, then three days, and only two days for the last two. A three hundred page novel, if I get the chance to read uninterrupted and get sucked in, will take me only seven hours or so now.
And I never thought twice about how I became a reader or why, at least not until more recently. I never questioned what drew me into the pages of a novel or why I love spending evenings curled up in a comfy chair reading a book. But asking questions is how we grow, so I asked "Why do you like to read? Why do you want to write?"
Answer: I read to go somewhere else and experience things I won't get a chance to. I read because for a little while I don't have to think about my life or freak out over things. I get a chance to just kick back and watch other people work out their problems. And maybe I read to know that things can work out and there will always be a solution. Maybe not an ideal one, but everyone has problems and you can figure out a way to fix it (which is why i don't read books that have sad endings). And I write because I want to give that same feeling to others.
I never regretted not being the girl my sister is. The girl who chooses the mall over used bookstores, clothes over a new novel, and the girl who thinks an evening spent wrapped up in a book is boring. I grew up a nerd and I am proud of it, because I can escape. I can speak fluent Harry Potter or Joss Whedon and I understand the basics about Lord of the Rings and Star Wars. I know the differences between vampires in different author universes. I get math and science jokes and puns that make me giggle.
And recently I found that if I want to, I can tuck in all away and be the girl who goes shopping with girlfriends. The girl who wears make-up and goes out to have fun with friends. I can be both the nerd and her pretty alter-ego. I don't have to be defined by what I know or where my interests lie. I don't have to be one sided. And I don't have to feel like I'm not myself. Because that girl is part of me as well. The part that likes dressing up and looking lovely. These aren't two different people; they're the same. Because that dressed up girl will go out to the pub and then end up having a conversation about Harry Potter (true story).
And yes, I will still squeal over the next book in series more than a new outfit. But maybe every now and then I'll put on make-up just for fun because doing so isn't blasphemy to who I am. I don't have to stay stuck to who I've been in the past. I'm allowed to change my mind about some things. Because people change and it's okay.
It took me 14 years to figure this out (give or take. I started at 5 since I figure before that I wasn't caring about this). And I feel lucky to have discovered it now instead of having to wait until much later in life. I'm always been secure in who I am, but I'm also stubborn, which means I could have stayed blind to this for much longer. Dang, sometimes I feel old for only being 19.
I think that I should get to take full credit for your love of reading. I was told when you were little to make sure and read to you every day, so I did. I used to sit on the floor with my legs criss/crossed (we always called it Indian style, but I guess that is no longer politically correct) and then I would sit you in my lap and I would read at least one book to you. You always sat so quietly in my lap absorbed by the story. Sometimes I would make up part of the story if I thought you might get bored by the one that was actually written, or if I had gotten tired of reading the same story over and over.
ReplyDeleteI tried to do the same with your sister, but she is cut from a different cloth and could only sit still in my lap for about 3.5 minutes, so I would grab a short book and then just make up the story based on the pictures so I could get through the whole book before she bolted.
Moral to my story..... if you can manage it and if your child allows you to, you should read to them every day. Then they can grow up to be a slightly twisted, super cute, vertically challenged, word-smith :D
(see how I didn't mention that you run in a circle... I think I'm growing)