TTT: How My Reading Habits Have Changed Over Time

Top Ten Tuesday: 

How My Reading Habits Have Changed Over Time

Or: A Walk Down the Reading Memory Lane

My very own copy of Little Bear. Do you like how I colored all over it?

1. When I was a kid we rarely went to the library nor were there many books in the house. But those we did have I read over and over and over again: Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss and Little Bear by Else Holmelund Minarik are two I remember clearly.

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I read a whole lot of these abridged classics as a kid.

2. When I was in fourth grade my family moved to Africa. My father was a missionary. Once again we had few books and now no library. Mother's friend, a reader, loaned/gave my older sister and I each a set of books. Mine was the Narnia series. I read those wonderful books many times over the years. I also got a hold of copies of abridged classics like The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, and Huck Finn. All these books have become favorites. I would usually read in bed, or at least lying on my bed, often for hours after lights out!

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Favorite story by far: "Cannibalism in the Cars."

3. During this same time period I learned to really enjoy books read aloud. My mother would read stories out loud to us by candlelight when the power would go out. That happened a lot in Africa. My memories of those times are some of my happiest childhood memories. One book she frequently read from was The Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain. If it were Christmas time, she would read Christmas stories she found in magazines to us, like "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" by Barbara Robinson before it was published in book form. We would sit around the dining room table together as she read.

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I loved this book so much, it became one of my favorite books of all time.

4. In sixth grade, still in Africa, I started attending an American-style school. Finally a library and a librarian. I distinctly remember reading A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle during that time. I also remember talking to the librarian about what to read next. A whole new world was opening up for me, talking about books and getting recommendations.

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There are thousands of editions of this book. I don't think the is the actual book I read, I just tried to find one which had a possible publishing date close to when I was so enthralled by the book.

5. Home from Africa and into junior high school, I continued or became a big reader. I think I always had a book going. I don't remember any particular titles other than 1001 Arabian Nights. I loved that book. My habit of reading in bed was ingrained by now. I don't think I could go to sleep without reading at least a few pages. My reading history was often devoid of many children's classics. For example, I never read The Little House on the Prairie series, Black Beauty, or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

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6. In high school my reading fervor slowed down. In fact, I barely even recall reading required books for class. I do remember reading the whole Lord of the Rings series, though, so maybe I just didn't like the word "required." I remember finding Phyllis Whitney romance books at this time. They were pretty tame by today's standards but I found them titillating. Her characters would go as far as "kissing hard."  Ha!

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7. College days were full of assigned books and homework. Pleasure reading was relegated to holidays and summers only. But I would read then. I read the whole Poldark Saga by Winston Graham in response to the PBS series (first aired in 1970s) and many other books often recommended to me by my mother, who seemed to have morphed into a big reader by then, and another friend who was always reading. I could never figure out what to read on my own at that time. I'd often read lying in a lounge chair in the sun, catching rays while I read.

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This book was the beginning book of my reading renaissance. 

8. Early working and  new marriage years I barely read at all. If I did, it was because a book I'd heard about was at the library. I never placed a book on hold or asked librarians for recommendations. Then in 1987ish my sister recommended I read Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns. The book set off an explosion in my head and I started reading with a vengeance and haven't stopped since.

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I bought this copy so I could read it to my grandsons since it is no longer available at our library.

9. As a young mother I read a lot of books and went to the library all the time but it was for my children. We always had piles of children's books we were making our way through. Many of these books are now favorites of my grandsons. In fact I looked at one of these books just today, Father Fox's Pennyrhymes by Clyde Watson. We used to quote this book quite often.

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I think I've read all of Kingsolver's books now!

9. In the 1990s I joined two different book groups. One with ladies from my church and the other with ladies I taught with. Suddenly I went from not knowing what to read next to always having at least two books in the queue. I loved it and loved most of the books we read. The church book group started using book kits from the library in the early 2000s which are curated by librarians. Most of these books I'd never heard of before but many became favorites. My other group would pick popular favorites, most of literary merit. Two books I remember reading and loving: Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner and The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver. Since I commuted to work I found audiobooks to be a good source for my reading. In those days audiobooks were on CDs and I became very good at making requests at the library for them and utilizing their hold system. I also started keeping track of what I was reading in little notebooks along with short annotations. 

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John Green is a fantastic writer and I met him at a Librarian Conference before he was so famous.

10. In the early 2000s I hung out with the new high school librarian, Judy. We were always scheming up projects for my classes that would utilize the library books. At one point she planted a seed in my heart. "You know," she said, "you'd make a terrific school librarian." Then she proceeded to water and nurture that seed until it took root. In 2002 I applied and was accepted into a library program for teachers wanting to make the switch from the classroom into the library. It was a year and two summers program. The year I finished it I was ready to tackle a new job as a high school librarian. Once on the job, I realized how deficient my reading background really was and I had to hit the ground running to make up for lost time. I read YA books voraciously and finally made time to read many of the classics I missed growing up. One of my first YA books I read that made a big impression was Looking for Alaska by John Green and a classic I was blown away by was 1984 by George Orwell. If I could, I would listen to audiobooks but sometimes I even found time to read on the job sitting right there at my desk. Lucky me!

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My review drew attention from the publisher and they published it on their website.

11. Sometime in those library-working years I discovered or rediscovered my love of poetry. I became the coordinator for a poetry contest at my school and assisted teachers in getting poetry in to student's hands. The whole process catapulted me in a new direction of reading: poetry. Now I generally always have a poetry collection I'm working on slowly in-between my other books. One of the first poetry books I remember devouring was Teaching With Fire: Poetry Which Sustains the Courage to Teach edited by Sam M. Intrador. Unlike my other books, I rarely read poetry lying down. I will usually read a poem or two during interludes in my daily schedule.

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12. I retired seven years ago and my reading has slowed down a bit, mainly because I rarely read YA titles any longer. I have also joined the classics club and I find myself reading mostly classics or award books these days. I now know where to look for book recommendations, keep track of my reading on Goodreads, write reviews on this blog, still attend two book club meetings a month, and still enjoy listening to audiobooks, though now I listen to e-audiobooks through my phone but they are still checked out from the library. I have raised two daughters who both love audiobooks, too. One of my daughters is in two book clubs now. Like mother, like daughter. I used to wonder what to read next and now I have a TBR with over 200 titles on it. I'm known as the book gal at church and people often ask me for book recommendations, which I'm happy to make. My husband begrudgingly likes to listen to the audiobooks I play during car trips together. He has a great memory and will often reference a book we listened to together. I guess I could create a new adage: "Those who listen to books together will stay together, bonded by literature."  The last book we listened to was James by Percival Everett. OMG that book is good! I still need to read every night before I go to sleep but often can only manage a page or two before I turn out the light. Perhaps it is my age, or my trifocals, but reading in bed is no longer an Olympic sport, like it was when I was young. 

Now you know my evolution as a reader. Sorry I was a little long-winded today!

-Anne