Reader

For as long as I can remember, I have been a reader. Always toting a book around with me. Lover of words, I would gobble them up every day. It's not something I forced myself to learn to enjoy. It's not something I tried and sort of liked and just kept going until I loved it. It's not something I saw someone else doing and thought to be cool I would need to have my nose in a book. It came natural to me to love reading.

Growing up it was always the cool kids who shunned reading. Well, I never claimed to be cool. And I was always okay with that, with being who I was. One who loved going to the school library. One who knew each book on the "borrow" shelf in English class. Always the reader. Even though I have the tendency to be introverted, I actually enjoyed reading out loud in class, too. Whenever the teacher would have us all take turns reading passages or through a whole book, I enjoyed that. It brought the book to life by speaking the words. And I liked hearing other people read, whether they paused at the right moments, read too quickly, or stumbled over certain words. It created a unity among all of us. We were all on the same page.

With the love of reading, comes the territory of trying to share the love of reading with those who don't like to read much or don't enjoy it. Like a sort of goal of mine, I want to get people to like reading. They don't have to love it like I do, but I get excited when someone tells me they are reading something and really enjoying it. I always have the challenge before me to try to get others to read by giving them books, by encouraging them to read, and asking them questions about what they are reading. I think I might be an un-paid advocate for all the good books out there (there are some really bad books that I would discourage people from reading).

So, what are you reading right now? Do you think it would be considered a good book? Are you enjoying what you are reading or is it something you have to read for some reason (class, work, etc)? What kind of book do you enjoy the most?