I don’t remember when I started reading or when I got my first library card, but reading has always been a core part of my identity. Unlike other people who may have fallen off in high school and college when assigned reading was at its peak, I’ve always come back to my books when I need peace and an escape. I was lucky to have a mother who instilled a love of reading in me, and who was always happy to take me to the library on the weekends so I could fill up my arms with new books to read. Let’s discuss my evolution as a reader today, shall we? What was 10-year-old Stephany reading and how does that compare to 20-year-old Stephany and 30-year-old Stephany? It’s been a wild ride.
Elementary School
Once I was old enough to pick out books on my own, I gravitated toward genre series fiction. Give me all of your books about bratty twins, 13-year-old baby-sitters, champion gymnasts, orphans, horseback riders, and kids solving mysteries. I was Here For All Of It. Some of my favorite series included:
- Sweet Valley Kids/Twins
- The Baby-Sitter’s Club
- Goosebumps
- The Gymnasts
- The Boxcar Children
- The Saddle Club
- American Girl
- Sleepover Friends
Just looking at the covers of all my favorite book series from my childhood makes me want to reread all of the books, but I know they won’t live up to my memories. (I tried reading the first book in the Sweet Valley High series a few years ago and y’all, Jessica and Elizabeth are TERRIBLE.)
Every Saturday, I would check out 12 books from the children’s section (the most I was allowed to check out at one time) and read them all throughout the week so that I was ready for a new set of 12 books by the next Saturday. At some point during this journey, my mom started making me read one biography every week as a way to balance out all of the silly genre fiction I was reading. But that was fun, too, because I got to read about my favorite gymnasts, figure skaters, and people from history. No prob!
Middle School
I continued reading many of the same series in middle school, although I added a few young-adult series to my repertoire, like Sweet Valley High. Technically, though, my mom didn’t want me reading Sweet Valley High since she thought the content wasn’t appropriate for a 12-year-old. Now that I know the content of some of those books, I don’t blame her. They were dealing with some crazy issues!
At this time, I found myself starting to gravitate toward Christian fiction, too, like the Mandie series and the Christy Miller series. I enjoyed these books so much and loved that they were discussing faith and religion in a way that meant a lot to me. The Christy Miller series, especially, dealt a lot with purity culture. Oh, and of course, I went crazy for the Left Behind series. There was a “kids” version of the series (called Left Behind: The Kids) and I had the entire series in paperback and flew through it so quickly. I wasn’t one to read thriller-type books like this, but it was such a phenomenon in the late 90s/early aughts and I was fully aboard the train.
I don’t think I advertised my love for reading in middle school. I remember that we had SSR (silent sustained reading) periods once a week school-wide, and we were encouraged to bring a book from home. I think I started bringing my own book towards the end of middle school, but was too embarrassed about my love for reading to do so in 6th and 7th grades. My language arts and reading teachers had big bookshelves bursting with books that we could “check out” during class time, so I would usually pluck a book off those shelves during SSR periods.
High School
My love for reading—and my love for hiding my reading—continued into high school. At this point, I started reading more YA books and I remember really, really loving the Love Stories series. Did anyone read this series in the 90s/early aughts? They were like teenage Harlequin romances and I couldn’t get enough of them! My library had a whole rack of these stories and I read them like candy, probably reading some of them multiple times. I also kept reading Sweet Valley High and other genre series about people in high school. I also read a lot of Christian fiction—anything Robin Jones Gunn or authors in that vein.
One of my favorite memories of this time is that my mom started to let me read adult fiction. We would still go to the library together on a near-weekly basis, and we would split off to our separate sections of the library: me to the teen section and my mom to the adult section. And when I was done, I would join her in the adult section where she would usually have a few books picked out for me. Often, these were Christian fiction books, which is the majority of what she read at the time. I fell in love with Terri Blackstock, Tracie Peterson, Dee Henderson, Karen Kingsbury, Kristen Heitzmann, Beverly Lewis, and so much more. I loved these books and still have a fondness for them, although I don’t think they’d hold up to my reread as the person I am today. But I’m glad I got to read these books when I did; they truly fueled my love of reading.
This was also the time I discovered the world of romance novels, and romance novels that had S E X in them. It started when I found a set of romance novels in my great-grandma’s house. I don’t remember why I was there or how I found the novels, but I spent one afternoon laying on the bed in her guest room and devouring a book that involved a man delivering a woman’s baby on the side of the road, and then the two of them reconnecting a few months later. He spent a lot of time kissing her breasts, that’s what I remember most from that book! Ha. It was fascinating to me. I found another romance novel that was similar to that one, but involved a whole bunch of interconnected stories and I basically just skipped to all the sexytimes. (Horny teenager alert!) It was around this time that I also found out that my mom loved Harlequin romances, but would hide them from me. I found her hiding place, though, and during summers, I would spend my days devouring these romances and carefully setting the book back in her hiding place so she didn’t know I was reading them. Ha!
It seems funny to me to think about how women hid their love of romance novels at this time. It was a different time, though, and the romance genre wasn’t what it was today. Plus, my mom and I were conservative Christians and we didn’t even TALK about sex. (Her version of “the talk” was to hand me a book about it.) I’m sure she felt like she was doing something wrong by reading a romance novel, or maybe she didn’t but didn’t think those books were appropriate for me at that time. Who knows?!
College
I maintained a pretty good reading pace in college, but college is where I struggled a lot with my faith. As a result, I read a TON of Christian self-help books during this time. It was prime time for women in their thirties to write books to girls in their late teens/early twenties about how to stay pure and how to “fall in love with Jesus.” And listen, those books were what I needed at that time. They gave me hope and guidance and inspiration. But they also made me question my life and if I was really being pure by reading romance novels. After all, wasn’t I supposed to save myself for marriage? Why was I reading books where unmarried people were having sex? Throughout this time, I would decide that I was no longer reading romances, only books written by Christians. And then… I would miss my romances. So I would go back to them, and then feel so guilty, as if I had failed my future husband and God and myself by reading these “secular” books. Ugh. My poor little college self! (There were Christian romances but ugh, they were so cheesy and poorly written, and I just couldn’t get through them.) My reading life was very chaotic at this point, with a lot of internal angst on what I “should” be reading.
And Beyond
Not much changed after college, and I continued to read the same books as always: Christian books with the occasional romance thrown in there. I didn’t even talk about books much on my blog! As an example, in 2020, I wrote 50 blog posts in my “Books” category. For the first three years of blogging, the only book posts I wrote were book reviews for TLC Book Tours (remember those, friends?!). It wasn’t until 2014 that I started writing monthly book review posts and started to be a little more vocal about my reading life.
In real life, I was still pretty quiet about my love for reading. I didn’t advertise about it, and though I always wanted to bring a book with me to work to read on my lunch break, I felt silly doing so. I guess I just didn’t want to be the weirdo who sits alone on her lunch break reading. Once I had more friends at work, though, and they happily advertised their love for reading and would read at their desks during their lunch breaks, it was almost as if I had the permission to do so myself. This was also around the time when Bookstagram became more of a big thing on Instagram and I started listening to more bookish podcasts. And talking about books with other people meant getting book recommendations and learning that there was a whole wide world of books out there beyond what I was reading. (I also think being part of TLC Book Tours and joining a book club helped me, too, as it introduced me to many books I wouldn’t have otherwise picked up myself.)
Today, I feel like I read much more widely than ever before. I’ve stopped reading Christian books entirely because, well, the Christian church has changed a lot in the past decade and I want very little to do with it now. I still love romances and no longer feel guilty for reading these books anymore, even the ones with very steamy sex scenes. But I also love thrillers and mysteries and literary fiction and YA and contemporary fiction and historical fiction and memoirs and social justice books. I love that I try to seek out experiences and cultures that are so different than my own. I love that I can be a recommendation source for others. And I love knowing that, in another decade, my reading life may look completely different than it does today. Readers are people and, as we evolve, so too does our reading.
I loved the Sweet Valley High books when I was probably in grade five, and I actually did reread a couple of them a few years ago. THEY WERE WILD. I mean, one was all about a motorcycle accident Elizabeth was in where her personality became Jessica’s. Then there was one where Jessica snuck out to a college party and the cover photo is so hilarious; the guy has the worst moustache you have ever seen in your life. I have to say, they gave me the wrong idea about what high school would be like.
I read Elvis and Me when I was about 12 and I thought it was SO romantic at the time, and jesus god, it is not. It is crazy, crazy, bananatown. Like, hello grooming. Hello weirdo.
My aunt gave me The Mists of Avalon when I was about 15 and I read that sucker so many times. I loved it. I loved LM Montgomery when I was a kid, and Louisa May Alcott. Little Women was a favourite, and all the sequels, but I also read Eight Cousins and Rose in Bloom and HOOOOOO BOY that one doesn’t really read well by today’s standards. Which male cousin should Rose marry? They want to keep the fortune in the family. WHAT THE WHAT. It’s amazing I’m not more weird from all my weird reading. Oh oh oh and I read a very old book that was my grandmother’s called Elsie’s Holidays In Roselands, and for the love of god, do not read that book. IT WAS THE MOST BANANAS OF ALL THE BANANAS BOOKS. Also sooooo racist. I mean, it was written in the South in the late 1800s, so I’m not sure what I’d expect but WHOA.
I know those SVH books you are talking about! A podcast I love started recapping the books but they stopped around book 10 because they just hated the characters so much, lol. I don’t know why I was so enamored with Jessica and Elizabeth growing up. And I think the series ends with a huge earthquake where a lot of their friends die?!?!?! LIKE WHAT. Soooo crazy.
I love this so much!! I’ve been reading as long as I can remember & man, those Sweet Valley High books were so fun – I think I read a generic version of it – but still loved it.
Yep – I remember buying books as a teenager & young adult in the Christian bookstore – but yeahhhhh – I’m with you – its not the same “church” anymore & really dont care to support with my funds.
I love as an adult, you can read whatever genre you want – & enjoy it no matter what. Reading is entertainment – let it scare you, thrill you, mystify you, romance you .. & then move on to the next 🙂
I loved going to the Christian bookstore and perusing their shelves of books! The early aughts were a good time for Christian self-help/fiction, but ughhh, I could not handle it today!
And yes, we should celebrate our reading and read whatever makes us happy! It’s a hobby and it should be enjoyable. 🙂
I loved reading about your evolution as a reader. I started reading very young, too (one of my great-aunts always gave my sister and I a book in a children’s series for birthdays and Christmases and I always looked forward to getting a new book, reading it and displaying the series on my bookshelf!).
Reading ebbs and flows for me, I don’t ready nearly as much as you do, but I love that books are always there for an escape or just a pleasurable activity 🙂
As much as I love reading, sometimes I wonder what life would be like if my life didn’t revolve around reading so much! Sometimes I get so panicked if I go a day without reading, which is silly! Sometimes life gets busy and it’s OKAY if we don’t read every day. I just need to remember that!
I love the story about your great-aunt giving you a book in a children’s series for every birthday and Christmas! What a special memory. <3
This was fun to read! We have a lot of favorite books in common from our childhood/school years! I was always a huge reader and that love was fostered by my parents and grandparents. Except I did not have access to a library except the school library. My town was tiny – 500 – so I get why there wasn’t a library. But I sure am glad my kids will have access to a library. I was a voracious reader and remember begging my mom to buy me BSC books. I also remember having a sleepover with a friend and we ended the night by sitting side-by-side in bed, each reading our BSC book. I read less in college since it was harder to fit in on top of classes and working up to 3 jobs (!!!) at a time and my social life. But I vividly remember reading “The Pilot’s Wife.”
I’ve always been known as a reader and have really owned that identity in my group of friends. I loved being able to buy books for myself once I was out in the world on my own and making money, and I definitely bought WAY TOO MANY. But I loved that friends viewed my apartments as their own personal library that they could borrow from. Now I very rarely buy books for myself and instead buy books for my kids so that has really really changed.
We got so many compliments on our book-themed wedding so I am glad I pulled that theme off in a really classy, memorable way!
It makes me so sad that you didn’t have access to a library growing up! I don’t know what I would have done without mine – it was so essential to me and such a big part of my memories from growing up. But I’m glad you were able to foster your love for reading even still! And I’m glad you get to enjoy access to a big library system today!
Your book-themed wedding still stands out to me as something I would love to do myself if I were to ever get married and have a wedding! It was so cool!
I used to LOVE Sweet Valley High, but would NEVER want my daughter to read them now. (I was her age when I started reading them, if not younger).
I also read the Left Behind Series and Mandie books (I literally don’t think I’ve ever met someone else that read Mandie books; my Dad was a Baptist minister so, like you, I definitely “snuck” in some outside books).
Harry Potter was huge for me in middle/high school.
I mostly read non-fiction now. I don’t enjoy reading romance fiction much at all, and don’t like “gritty” books either. Excessive swearing, violence etc really, really puts me off of a book now. The worst is when I’m partway into a book I like and then BAM, the content changes into something I don’t enjoy reading.
I remember being so annoyed that my mom didn’t want me to read Sweet Valley High books when I was a 6th grader. Now, I very much agree with her decision, ha!
MANDIE!! <3 I have a feeling those books didn't age well (considering there was probably some problematic indigenous representation) but I will always have a fond spot in my heart for those books. I wanted to be best friends with Mandie.
What an interesting topic. I remember reading Babysitters Club and Sweet Valley High books, but I feel like I really spent most of my childhood reading Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys. I do wonder if any of those books hold up as an adult.
It’s interesting that you read the Left Behind books. They were always on the best sellers lists and I literally knew NO ONE who read them and was constantly confused by them. I’m also fascinated that you thought you had to hide your bookworm status. I always had a book in my hand and never really thought about trying to hide it. I guess I always knew I was never cool and never tried to hide my lameness. 🙂
Ohh, I forgot about Nancy Drew! I was definitely someone who read a ton of Nancy Drew and loved those books. I didn’t read Hardy Boys, though. I always felt like I “couldn’t” read books that were geared towards boys. Ugh!
Oh man, the Left Behind books were so big in my evangelical church! Everyone was reading them, haha.
Have you read the book Paperback Crush by Gabrielle Moss? It’s a non-fiction book that looks at the history of the vintage YA books of the 80s and 90s. It’s a hilarious nostalgia trip and actually made me look up some books that Moss mentioned which I didn’t read as a tween because they sounded so intriguing. Paperback Crush itself isn’t terribly well written and ends rather abruptly, but definitely worth a read for the trip down memory lane.
I’ve been thinking of my own reading journey lately because my own ten year old got into my romance novels, and asked if I had any books with “just kissing” in them. Hah! I had some Regency Romance, but she didn’t quite take to those. It got me thinking of what would be an age appropriate romance novel for her. She’s a biracial child so I felt like the idealization of the blond hair blue eyed size six teenager of Sweet Valley High that i read at that age wasn’t really what I wanted to steer her towards. There were the Sunfire series when I was younger that I really liked.
(If you have any thoughts or suggestions….?)
I did read Paperback Crush! I really loved that book, especially all the fun book covers. It brought back so many memories for me!
There are so many great YA love stories out there these days! Some I would recommend to your reader: Pride by Ibi Zoboi, Tokyo Ever After by Emiko Jean, Tweet Cute by Emma Lord, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han, and Fat Chance Charlie Vega by Crystal Maldonado. Some of my favorite YA authors: Sarah Dessen, Nicola Yoon, Julie Buxbaum, and Jennifer E. Smith. Hopefully this is a good starting point!
I love this SO MUCH. My goodness. Saddle Club! I didn’t think anyone else read those, nor did I think anyone other than my best friend and I read the Christy Miller series. I also read Trixie Belden, Nancy Drew, and the Christopher Miller “horror” books. My college reading was also similar – for the first few years, I was a part of a very conservative (in hindsight) Christian group on campus that significantly impacted my engagement with others at college (restricted, to say the least) and my outlook on life. I got out of that group senior year, thank goodness, and started to become who I am now. Anyway! Long rambling to say yes, I had similar experiences at many of the same stages of life, and I love reading about how you were then shaped who you are now. (Also SVH – what the WHAT? I mean, really? That was NOT high school!)
SVH was such a WILD series. What kind of high school IS that?! What a crazy series. I don’t think I could stomach the series today – it did not age well at all!
Christy Miller!! Christy + Todd 4Ever. <3