It seems like when it comes to reading, people really only need to be divided into two categories: readers and non-readers. Either you love reading and really enjoy spending time reading a good book or you don't. There doesn't seem to be much of an in between area.
I've wondered what it is that makes some people readers and some not. People who read may be considered, by some, to be more intellectual but I don't think that has much to do with it. I know plenty of people who are intelligent, thoughtful people but have, at some point, used the phrase, "I"m not much of a reader." Does it come down to the whole Nature vs. Nurture thing? I can't remember anything specific that my parents did, any sort of tradition that would have pushed me in the direction of being a reader. I know that my sisters enjoy reading now but I don't think they devoured books as voraciously as I did when I was a kid.
It seems like I was reading books almost right from the womb. I have clear memories of myself as a kid standing next to my bed, getting ready to go wherever, but being slowed in my task considerably by the fact that there was an open book on the bed that I continued to read as I dressed. I could not stop.
Unfortunately (at least today, anyway), that hasn't changed in adulthood. Last night, I headed off to bed at about midnight, which is my normal time. This is the life of a night owl. I often hear newly married people talk about how now that they are married, they go to bed at 9 or 10 o'clock and I just mark it down as one more reason not to get married. I may be part vampire. Anyway, my typical nighttime once-I'm-in-bed ritual is to read for 10 or 15 minutes from whatever book I'm reading at the moment and then turn the light off and go to sleep. I'd always love to keep reading but because I'm not spoiled and don't have the ability to work from home, I have to get up at 7 and be to work by 8. But last night, I absolutely could not stop. I'm currently reading this book and it just so happened that the part I started reading last night was when the story was getting really, really REALLY DAMN GOOD and I could not stop reading until around 2:30 in the morning. And believe me, when your job involves sitting in front of a computer monitor all day, having 4 hours of sleep SUCKS. It is impossible not to get Old-man-at-church Syndrome (also called MY-DAD Syndrome) and start worrying that your neck is going to snap the next time you nod off. I wanted to stop. Even as I was reading, the thought was in the back of my mind that I was going to have a really hard time at work today. However, the front of my mind was saying SHUT THE HELL UP BACK THERE. I NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. So I kept reading. And yes, work really sucked today. And I'm almost done with the book so it's for sure going to happen again tonight and there isn't a thing I can do about it.
So, are you a reader? What do you think made you or didn't make you a reader?
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Hey! Just because I'm at home doesn't mean I don't have to get 8 hours of work in a day. Ok, so I don't have to and often don't (like today -- a whole 2 hours so far), but when I'm not, I can't take a nap or read because I have to take care of the dog or clean up the house or something else so I don't feel guilty. AND I wake up at 7:30 every morning!
I read tons as a kid, but my dad is also a reader, if ever there were a reader, he's it. He reads more than anyone I know. I don't read as much as him, but I've always cherished books my entire life.
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