July 25, 2014

The Love of Reading

July 25, 2014

 
Being able to read is a treasure.  Or maybe the books are the treasure and the ability to read them is the key that opens them and lets their messages into our hearts and souls.  There was a brief time in the early 1950's when educators decided that phonics did not need to be taught in school and that happened to be about the time I was learning to read in first grade.  As I recall, there were 2 first grade classes in my school and one taught phonics and one didn't.  I landed in the class that did not teach phonics.  Instead we learned to memorize words and then put them together as we would read.  That was an experiment that failed at that time, but they discovered that too late to help me.

Because of that method of teaching reading, I am not a fast reader.  Reading has been a challenge for me for much of my life.  I was smart and could remember what was said in class and could usually learn the material by just listening to what the teacher said in the classroom and didn't have to read the text all the time.  I could read, but it was slow going.  Assigning me a chapter to read in a history book was a terrible punishment.  Having to read a book for a book report was not fun.  There were times that I read for pleasure, but not as many as there should have been.

During one history class in high school, the teacher asked me to grade papers for her.  I think she figured I might learn history by reading the work of the other students.  One test I took in her class was all essay questions and I did my best to fake my way through the test.  She wrote something on the paper along the lines of I was good at creative writing, but not at giving factual answers to her questions.

In college, the Dean of Students hand selected a group for her Freshman Orientation class and I was in it.  One day she was testing us and we were to read a selection and then answer a set of questions.  At one point as we were reading, she said, "Mark," and we were to mark how far we had read at that time.  Then we were to continue to read and answer the questions.  After a few days, we were each scheduled for a one-on-one session with her to go over the test.  When I went to see her, she told me I had the highest comprehension score in the class, but the lowest reading rate.  I read slowly, but I knew what I had read.

My husband is an avid reader and always has been.  I have read over the years, often for information as our children were growing up.  I read child care books, books on allergies (since all of our boys suffered from allergies), cookbooks, Bible study books, my Bible of course, and books on becoming all that I could be serving the Lord, and as a wife and homemaker.  There was not much time while the boys were little to read for pleasure, but I had a few shelves of books.

As time went on and as the boys grew up, I had a little more time for reading and the books were often craft related, homemaking, or gardening; still not too much fiction.  About 12 years ago I discovered the world of Christian fiction.  I began to find books that were fun to read and still brought me closer to the Lord as I saw the characters dealing with various situations.  I have always wanted to help people with their problems and these books gave me new insight.  I continued to read my Bible and to read non-fiction books by Christian authors that would help me grow spiritually.  My bookcases grew in numbers and the books were overflowing the available space.  

Now with my Kindle, I can walk around with 93 books in my purse, just waiting to be read.  I could add more, but at the moment that is the number on stand-by.  Often after I read a book, I will write to the author and make comments about how the book touched my life and made me think.  Many of these authors have answered my notes.  I often send emails since currently many authors include an email address at the end of their books.  There are several authors who are my Facebook friends and I enjoy following the progress of their next books or seeing pictures of their gardens and pets, and family.

Not all the books I read are by Christian authors, but most are.  I have enjoyed murder mysteries over the years, but it gets harder and harder to find "clean" books in the assorted sections of the bookstores.  I know that in the Christian fiction section, I can trust the story lines to be what I want to read.   With the expansion of e-books, authors can more easily get their works published, but it can be harder for us to find the type of books we want.  In the mystery section, more and more of the books include psychics, witches, and ghosts.  That is not what I am interested in reading.  Tonight I just finished a book that I completely enjoyed reading.  The author is Catherine Ryan Hyde and the book is Take Me With You.  It is a new release and an ad appeared in my Kindle a couple of days ago about the book.  I am glad I bought it to download to my Kindle. 

Next on my reading list is a book by a friend, Rebecca McLendon titled The Day I Grew Wings - Journey of a Soul with a Destiny.  Rebecca (Becky) has been a friend since childhood and we re-connected a few years ago on Facebook.  Becky has retired from teaching and shares her inspiration and encouragement to all of her Facebook friends along with her love for the Lord.  If you were to read any of Becky's Facebook postings it wouldn't take you long to know that God is the center of her life and she is delighted with that arrangement.  She is a gifted musician and loves to play the piano as well as write music.  Recently at 65+, as a grandma, she took up flying and is now a private pilot.  This book takes us on her journey to earn her pilot's license, but shows us what God has been teaching her during that time.  It reminds each of us to look for those teaching moments in our lives.  I have just started Becky's book, but know I will enjoy it.

I may still need to go back and take a speed reading class as I become more and more dependent on the closed-captioning on the television set.  I do continue to use the audio books along with the e-books to help with my listening skills since my Cochlear Implant.  I like doing that when I have time to sit and read and listen.

This shows both copies, the one on the left is the printed copy and the one on the right is the audio copy.  I have them both on my Kindle.  I hope you enjoy reading as much as I do.  It is a great activity for these hot summer days.