Expanding The Mind

I have loved reading my whole life.  Well, ever since I can remember.  I started school at the age of 8.  Kind of late in most circles.  Children start school and their ABCs at the age of 4 in pre-k programs; and I have heard of others as young as the age of 3 in pre-k curriculums.  Although a very shy child who routinely clung to my mother’s skirt or hid behind her, by the time I was enrolled in school I was ready.  I went directly to first grade.  I knew basic arithmetic and how to read and write - my sister taught me at home by reading Archie comic books.  Betty was my favorite character.  She was so pretty with her blond ponytail.  I didn’t anyone back then who had blond hair.   She loved Archie and was always so nice to everyone, even the lame and lazy Jughead.  So went my introduction into reading.

Many years and books later, I can honestly say that I love reading and enjoy just about anything that I can get my hands on.  There are a few exceptions, auto-mechanics and extraterrestrial novels just don’t work for me.  I remember when I was young sitting for hours at the public library.  I started with the very short, basic books and then graduated to chapter books.  Then in my teens I found romance novels.  Wow!  I didn’t care that these had multiple chapters.  I devoured them nightly.  But I also found great reading in high school.  Books like The Pearl, To Kill a Mockingbird, and The Catcher in the Rye were perfectly challenging in language and kept me reading. And The Good Earth, still much-loved to this day, “she smiled slowly then, the same slow smile that ended before it reached her eyes….”  Some things are never forgotten.  Later on in college I started reading Spanish works – this opened up a whole other world of authors and cultures for me.  Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter is still one of my all-time favorites and makes me smile every time I read it.  When I had my children, I read every book I could read about child-rearing – What to Expect when You’re Expecting.  Can’t miss that one.  And other books after that – I didn’t want to mess up my kids with my own pre-dispositions and predilections.  And now that they are teens, I’m learning from books about letting go; honestly, I should’ve learned this many years ago.  Even though I’m busy with two teenagers, my reading list is still long.  But I have to say that my favorite reading, the one that always gives me peace, the one that brings me back into focus, is my spiritual reading.  The bible is not only a great book to read, it’s also a tool for knowledge.  It never gets old; no matter how many times you've read it.  Although I have enjoyed and still derive great pleasure from all types of books, I can’t go very long without reading my bible.  Many times I read it as part of a bible study.  But many more times I’ve just reached for it to find solace and peace in times of trouble.  And I find comfort every time. 

What a privilege to have so many books, so many genres, and so many authors available to us anytime and anywhere.  Some days I wish I could devote more time to reading than anything else!