s/o sort of...Why do you love to read?

My love of reading started in the 3rd grade when my teacher said I talked too much and put a copy of Charlotte's Web on my desk and told me to read! My mom was a reader as well. Now I'm an audio book lover and listen during my 2.5 hour daily work commute.

We always had books in the house when I was growing up. My parents would always let me buy books. One of our Saturday night outings after dinner would be to a local book/magazine stand. I would usually get a book or comic. Every other week we would go the local library after dinner. I loved those days. And my parents didn’t censor what I would read. By junior high I was reading the bodice ripper romance novels or books on the top 10 list. Yikes! Lol!! Before smart phones and social media I would read 1-2 books a week as an adult. Unfortunately, my time has now been sucked up by the internet. I need to start reading more again.

ETA - I loved Scholastic book time, when we would get those flyers and could order books! And I prefer to read a physical book over an e-book.

Mrs. Galloway, my kindergarten teacher. I don't ever remember my parents reading anything other than the newspaper (dad) and celeb trash mags (mom). I don't remember my house growing up having anything other than a couple of Golden Books and I don't remember anyone ever reading them to us. My kindergarten teacher taught me how to read and I loved her story time. First, she was like the perfect grandma sort of lady with silver hair and slightly plump. Putting my head down on my table while she read stories out loud was my favorite part of the day. It was safe. It was just pleasant to relax and listen to a story. And she gave me the gift of teaching me to read too.

I got lucky when we moved from Chicago to small town Michigan. I had a library in my small town and I was able to ride my bike to it. I was 7 years old and I finally had access to books. My dad was a tornado, controlling, unpredictable, violent. When dad was around, you had to walk on eggshells, there was nothing calm about the environment in which I was raised. And reading seemed like a very calm way to relax. I think my dad thought so too because he didn't really support that. I think he thought that pausing to read was lazy. And if he was going to work 60 hours of hard labor a week, then everyone else around him was going to too. As long as my chores were done (I had way too many chores), I was forced to go outside and play all day. So I would ride my bike to the library, check out a book, and go sit down by the big pond and read all day. Sometimes, I'd just return the book to the library on my way home unless I thought I could sneak it into my house without him knowing. This was possible at times because he worked rotating shifts each week. When he was on afternoon shift during the school year, we didn't see him at all during the week and my mom would let me read to my heart's content. She was much more permissive when he wasn't around.

So maybe I just enjoyed reading because it seemed like it was something unknown/taboo. Like I was having to be so clandestine to even be able to partake in that kind of behavior. I really enjoy learning, though. So in my adult years, I mostly read to learn. If I really want to get lost in a story, I read a memoir. I prefer real life stories over fiction.

I don’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t read - my mum told me I was really into books from infancy, and reading before I started school. That tells me there were always kids books in our house. I also remember loving to visit the library when I was young - we’d walk down every Saturday morning and I’d get the max number of books I could on my card.

Both of my boys were also reading before they started school and the older one is still an avid reader, though his taste tends to non-fiction. My older granddaughter loves books and is always asking someone to read her a story. Little one just loves looking at pictures so far, but I am sure she will continue the tradition.

I still read every day, even if it is just a few pages before bed and have many books waiting on bookshelves and my kindle for me to get to. I saw something on Instagram earlier today that said ‘ You will die with books unread. It’s not morbid, just a fact. So buy what you want, get to what you like when you can. This isn’t a school project, a book report isn’t due. You’ve supported an author and collected art you love. A library of unread books is a beautiful thing’ This is now my reading philosophy!

Mostly my dad. My mom worked night shift so my dad was it for bedtime. Every night me, my sister, and my dad all piled in his bed and read for an hour or so before going to sleep. At least once every couple of weeks the three of us would go to the library to exchange books. On nights when my mom was home she would read to us before bed. If you looked into my parent's room it was normal to see the both of them laying side by side reading their books.

Slowly as my sister got older she gave up reading and it became just my dad and I every night reading together. Several years later my mom married a man with a huge book collection and he introduced me to sci fi and fantasy books and gave me free reign over his library. Weekend trips were to the used bookstore.

It all culminated in me at 39 reading about 1-2 books per week still of all different genres. It's rare I don't finish a book, even if I'm not particularly enjoying it.

I grew up way out in the country, poor as dirt. I was allergic to almost everything outside, and we only got two channels on our little black and white TV, so reading was pretty much it in the way of entertainment.

I get it from my mom's side of the family. My grandma was a reader, my aunt was a librarian and my mom worked in a bookstore. My best memories were used bookstore hopping (going to all the stores one after the other), spending hours at the library, and the Scholastic Book Fair at school.

My mom read to me a lot in the evenings. My dad was a away working and my younger sister wasn't born yet. My mom usually had a romance novel on the go, and a stack waiting on the bottom of her nightstand. She would pass them around with her mom, sister and a few friends. My dad didn't read books but has always read the big farming newspapers.

I loved library time at school. I'dcheck out some chapter books then spend the rest of the time reading some quick books like the Little Miss series.

I remember checking books out of the library in the summer as a teen and having a Danielle Steel and some Garfield comics, lol. I always remember reading, only time I didn't read was when my girls were babies & toddlers, no attention span for this sleep deprived mama.

I was a shy kid and I found that books opened up whole new worlds for me without risking any of the things I feared with live people.  No one else in my family read much.  As a child, my mother never read us a single book.  I watched movies where the kids cuddled up on the mother’s lap and she would read to them.  I wanted that so very badly!  But it wasn’t to be.  

I vowed to be very different with my own children.  I did read to my son, but he didn’t end up loving books like I do.  He loved the stories I read to him, and would barter for extra reading time, but just didn’t end up with a love of reading like I have.

My reading now is done on my Kindle.  I prefer it for multiple reasons, not having to kill trees to print on being one of those reasons.  There are still a few things that I will only buy in paper book format because it makes using the book much easier.  That would be cookbooks, anything with detailed instructions, plant books, and some skill-related books where I need to look at a picture multiple times.

I grew up in a family of book readers. Mostly from my mom though who always encouraged our love of books. I too loved getting those Scholastic paper orders forms in school and getting to order books, loved book fair time in school.
My 7th and 8th grade English teacher Mrs. Farley who always was encouraging and my 9th and 10th grade English teacher Miss Allen who never let the other students make fun of my romance book that I loved reading.

My aunt gave me several Little House books for Christmas when I was in kindergarten. I knew how to read, but not well. I improved my reading sounding out words in The Little House In The Big Woods and never looked back.

I liked the escapism and the imagination that reading gives you. I grew up in a small Minnesotan town and could travel anywhere with a book. I was an English Lit major mostly because of my love for books. For one of our moves, I counted over 100 boxes of books. I knew we had a problem then! I got rid of a lot of the kids’ books after that, but we still move a lot.

My grandmother read a lot and so did mom. It’s just part of who I am!

Probably a couple of things.  We were not really allowed to play with friends after school and couldn't watch TV.. so my escape was books.  Took me to different places.  My escape from a strict father.  My mom also likes to read and we share books all the time.  After that when I moved to California with no money, again, books were my escape.  I took one of my mom's books (still have it) to start out with and loved it so much I started buying paperbacks from the same author.  I have always been a fluff reader so nothing heavy.. I like my escape time.  I have branched out a bit but still love my fluff reading. 


Edited to add: Most of my books during elementary school came from the Bookmobile.  It came about once every other week to my small school.  I would leave with as many as I could get.  Those were the best days to find Nancy Drew and so forth.. loved them!