That was a response to my post yesterday, Reasons to Read.  Actually, I get that. I have to admit I’ve loved reading from when I first learned how to read. I probably owe this to parents who valued reading and education. My mom loved to read and I remember conversations over lunch about the books each of us were reading. She was a member of a couple of book clubs and new books would regularly arrive at our home. She enjoyed historical fiction and as I got older, I read some of this as well–books by Leon Uris come to mind. It was fun to explore the bookshelves at home, particularly as I discovered that they went two to three books deep at times. Sometimes I would just page through the encyclopedia set we had in the hall by my bedroom, fascinated that there was so much one could explore and learn.

Main Library-Youngstown Ohio

The household budget only allowed for one of us to be buying books, so I grew up with regular trips to the library–first on Saturdays to our downtown library, and later on my own to our local branch library on the west side of Youngstown. It was a “rite of passage” of sorts to get my own library card! Sometimes the librarians would help, but mostly I was allowed to wander the shelves and discover interesting books–mostly I liked science and sports, but I also remember reading books about some of the battles of World War 2–interesting because my dad was in the army during that war. It was exciting as I got older to be able to take books out of the “adult” section of the library!

West Side Library–Youngstown Ohio

If there is a lesson from this trip down memory lane, it might be that if you want to be a reader, choose your parents well! I certainly did. I also suspect I had some personal propensities to this end. I wasn’t particularly athletic as a kid, and somewhat heavyset until I reached adolescence. It was probably the case that if I couldn’t be good at baseball, at least I could be good with books! I wonder how many readers are out there with similar experiences.

What I think about more and more though are the large numbers of people who rarely or ever crack open a book–whether in physical or e-book format. I guess one of the things I hope in writing about reading and the books I read is to not only preach to the choir but also to entice some for whom reading is an infrequent practice, other than on Facebook, that there are ways books can enrich our lives that are different from other enriching activities.

That happens in different ways for me. Books capture my imagination. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in my head is far richer and more vivid than the best of Peter Jackson, and gets richer with each re-reading. Books help me understand where I came from. The biography of John Quincy Adams I recently read helped me appreciate the role he played in the abolition of slavery–something I never knew before. Books challenge my thinking. The New Jim Crow forced me to ask some serious questions about the structures of our society and how they still undergird a racialized society.

What is different about books from our visual media? At best, what they do is engage our imagination and our intellect. They give us a chance to reflect and not simply absorb an endless set of images. They allow us to do that at our own pace and time. Something that captures our attention can be re-read, reflected upon, dialogued with. Books give us words to express what might be inchoate ideas or feelings.

What I would encourage for those who sense they might be missing something and want to read more is probably analogous to our experiences of learning about wines–of which we are still woefully ignorant. But we’ve been to some wine-tastings in our area, including one recently at a local vineyard where we could talk about the characteristics of different wines, and taste the differences for ourselves. “Taste” some different types of books, kind of like different wines and find those you enjoy.

As I’ve suggested before, GoodReads is a great resource to get ideas of interesting books from the recommendations of your friends or others (GoodReads will even give you their own recommendations based on books you have read or would like to read–most are pretty good). Or just visit your local library. Chances are, there is someone there who would be glad to help you find something interesting!

I’d love to hear stories of those who have become readers after growing up and how that happened for you!