Thoughts on those who read

I learned to read at an early age. I am not sure when, maybe Mom will comment and let you know. I have always loved books. Even as a little girl, I would have them with me everywhere I went. This picture above is me, circa 1979 (I was 3) and do you see my hands? My most prized possessions I am guessing. I have my kitty blanket there (my constant companion that I absolutely LOVED) and I have books. I am holding so many books I look like I am about to drop some. I don't remember that day, or those books. I do remember my kitty blanket and to this day I still wonder who took that thing and threw it in the garbage. Yes, I still miss it. Anyhow, back on track...I remember in the third grade I checked out a novel from the school library. It was somewhere between 250-350 pages of fine print. Anyhow, I read all day after schoolwork was finished, and then from the time I got home from school until it was finished. When I went to return it the next day, the librarian was very ugly. She told me there was NO WAY I had read that book, and that I would not be allowed to check another one out for two weeks. I was crushed. I wanted to read more. I remember crying and feeling so hurt that she didn't believe I had read it. I remember telling my grandma what the meanie librarian had said, and how upset my grandma had gotten because she KNEW what a vehement reader I was, and had seen me reading that previous evening. I think that is when she started taking me to the used book store and buying me more novels.

You know, there is just "something" different about a person who reads. I seem to understand better those that read. It is a camaraderie that is not found with every person. Even if their pleasure reading is of a different genre, a mind that reads on a regular basis is a different sort. Not that non readers are bad, because I happen to love one VERY much. But they do not look at the world the same way. It is refreshing to have those who don't, and exhilarating to be able to talk to others who do.

I married a "non-reader". He just does not get how I can stick my nose in a book so much. He is an intelligent man. He knows so many things that I don't. However, there is one major thing I have that he doesn't. That is a vocabulary with a wide range. Basically, I know big words that he doesn't and I use them. It's no big deal, he can get his point across without those words. He doesn't know how a book is ALWAYS better than the movie, because he never reads. He claims he has read one full novel in his life. I wish he knew what pleasure there was in reading. I wonder why for some people reading is a form of torture.

I know some people who like books, but in audio form. For me, that is torture. It takes away what my mind likes to imagine for itself. It gives a voice to characters and I cannot delve into the words. I cannot re-read to make sure I get the right meaning from a sentence. I cannot read a paragraph over again just to enjoy the beauty of the words. More than that, there is so much "noise" in the world, that I cannot bear to hear anymore. Reading is my escape from the noise. It is my escape from stress. It is my joy and my pleasure. It has been for MANY year. I found this next picture and it could of been of me, if I had lived back then. I LOVE BOOKS!