Comments for Weekly Geeks 2010-11: In the Beginning

In the Beginning: 03/27/10

There is no one moment and no one book. Being a reader has been an ebb and flow part of my life. As a very young child I loved being read too. I had my three favorite Dr. Seuss books: One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish, The Cat in the Hat Comes Back and The Lorax. I had my favorite book of children's poetry: Arm in Arm by Remy Charlip. I had my favorite picture book: Harold and the Purple Crayon and I had my favorite how to draw books by Ed Emberley. But I didn't read any of them; they were read to me and I had them memorized.

When I was four I watched the animated Hobbit on television. I got to stay up past my bed time at my grandparents' house to do that. I sat close enough to the TV I could see the colored dots of the screen. It was instant love. That Christmas I received a full color version of the book with gorgeous illustrations from the movie. The dust jacket was see-through showing the outline of Bilbo (wearing the ring) talking to Smaug. I still have the book. I still love the book.

But none of those books made me a reader. Kindergarten came and I hated Mrs. Winetraub and I think she probably hated me too. Or at least, I frustrated her. She believed in whole reading and had old Dick and Jane books (and similar). She would read them to the group as we would follow along and then we would read them back. Except that I didn't read it back. The books were so simplistic that I would memorize what she read and I would recite it back to her. I didn't learn a darn thing about reading that year.

Before first grade we moved and I changed schools. I was tested sometime in first grade (a whole other story to post sometime) and bumped up to the gifted track. But I still wasn't reading. I was reading and spelling enough to get through my work but by third grade that wasn't enough any more. My third grade teacher told my mother I was at risk for being held back if I didn't get my act together.

I got my act together. I'm not sure exactly how long it took but I remember sitting on the floor of my baby brother's room (he was a toddler at the time) and reading through our entire collection of Little Golden books. There must have been a hundred or so of them. That was how I got up to speed with my reading.

Somewhere between the Little Golden Book cram session and graduation from elementary school I started reading through The Hardy Boys series, the Trixie Belden series and then Agatha Christie. Still though I didn't consider myself a reader but reading was getting more fun and I was finally adding to my meager collection of books.

Sometime in my teens I mutated into a reader. While my peers were spending their allowance on music and clothes, I was spending it on books and art supplies. Just before ninth grade I started keeping a list of every book or short story I completed because I was finding it difficult to remember the titles of what I had read. That's a pretty clear sign that I was becoming a reader.

I didn't really though become the reader I am until just before my daughter was born. By then I was blogging and book reviews became the easiest thing to post about. Later when I was up through the night nursing her I would read books to pass the time. Breastfeeding by itself is a very boring pastime. So I learned the fine art of one handed book reading.

I don't know if I will always keep reading at the pace I do now (about 500 to 600 books a year). If I do, great. If I don't, then I will adapt my blog to fit my new reading pace.

weekly geeks

Comments (12)

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Comment #1: Saturday, March, 27, 2010 at 13:16:51

Lynne Mickly

500 - 600 books a year? That's over a book a day! Most of these have to be children's books, right? Even in my prime reading days I never achieved that level. My hats off to you!

Comment #2: Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 17:31:31

Pussreboots

Graphic novels, picture books and short stories together account for 37% of my yearly reading. The remainder is full length books.

Comment #3: Saturday, March, 27, 2010 at 16:00:42

Staci

Loved reading about how your reading has evolved over the years. My love affair began with my first grade teacher when she read, Little House on the Prairie, then it spun totally out of control after I read Charlotte's Web!! From there I devoured everything, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Trixie Belden, the entire children's section of my local library!! Now I work in a middle school library and love it. My reading is something that I treasure!!

I'm so blown away by the sheer number of books you read in a year!

Comment #4: Saturday, March 27, 2010 at 17:37:00

Pussreboots

It's only in the last couple years that I've read 500 or more. There have been years where I've read as few as 20.

Comment #5: Sunday, March, 28, 2010 at 01:01:01

Elena

That's the same edition of The Hobbit that I started with. I still have it too, and it spawned a fascination with Middle Earth and the works of Tolkien that's lasted me my whole life so far.

Comment #6: Monday, March 29, 2010 at 10:34:10

Pussreboots

I love that Hobbit edition. I've read the Lord of the Rings trilogy but I haven't read any of his other books.

Comment #7: Sunday, March, 28, 2010 at 11:34:54

gautami

Feels good that we are readers. Doesn't it?

Comment #8: Monday, March 29, 2010 at 10:41:13

Pussreboots

Yes it does!

Comment #9: Friday, April, 2, 2010 at 13:29:25

Julie

Nursing and reading is the best!! (But the book can't be TOO heavy :)

Comment #10: Saturday, April 3, 2010 at 11:02:32

Pussreboots

I read mostly paperbacks when I was nursing.

Comment #11: Tuesday, April, 6, 2010 at 08:38:21

Gnoe

The story that immediately comes to mind when I think of my childhood is The Incredible Journey by Sheila Burnford. I was heartbroken by it ;) Reread it several times after but never wanted to see the Disney adaptation. I posted about My First Favourite Book on Graasland.

The funny thing is that another important (animal) book of my youth is Richard Adams' Watership Down. Not the novel, but the picture book that was made of the movie. Only years later I actually saw the film; and I read the 'grown-up' version in highschool.

Now you know what kind of books I liked as a child ;)

Comment #12: Friday, April 9, 2010 at 20:27:38

Pussreboots

I The Incredible Journey and Watership Down (the full version) in sixth grade and The Plague Dogs also by Richard Adams in 7th grade. I enjoyed all three of them. We seem to have similar tastes.