Thursday, January 29, 2015

Thankful Thursday: books

Hello there all,

I've always had a love for books. It all started when I was young, and I wanted to read the The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry bear (Longest Children's book title...ever) a million times. Growing up, reading was a love that pervaded until I reached middle school. My love for reading subsided, and reading started to become a chore instead of a hobby. Reading started to become something that was necessary for classes, and  I enjoyed many of the books that I read for class. However, it seemed a nuisance at times to HAVE to complete the task. All of the fun of reading was taken from me, and I mainly just indulged in assigned reading for classes.



This feeling continued throughout high school and most of college until I took a class in college that was focused on teaching literacy in the college classroom. As a part of the class, we read the book The Misfits which literally changed my life. Don't get me wrong: this book is not the best piece of literature ever (however, it is good). The part that changed my life is the exposure to literature that I enjoyed that wasn't the typical scholarly assignment, and it went crazy when I read Stargirl. At this moment, I really started to realize that I didn't have to just read the classics or things weighted with themes and symbols (however, I do enjoy reading books with that). Afterwards, I wanted to read everything in sight, and the love for reading came back again. There was enjoyment and happiness associated with devouring stories.

Previously, I felt that the literature that I consumed had to be "heavy" literature, and this is not the case. Admittedly, I hate confessng this because I think that it sounds like I don't enjoy stories with some literary value which I find highly untrue. Just within the last year, I have read things like The Reader, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, Hedda Gabler (to name a few), but I also enjoyed things like the Flight, the Eragon series, or David Sedaris' essays.



Over the last couple of years, I have enjoyed reading again, and yes, I haven't read as much as I would like, but I DO read a lot more than I did. This past year in particular, I have read A LOT. With two hours commute everyday on public transportation, a book can be a girl's best friend. It is a wonderful way to spend the time and to escape the loud crying children on the bus.

Books are these powerful tools that bring so much joy in my life. They allow me insights on others ideas, stories, and they allow me to travel to a whole other place. It is a lot cheaper than a plane ticket!



For 2015, I made a goal to read 12 books this year, and I just finished my 4th book. I think that I might get to the goal ;). I am so thankful that I have found my way back to appreciating a good book, and I have the opportunity to sit and read them.

What is your relationship with reading? Are you a reader? Why/why not? Any book recommendations?

Happy reading,
Autumn


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