*$20 Amazon Card CONTEST* - What inspired your love of reading?

My love for reading started as a child, my mom would have me read to her at every night. Reading helped me a lot especially with learning new words and how to pronounce them, my vocabulary got bigger. From then on have been reading books non-stop and love seeing new places have never been to. Reading is a joy, a treasure, a gift, something everyone should be doing.

 

The greatest story of all is life. And the best method to tap into that magic is by reading and at the same time, learning. There's no other feeling that can be compared to reading a good book.
For me, reading and writing is like breathing. It's just something I have to do, if I don't, I feel the lack of it and I'm not myself. Without books the world would be sad and one of the greatest crimes against humanity is burning books. Remember that old saying: "All bad starts with burning books." Well it's true and it does. Just this last sentence tells us how much literature is a big part of life, or at least it should be.
So let your soul breathe and read-read-read.

 

I am from a family of nine growing up in a row house in Philadelphia.Christmas of 1963 I received my first Hardy Boys book.The Christmas music was playing,the television was on,and the family was in high spirits,There was happy noise all around me.I was clutching The Tower Treasure and looking for a quiet corner to read when I decided to crawl under the platform.With trains,houses,lights above me I settled into a comfortable spot between boxes and wrapping paper and other objects hidden till the holidays were over.I opened my book and was immersed in Bayport.I was transported to a different dimension.The story and characters unfolded before me and I read with a euphoria that I never felt before.It was magic I was like Alice falling through a rabbit hole experiencing in a way I never new.I still relish a good read and I never lost the power to go to that place.What a Christmas!

 

My love of reading started when I was a young child. My grandma got me into the Weekly Reader book club and every week, I got a book. However, I think my love for stories began much earlier with that when my other grandmother gave my Grimm's Fairy Tales 1976 ed. It was a beautiful book with all those great old English-seventies large eyed children and adult illustrations that one cannot get from a book today. I was a sickly child. I was an only child at the time living in an all adult community being raised by grandparents. Books got me out of my head when I was too sick to go outside or wasn't allowed. As I grew older, my tastes changed but I went from reading Fairy Tales and whimsical fiction to lots of non fiction, since I was always curious-I still am. By the time I was a teenager I was reading anything I could-the classics, contemporary, horror novels, non fiction, and books that made me ask questions about the world I lived in. Being an early reader and book lover led to me being a writer. I wrote everything-was inspired by EVERYTHING. Books also helped drown out the cruelty of some of my peers; I didn't have to be the girl who didn't fit in-I could be a femme fatale, a queen, Joan of Arc, Agent Starling, or even Suzanne Vale. Books have always been there for me for so many reasons and events in my life. If I had never read Little Red Riding Hood by Brothers Grimm, I may never had written my first novel, Cursed Awakening.

 

RANDOM winner?

 

Stubborn pride, and books. I was the youngest, both in my family and in our circle of friends, and was always trying to keep pace with the older children. When I was six or seven, I wanted to read the book a twelve-year old was reading. He laughed and said I wouldn't understand it; I was too young. The book was 'Five Go Adventuring Again' by Enid Bylton. When I insisted, he gave me the book.
English is not my native tongue and the book was for Middle Graders. I found reading it difficult and honestly speaking, did not understand most of it. But the stubborn pride I mentioned did not let me admit it. I read another book, and another, mostly to prove that I could read with the best of them, and the magic of books did the rest.

 

I can't remember my exact age, but I must have been 10 or 12. Something like that. Both my folks worked so my sister and I would go to our grandparent's house after school. They lived about a five minute walk from the school. Grandpa wanted to watch the news all the time so my sister and I wandered over to the local library. It was also about a five minute walk away, although in a different direction. It wasn't long until I realized that I could go anywhere inside those four walls.

Anywhere.

Space, prehistoric times, big cities, jungles, deserts. I could be the detective, the cool kid, the bullied kid, even the bully. I could be a Hardy boy. I could open my mind and experience things that were a hundred times better than what I saw on TV.

I loved it and read as much as I possibly could. The place is long closed down, but I can remember so many of the details from inside that building. It was wonderful.

And that is where my love of reading started.

RC

 

My love of reading started when i was 10 years old in primary school. I took part in a "readathon" to raise money for MS resaerch.

Before that i hated reading! I loved writing but could never get through a whole book! I had tried to read Harry Potter but I never got into it.

So we had one week to read as much as possible, some classes were cancelled to give us more time. We were sponsored a certain amount for every book we read. A friend of mine had an aunt who suffered from MS so I wanted so badly to raise as much money as possible but I'm not the lying type so I had to force myself to read as much as I could.

The first book took a huge effort but I did it! I think it was Under the Hawthorn Tree by Marita Conlon McKenna. A short book but it felt like an eternity to me! Then I read Alone on a Wide Wide Sea by Michael Morpurgo...This book changed my life! This was the first book I ever fell in love with. Before that reading was a chore to me. I could not put this book down! I read it in one day, which was a massive achievement for me! It was so gripping and emotional. It was a wonderful book, one I still go back to from time to time.

That was when I fell in love with reading! Since then I haven't been able to put a book down! I think reading is a wonderful thing especially for those who have a huge imagination. All of a sudden you become part of the story!

I hope you enjoyed my entry!
Sophie

 

I can still remember when a friend of mine lent me a book to read. I did not read
before that time, and the discovery or reading was life changing.

I was 13 and it was a young adult romance book, a novel from the Sweet Dreams
series. From that first book I read, I became hooked. I loved the pictures I created
in my head from the words I read.

It felt like I was watching television, but so much better.

I would read during commutes, electricity black-outs (living in Asia), where I
would end up using a candle or a flashlight and times when I get told to go to
sleep and turn the light off, and I would end up with my flashlight on and read
under the covers. Oh happy memories...

From reading, my eyes were opened to a whole new world. It took me to different
places, time and situations that I can only imagine. Through reading I got to
witness Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy interact. I was able to travel through time and
different galaxies. I was exposed to the world created in Atlas Shrugged by Ayn
Rand. It made me feel the pain of the father in John Grisham's, A time to Kill, the
feeling of excitement and awe when Ayla rode her horse in the Clan of the Cave
Bear series or to learn how Barbara Corcoran got to where she is.

Reading had a tremendous impact on my grasp of the English language. A language I was not born into.

 

As a child, I read every now and again, usually stuff like Romana Quimby and Goosebumps, but it wasn't until I was about 12 when I really understood what a great book could do for me.

I borrowed a random book from my school library because of a class assignment. I didn't even know what it was until I got home. The cover was colorful and had what looked like a dragon's mouth opened like a cave. I remember that there were two people walking inside. The title was The Secret to Dragonhome, written by John Peel.

I was supposed to read a chapter a night, and then give a brief report at school. I finished the book in three days. This book changed me.

Dragons, secret talents, a handsome stranger, family, romance. It was amazing. I read it again and again. Then, I went on to Anne McCaffery's Dragonrider books. I was hooked on fantasy. I could not get enough. It was like a drug. These books were little gateways to different worlds, the perfect escape, all within pages I could hold in my hands.

I remember getting into trouble all the time for reading, instead of paying attention in class. I would ignore friends at lunch so I could read just twenty more pages. I had no social life, but I didn't care because I was living through my books. They were precious to me.

My dad then showed me his collection. Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Michael Crichton, Tolkien, etc. How could I do anything else but read?

Now, as an adult, I read all the time. I don't care if it's paperback, hard cover, e-book, fanfiction, poetry, as long as it makes me think and use my imagination.

My children are in for a whirlwind of time travel and mystical adventures, if I have my way.

 

I am 14 years old, I had fallen in love with books at the age of 8, the book series "The Magic Tree House" started it.

I love reading, I really do, its like an alternate reality, where anything is possible, through humble and honest moves, or through wrath and cruelty, by love and passion, or by force and fear, the book allows me to explore the possibilities, and enjoy them without sorrow, at least not for the most part. The book isn't for all however, I know only a handful of people who read books as a hobby, and I've noticed, those who read are usually more patient, rational and modest, those who claim they hate reading, are more irrational and impatient. I believe its in one's heart the desire to read, you're born with it, one cannot simply grow to like to read, if you like reading, you always have, it just took you some time to realize it. Just like everyone has a limit on how smart they can get, sure, you aren't born smart, but you're born with the ability to become smart. Reading is the same, you're born with the fate (if you will) to like books, and hence forth your personality is created.

I personally, think you don't need a reason to read books. I read them because I like them, and whether this is just neurological reasoning, or my personality or whatever, I just love the fact that I like reading, I can't believe if I didn't like reading how much stuff I'd miss out on!

 

I had actually stopped reading books around the time that I began my first full-time job working as a librarian for a real estate company. After I had worked there for awhile I met this really nice executive who was amazed that I was a librarian and did not read books. He came back the next day and gave me a copy of Will and Ariel Durant's The Age of Napolean which was a great narrative history, and I have been reading books ever since.

 

Tell us in 100 words (or more) why you love books and how/when you first realized how much you enjoy reading. Contest will be open until we have at least 30 entrants and a random winner will be selected to receive $20 at Amazon - for more books!

We're looking forward to hearing your stories!!

I love books for a lot of reasons!

1. You get to experience life in a million different forms through a million different viewpoints. It's a way to get a taste of the world even if you can't leave your home.
2. Every book has something to teach. Authors are people inspired to share a message, whatever that message may be. Some are inspiring, some are hopeful, some make you want to be courageous, others cautious, but they're all teaching something. When I read I like to look for what the author is trying to say and, even better, discover who the author is inside the words they've chosen to immortalize on the page.
3. You get to be a million different people. When I read a book I more or less experience myself as part of it, so for the brief time between the covers of the book, I get to be somebody else and see the world through their eyes. I love it.
4. You get to disappear into somebody else's fantasy. It's always a surreal experience to finish a book and rejoin the real world. A bit jarring sometimes, but it's fun!
5. Books can and do change lives. Words are magical little squiggles that may or may not alter your life if you read them.

I can't remember when I first realized how much I enjoyed reading. I was four when I learned to read and I don't remember ever stopping from that point on. I was buying books through the Scholastic papers when I was eight and had no money. I was reading books far beyond my age level when I was ten. I would frequently read a book, finish it, and then read it again because I loved it so much growing up. I literally dreamed of having my own hidden library. Pretty much books consumed my life growing up. As an adult, they still consume my life except now I write them and I read them. It's more fun.