I have always love to read. I love books. I love libraries. I love bookstores. I love the environment in these places and the energy in the air. I love the magic that lies between the covers of a book, a story just waiting to tell itself. I can’t remeber a time that I wasn’t completely enamored with books and reading. But, while I define myself as an avid reader, I’ve had to acknowledge that lately, I’ve not been a daily reader.
When Brent and I first got married, we were anxiously waiting for the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Book 6)
It was through that experience and the years since then that I’ve come to redefine my husband. He is an avid reader and he is a daily reader. He may only read a page or two a day, but he reads every day. Since the Harry Potter experience, we’ve probably read the same number of books, but I go in spurts with my reading and he is slow and steady.
Brent always leaves a book on the bathroom window sill that he reads from each morning or night (depending on how sleepy he is). He finally finished the book he was working on when we moved here (last July) and a new book
Brent told me that his bedtime routine included reading on his own after his parents tucked him in. He would read with a flashlight under his blankets so he wouldn’t get in trouble for staying up late. When his parents discovered this habit, they bought him a lamp. Now Sammi always takes a book to bed with her. The other night I watched her fall asleep while reading Robin Hood.
I made the comment to my mom this morning that Sammi will probably stay up all night reading a book for the first time long before I did. I distinctly remember that night. I was in 6th grade and I was reading Little Women. I was hooked. I couldn’t put it down. I was afraid I would get in trouble for staying up late to read it so I went in my closet and read in there. I read and read. I read past tired, past exhaustion and right into the world of Jo, Meg, Beth and Amy. And then, it was over. I finished the book. And emerged quietly from my closet and climbed into bed. I don’t remember the time. I don’t remember if I had school the next day. But I do remember the magic of losing myself in the world of the book.
When was the first time you stayed up late to read a book?
5 Responses to “Defining Myself: Avid Reader”
Leave a Reply
Or delivered to your inbox:
(copy/paste into your own website or blog):
My first real memory of staying up ALL night reading was my first time through the David Eddings series the Belgariad. My mom picked up the book “Pawn of Prophecy” for me at the library. I wasn’t very sure that I would like a book that my mom chose for me, but I decided to give it a try. Needless to say, I loved the book, and the 9 books that followed it. I would lay on the couch reading, just hoping that my parents wouldn’t wake up and get upset and tell me to go to bed… they usually had to tell me that.
I can’t wait for the first time we get to catch Sammi or Elli trying to sneak in their reading time. Sure everyone needs to sleep, but really you shouldn’t get too upset about reading should you?
I remember being very little, reading “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” with a flashlight, under the covers on my bed. Reading it that way made The Ghost of Christmas Future seem ever scarier!
Beautifully written. I don’t remember the first time I stayed up all night reading. I DO remember my parents bought me the “Little House on the Prairies” series for Christmas one year and were soooo frustrated when I finished them all in just a couple of days. I did the same thing with the Narnia series.
I lost myself in “Little Women” as well. I was curled up in an old rocking chair that wasn’t very comfortable but I sat there for HOURS.
[...] pages in two weeks or just about 10 pages a day. I’m lovin’ it! I mentioned before that I was trying to become a daily reader. I think I always have been but I wasn’t taking into consideration the magazines, blogs, and [...]
I love this. Have so many memories of getting busted while reading by flashlight under the covers.
I can’t remember the first book I read, but I do remember getting caught a lot. I eventually began stuffing a blanket between my door and the floor so the light wouldn’t get through and my parents wouldn’t know I was still awake.