As those who have read my blog for a while know, one of the things that most intrigues me is why we read, and how books interact with our lives. I really like books that talk about this topic and will recommend them heartily. I’ve also discussed the fact that one of my ongoing sadnesses is the fact that my youngest is not a reader.
The other day, I heard this lovely StoryCorps piece on my NPR station. While I don’t condone stealing (or borrowing without asking)* the story was incredibly touching and tied in with my thoughts. This is how it ended: "I credit Mrs. Grady for getting me in the habit of enjoying reading, so that I was able to go to law school and survive," Neal said.
What a gift that Mrs. Grady gave, and I pray that the same gift is given to my reluctant reader at some point in his life, and with trembling, it may even be from me. It is also a reminder that we touch the lives of those around us. As we prepare for a new Church School year, it is a something I need to remember in the classes that I co-teach.
*This is a repost for those who read my Facebook, my apologies
posted by Mimi @ 10/07/2009 12:26:00 PM
12 Comments
12 Comments:
He does read, you know. Just not in the same all-inclusive way some others in our family do *blush*. Mark was a reluctant reader - and now is voracious. Many others in the family as well. Sooner or later, something will click and he'll be off and reading in a way that will make your heart sing!
I know your sadness. My oldest won't read a book. Won't. Never has liked to read.
My daughter loves books like I do, and, happily, my youngest has found the love of reading again after a two year slump.
And, like the first commenter said, my oldest is reading, just not books. He reads for school, reads stuff on the internet (maybe not all good since it is WOW).
I think Cathi is right. Some of us are born bookworms and others need a catalyst. It's not as if Youngest is growing up in a home where books aren't respected, he knows they are valuable but he just hasn't found a reason to value them himself yet but as time passes and his horizons widen it may happen - and however it happens the original understanding that books are important will have come from you anyway.
The verification word is "mumbuggi", is that short for, "Yikes, mum is still bugging me to read!"?
Nice story! thanks for the link to it.
Don't worry too much - we all have to find our way in things - and I know of people who started reading later in life... and some guys I know read, but it takes them a lot longer to get through a book ... which feels like not reading to those of us who are bookworks and think nothing of reading a whole mystery book in one sitting! :)
and I really like literature, but it is not my main reading material. I am a mystery book reader for sure! Anyway, my love to you and try not to feel too sad. :)
Thanks for welcoming me to your blog last week, Mimi. I check your blog out all the time--and I have always admired the fact that you are such an avid reader.
I, too, am an avid reader (although I definitely do not read nearly as fast as you do). I usually read about four books at once, and I usually like to have one piece of classic literature going. I just finished The Portrait of a Lady, and I am about to start Anna Karenina. I also am reading Flannery O'Connor's Habit of Being, and I intend to start Kathleen Norris's book about acedia.
I don't know how I would have survived life without reading. Apart from my faith, reading has gotten me through so many hard times. I often use it to escape, but many times I use it to find truth, beauty, and pleasure. And I am one of those people who absolutely believes there is truth in fiction!
No one in my family is a big reader so sometimes they have a hard time understanding me. Also my two closest friends are men--who are truly intellectuals--but who are not readers. So they don't my obsession with reading either.
It is nice to know there are other avid readers out there for whom reading is an essential part of their lives!
PS I had fun going back and looking at the earlier blogs that you linked to. That is interesting that you saw readers around you at the airport.
I thought about the readers around me this morning when I was waiting at the doctor's office for a visit. There were quite a few people, and I appeared to be the only who brought a book with me to hold me over. And this is not the first time I have been to this specific doctor's office and made this observation.
You might want to check out You or Someone Like You by Chandler Burr. The main character sees the world through books, which I could very much relate to. (However, I was not too keen on the negative view toward God and Orthodox Judaism that Burr portrays.)
Okay I am done with this second post for the day! I could go on and on about books all day if you let me!
Mom - that's true, he really does read, just grumbles about it. I really believe he will someday be off and reading,and that's true
Sarah, reading is reading. I love that your daughter is a reader.
Margi - thank you, hugs. And, bwahahahhah The verification word is "mumbuggi", is that short for, "Yikes, mum is still bugging me to read!"?
Yes, I'm sure, that is it.
Elizabeth - that's a good point - and speaking of that, have you read Victoria Thompson's Gaslight Mysteries. I picked up #3 yesterday (and am about 10 pages from the end, grin!). I like them a lot, the characters are interesting, she's a midwife, and the social mores are well written.
Ali - waves! You are about the eleventybillionth person (including Elizabeth, above) who has recommended Norris' book to me. I just put it on my PBS list.
And, thank you for your kind words about my earlier blog posts. Yes, I usually pull out a book at the doctor's office, unless I forgot, in which case I read a 5 year old Sports Illustrated.
I have some hope for you: my sister was never a big reader. My mother and I can devour books, and she never read more than magazines. However, at twenty-four years old, she has finally started reading. She even read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society after I recommended it. So have hope! It just might take him another 8-10 years :)
Hey Mimi, no I have not read these.. will have to look for them sometime! Thanks!
Yes, Norris is a good read; my faves of hers are still _the cloister walk_ and _amazing grace a vocabulary of faith_. The one on Aceida is good because it has a lot of insights, but she really shines in her shorter essays that together build a beautiful story of faith and struggle
I was also the lone book-challenged one in our family, and always kind of felt bad about it. Now I love reading -- that snuck up on me in my 20s and 30s.
I think that reading began to take off for me when I found books that I really liked. Trying to keep up with a family of bookworms had me picking up books that didn't interest me and then feeling guilty that I wasn't interested. (I remember reading Gone with the Wind when I was a kid, not because I had any interest in it but just because it was the fattest book I had ever seen and I felt like I had something to prove.)
Grace - that's a good point as well, I struggle with that we are inadvertently giving him guilt about reading.
At his Teacher conference, he was told he had to read, and was fed up with the book of short stories he's working on, and the teacher told him it is ok to put it down. He loved that, and we got the second and third Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and he's been off like a shot.
I suspect I'm buying the fourth one soon.
I heard that StoryCorps, too, and found it very touching. I loved that librarian for the effort she made.
My younger brother is another former reluctant reader. As a young kid he just had no interest in sitting still to read, but as a teen he came to find it worth his while, and as an adult enjoys reading and writing.
A little time and space was all he needed to be an reader since he had opportunity and examples all along.
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