These bookish questions were posed to the hosts on Sarah’s Bookshelves Live on an episode that released at least a year ago. While I was listening to the episode, I typed up the questions in my Notes app, intending to answer them in a blog post, but then that note got buried in my app. I only just discovered the note a few weeks ago when I was cleaning out my Notes app! Oops. Better late than never?
1) Have you always been a reader? Do you have a distinct memory of when you truly fell in love with reading?
Yes, I have always been a reader. I learned to read in kindergarten, and it quickly became my favorite hobby. Every Saturday morning, my mom and I would go to the library so I could check out the max number of books allowed, and it’s one of my most cherished memories. My mom definitely championed my reading and made it as accessible for me as possible!
I don’t know if I have a distinct memory of when I truly fell in love with reading. I know my books were a source of comfort for me in a tumultuous childhood. I know I was greatly impacted by some of the stories I read, and just found the whole process of reading and diving into unfamiliar worlds to be such a delight. I think I was just destined to become someone who is a Reader-with-a-capital-R, and there’s not a line of before and after. Once I learned to read, that was it for me. It was love at first sight.
2) Was there any time in your life when you were not reading as much?
Like most people, my reading dipped a bit while I was in college. I still read a lot, but I also had to make time for school assignments and required reading. Thankfully, my major didn’t require a ton of required reading (elementary education, then journalism), so at least I could enjoy my books as a brain break. It was important for me to have reading as my outlet during those stressful college years, so I made plenty of time for it. (Probably at the detriment of my social life, if we’re being honest.)
3) What parts of your reading taste have changed dramatically over your reading life, and what has stayed consistent?
When I was younger, the only books I read were Christian fiction. Chaste Christian romance, Christian YA, Christian thrillers, Christian nonfiction, etc. I believed that reading anything not published by a Christian press was a sin, sending me straight to hell. So that was all I read for a long, long time, until I started venturing out to reading different kinds of books. If I could pinpoint when this transition happened, it was during my first year of college. I was very sad while living on campus (I had a very hard time making friends and had a volatile relationship with my roommate), so I spent a lot of time at the college bookstore because being in my empty dorm room just made me depressed. On a whim, I picked up a book in a romantic suspense series (not a Christian romantic suspense book, mind you!) and fell completely in love with the characters and stories and yes, all the sexytimes.
These days, it’s rare for me to read a book published by a Christian press, mostly because there is so much about those books that don’t align with my beliefs. Sometimes, a nonfiction book will strike my fancy (I just finished listening to The Making of Biblical Womanhood, in fact!), but I have to be in the right headspace to read anything involving religion.
As for what has stayed consistent, it’s my love for romance. I have always loved romance novels, starting with the Love Stories series as a teen and moving on to Harlequin romance that I consumed like candy. And now romance isn’t a genre relegated to a small corner of the library or bookstore. It doesn’t feel embarrassing or “low-brow” to read romance. This genre has come such a long way, and it’s so gratifying.
4) How often do you talk about books in your day-to-day life?
My core friend group is my book club, so we talk about what we’re reading all the time. I don’t really talk about what I’m reading with work people, although I had a special connection with a previous boss where we would end our 1:1 meetings talking about what we’re reading. Sometimes, I’ll talk about books with my mom, but she’s the only reader in my family. I often feel very out of place when it comes to my family because I love to read, and nobody else does! Such a travesty.
When it comes to strangers or people I see every once in a while, I don’t often talk about books unless it comes up organically. For example, during one PT session, my therapist asked me what I was doing over the weekend, so I told her I had book club, and that’s how we started connecting about books and reading. Maybe one day I’ll get better about just point-blank asking people if they are a reader and/or what they’re reading.
5) What is the primary reason you read?
Reading is essential to my life. I would be lost without my books because I would lose the essence of who I am. It’s as essential to me as breathing, as sleeping, as moving my body. It’s hard for me to relate to people who don’t read because I just can’t imagine doing anything else with my free time!
When I was younger, I read primarily for enjoyment and that’s still the primary reason I read today. I love getting lost in a fictional world. I love the way reading can transport me and allow me to escape my reality for just a little while. But I also love learning new things and opening my mind to other cultures, perspectives, and ways of being. I credit books as the reason I was able to deconstruct my faith and become a more open-minded individual.
Have your reading tastes changed dramatically over the years?
I love this. Let’s go!
1. Yes I’ve always been a reader, and I practically lived at the library with my parents as a child. We used to walk there, and one of my favorite memories is getting caught in an epic rain storm on the way home. I can’t explain why, but it just felt like such a fun adventure.
2. I went through a reading dead zone in my mid 20s-early 30s. I think it had something to do with traveling in a pre Kindle/pre Libby era.
3. I used to read primarily mysteries and Great Literature. I thought nothing of sitting down with a big ol’ doorstopper of a book and reading it cover to cover whether I liked it or not. That has definitely changed! Today I can’t imagine kicking back with Tolstoy or Ayn Rand.
4. Not nearly enough. Thanks to book clubs I’ve started to make IRL reader friends, but apart from the book club picks it seems like we live in different book worlds. The blogging world is my book tribe.
5. Asking why I read feels like asking why I breathe. It’s just something that I’ve been doing for a long time. It’s what you said: to go to new worlds, to dream, and to experience other POV’s.
Ooh, I wonder how much reading would have shifted if I didn’t get a Kindle when I was in my early 20s. That changed the game for me! (The first year I had it, though, I spent SIX HUNDRED DOLLARS on e-books. Then I learned about e-books at the library, haha.)
This was great to read!
I have always been a reader, and if my mom is to be believed, I was reading at age two. I guess I memorized books she would read to me and then one day she gave me books from the library I hadn’t seen before and I read them. Anyway, I cannot remember a time that I didn’t love to read. I have also always loved books about girls, and then women. I never liked books that centred around boys and I still don’t. I mean, occasionally I will read one, or a book by a male author, but the vast majority are women’s stories.
I’m with you – I read primarly women authors and women’s stories. If I do read a male author, chances are good that he’s gay. HA.
Loved this post and am 100% “borrowing it” for a future post on my blog. Such interesting questions to answer.
Yes, I have been a reader my whole life and it’s definitely part of my “identity.” I love thinking about books, reading books, and talking about books. I tend to process a lot of things via reading. I think that’s one reason memoirs are my favourite genre – it’s people telling true stories about their lives and processing their stories.
My “dead zone” was definitely brought on by university and then I had kids and I had a period of 3-4 years where I hardly read at all. I had grown up ONLY reading fiction, so it was eye-opening to me to start reading non-fiction. That’s what re-ignited my love of reading. My interest in fiction has really only started up again the last few years, mostly because of the blog community and getting so many great book suggestions.
Borrow away!
I do a lot of processing through reading, too, and I don’t think I’ve ever realized that until your comment. It has helped me come to terms with so much about myself and what I believe!
Our blog community KILLS IT with the book recommendations. We’re one well-read group!
This was delightful to read! Like you, I also loved reading from the beginning. It has always been a core part of my identity. My parents and paternal grandparents really fostered that love of reading. My grandparents made a point to always ask about what I was reading! It helped that they were both avid readers so were glad to have a grandchild to geek out with over reading and books!
Now I’m trying to foster that love of reading. I hear of people saying to not restrict what your kids read and it’s hard for me to imagine not letting them read what they are drawn to. Right now, that is predominantly graphic novels for Paul and I simply do not care. I’m glad there are books to draw them in. It’s fun to hear him giggle while reading a book. And I think our library must not have a borrowing limit! We often check out 20+ books at a time! I should ask if there is an actual limit!
My reading tastes have changed quite a bit from my 20s/early 30s. That’s a big part of why I got rid of a ton of books before moving in with Phil. They no longer reflected my reading tastes. These days I love literary fiction above all else, followed by memoir and romance. I used to really enjoy thrillers and now avoid them.
Growing up, we had a max of 12 books from the children’s section. I don’t think that was on children’s books, but chapters books and such. It was very hard to limit myself every week – ha.
I love that Paul loves to read! I know you are doing everything you can to foster a love of reading in your boys, and it definitely shows! And I think it’s awesome that you want them to read whatever they are drawn to because I think that’s so important!
What a great post! I love that you love reading so much.
When I was a little girl, we lived a short block away from the library, and I spent so much time there. I loved reading, and also they had a room where you could listen to records with headphones on. I used to spend a lot of time listening to one record of wolf songs. The first side (boring) talked about wolves. The second side (magic) was just wolves howling to each other.
When I was older, there was a bookmobile that came to our neighborhood, and I LOVED that.
I don’t remember not being able to read, but I’m sure I was not born reading. My mom ALWAYS had a book in her hand. OK, not always, but most of the time.
A break in my reading? Of course during college I read mostly for school and not what I wanted, but still got to read during breaks. When my father died I could not manage to pick up a book for several months. Not how I managed when my mom died, so really, who knows. But I felt broken and I just couldn’t do it. Grief is different every time, is all I have to say about that.
J, I was talking to my mom about her book memories and she talked about a bookmobile, too! I would have LOVED THAT as a kid.
I remember reading a lot less when I was processing the deaths of my grandma and my grandpa. And I basically just read a TON of romance because it was all I could handle. Grief can definitely mess with one’s reading life. <3
Great post ! I will have to steal the idea for future 😉. I have been a lifelong reader, always had a book in hand as a kid! My reading has changed through the years, I suppose as life changed for me too.
So interesting to read about your reading evolution as well.
Steal away! It’s interesting to reflect on how reading tastes change as we evolve and learn and grow!
I was a late reader. I could read words, but comprehension was really hard for me. I remember the EXACT WORKSHEET when I realized “the cat on a mat” meant a cat was on a mat and I had to circle that picture. Isn’t it funny what we remember from being young?
Oh, that’s such a specific memory! It must have been logged in your brain as a core memory, ha. I remember reading Hop on Pop to one of my uncles during a family party. Like, I can remember the chair we were sitting in and everything!
What a fun post! I also don’t remember not being a reader. My mom was an avid reader growing up but isn’t much of a reader as an adult. Encouraging my kids to read and reading with them is so fun.
College was the time when I read the least for fun. I used to buy myself a fun book to read for when finals were over each semester as a treat though.
My mom reads a lot less now than she did when I was a kid, but she’s getting back into it, so it’s been fun to recommend books to her and chat about our thoughts about what we’re reading!
Same! I started reading in kindergarten and never looked back. As a kid I was a shy bookworm, and I continued to read a ton in my teens and 20s. The only time my reading took a hit is when my kids were little. I didn’t read a lot then and I regret it now- it’s so easy to lose parts of yourself when you’re taking care of little kids, and I think I would have been happier if I had prioritized reading at least a little.
I always loved mysteries growing up- Nancy Drew and then Agatha Christie- and I love them now!
Yes, I definitely understand how reading can fall by the wayside when you have young kids! These days, I think it’s easier with Kindles and phone apps and audiobooks to sneak in reading time while tending to kids, so that’s a plus!
I used to read more historic fiction and fantasy and I still love it. I just often feel I don’t have the time and brain space to deeply dive into the worlds and so I grab a romance novel as I know its mostly entertaining and keeps me entertained but if I am perfectly honest most of the are not really good. It’s fast food reading for me.