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Passing the time during a hurricane. |
While writing a guest post for Between the Lines, a great
blog by writer Sherry Rentschler, aka @poetphoenix on Twitter, I was looking back on when
books finally caught my attention. For
me, it was during Algebra class in ninth grade when a friend handed me Lord
Foul’s Bane by Stephen R. Donaldson. At
first, it was merely a vehicle to help me escape having to learn something I
was positive I was never going to need.
However, as I hid the book inside my textbook, Mr. Donaldson’s
characters gripped me and I couldn’t put in down. It became more than a distraction. It was total infatuation with the genre and
his characters. Within a couple of weeks
I had read all six books in the series and was hungering for more.
Since the adventures of Thomas Covenant, White Gold Wielder
and Leper sparked my imagination, I have been an avid reader who would rather
enjoy the characters on the page than the people in the real world at
times. From that moment on, there has
always been a novel within reach wherever I could be found.
That’s usually how it happens, especially for those who
before hated the thought of reading.
Char was that way. When we met
she avoided books at all costs. If she
had to do a book report, she’d pray it had been turned into a movie, so she
could watch it, instead. If that didn’t
work, then Cliff Notes became her best friend, and her opening line would then
read, “This book obviously wasn’t a good read because it was never turned into
a movie.”
Our first year of marriage I took on the task of trying to
change her mind about literature. I
picked out Piercing the Darkness by Frank Peretti and we would spend a little
time each evening reading a chapter. I
suppose I wasn’t reading fast enough because by the time I came home from work
on the third evening, Char had finished the book and wanted to go purchase the
sequel. It was from that moment she
became hooked on reading and we began fighting for shelf space.
As our children entered the world, I strived to make readers
out of all of them. Nathan and Chris went
willingly, one thanks to the books of Brian Jacques and the other with ghost
stories and R.L. Stines. However, Zac
was my challenge. He has always been my
more physically rambunctious child. While
the others were quite content getting lost in a book, Zac only saw them as
props to build a skateboard ramp. I
tried everything. We bought him books on
surfing or skateboarding, whatever activity he was into at the time. Nothing worked. He would read articles, but anything longer
than a two-page spread forget it.
Finally, I just surrendered and stopped making suggestions.
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Beach day with a good book. |
A few months ago, Zac sat down and said, “I have a book I
want you to read.”
I just stared at him.
“What?”
“You read a book? A
whole book?”
He laughed. “Yeah,
I’m surprised, too. This book is great,
though, and I think you’ll enjoy it.” He
then handed me a copy of To Tame a Land by Louis L’Amour. My first thought was that his grandmother
would be proud as it was her favorite author.
Zac has been reading ever since he handed me that book and to me that is
greater than all As on a report card.
When people tell me that they just aren’t readers, my reply
is that they just haven’t found the right book, yet. Everyone has one. They just have to keep trying. For me, it was Lord Foul’s Bane. What was it for you? If you haven’t found it yet, I’d be happy to
offer some great suggestions, such as Reaping the Harvest. Sorry, couldn’t resist the plug.
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Did you enjoy what you read? Leave me a comment and then join me at The Mess that Is Me on Facebook!
Thanks for visiting The Mess!
By now you know that I am a lover of books. I am also a lover of this post...CHEERS x 10 for this one! If I could marry SUKI (the book) you know I would...I have to tell all my fellow lover of books about this one! *clink*
ReplyDeleteThank you, Christina! I also love books and we have our own library here which grows daily. Thanks for your constant support and encouragement!
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