I’ve loved to read for as long as I can remember. I’m pretty sure I started doing it because I always wanted to be as cool as my sister Katie, and she read all the time. But there was also Book IT!, the reading program where I got a personal pizza from Pizza Hut for every five books I read. That was a big motivator, for sure.
Either way, I read like a crazy person when I was little. My favorites were all The Boxcar Children books, which kept me busy for 143 books. And then the Sweet Valley which were another hundred. I eventually graduated to big kid books and I will now basically read everything that is recommended to me. I do have an annoying habit of needing to finish terrible books. I don’t know why I do this. Can someone help me break it?
Anyway, some things I know about being a bookworm:
1. It’s impossible to read a book laying down, for a couple reasons: I will fall asleep if I lay down for too long. There is no comfortable way to hold a book for a long period of time while laying down. Usually, if I lay down it’s because I’m cold and want to be covered by a blanket. And then I’m forced to “turn pages” on my Kindle using my nose. It’s awkward, just trust me.
2. The piles. There are soooooooo many piles of books all over my house. The ones I will “get to eventually.” Just from my desk alone, I can count four different piles of books I keep intending to read, all at least four deep. It’s depressing to think about actually. Also, I know that our house would burn faster than a pile of wood because paper.
3. Recommendations. Everyone always asks me for book recommendations. And while I can confidently say what I enjoyed, it’s almost impossible to know what others enjoy. So I end up giving all these qualifiers, “Well, only if you like romance. Don’t read it if you haven’t been to ______. Do you like gummy bears? This is only for people who like gummy bears.” I’m sorry if I recommended a book you hate. I can’t be in your brain.
4. I have a constant battle of, “Should I buy it?” or “I guess being 136th person to put this on hold from the library isn’t all that bad.”
5. Speaking of the library, I love it. But sometimes I will go through a week where I add a new book to my holds list each day and then they all become available at once. I can’t finish six books in three weeks! It’s just not possible library! Dear Denver Public Library, may I suggest a staggering system? Where you let the person behind me have it until I finish the other five? K, thanks.
6. My bag is always heavier than it needs to be, because there is always a book in it. Just this week, I went to the grocery store and realized that I had been carrying the largest Harry Potter book around all day, as well as my Kindle. You just never know when you’re going to read a book. The weirdest slash worst places I’ve whipped out a book: at a sporting event, sitting in traffic, waiting in line literally anywhere, on treadmills, and at social gatherings.
7. I think everyone should get into the habit of reading. If you think you hate reading, you’re reading the wrong stuff. I give every family client of mine a book because I think that good stories promote good writing and everyone should write about their life. (More on that here.) But also because if kids fall in love with reading at a young age, it will carry them into adolescence and adulthood with a healthy outlet to escape the world. Sometimes we need a brain break and that’s ok. The best thing I’ve ever done for myself is creating the habit of reading a book instead of watching TV. It’s changed my life and I think it would change yours too! (Just don’t ask me what to read … see #3. You’re on your own.)