Every once in a while someone will ask me why I read so much. How do I possibly answer? Do I try to explain the joy I get from snuggling down with a good book and losing myself in the story? I try to explain this and most of the time I just get a dumbfounded look in response. It absolutely amazes me how many people out there DON’T read for pleasure.
My husband is one of those people. Opposites attract, I guess! He cannot comprehend how I can spend 3-4 hours a day narrating books aloud, and then settle down to read whatever book (or books) I am reading for pleasure at the moment. I have tried to explain multiple times that it is not the same thing, but he doesn’t get it.
As a child, I read all the Bobbsey Twin books (wistfully wishing I had siblings, especially twins!), moved onto The Little House on The Prairie series, Nancy Drew, Chronicles of Narnia, you get the picture. I was a somewhat lonely kid, only a few friends that I remember, but man, could those stories take me away from anything sad happening in my life! I remember reading the Wizard of Oz series in two weeks when I was 10 years old. Two of the best weeks of my childhood!
As a young teenager, suddenly I was illicitly reading my mom’s V.C. Andrews books, learning about sex and incest all at once, and Harlequin romances. I started reading Judy Bloom, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Jean Auel…you name it…I read it.
Throughout the years, and I am 50 now, I couldn’t even tell you the number of books I have gone through. I have no particular genre I favor, if it is a good story, I am there! I once heard someone criticize a few of my personal favorites as “trash” genres, usually talking about the supernatural or horror books I like. I immediately got defensive of this and started a huge debate with these folks on what constitutes “trash”. To me, all opinions are different, one man’s “trash” may be another man’s “treasure, so to speak. For example, I love the descriptive details Dean Koontz seems to favor. Only in his and Anne Rice’s books though, for some reason, in others, I get bored with it quickly. I love how Stephen King infuses humor and sarcasm into his books while scaring the shit out of you! I love how Chevy Stevens keeps me on the edge with every single one of her books. The Harry Potter books fascinated me in my 40’s! I get into all the apocalyptic, vampire, zombie books I can find. (For some reason the apocalyptic books have fascinated me lately-kinda weird). My point is, every book I like is treasure to me! It does not matter what genre it is! I TRULY do not judge a book by it’s cover, ha ha.
Everything I have written in this blog leads up to one thing…it is why I am trying my hand at narrating. Because, you see, not only MUST you love reading, you need to be good at it, and being good at it means years of experience, right? Absolutely! Bookworms do not always make good narrators, there are a few other skills you must learn to excel at this career, but I believe the number one box you must check when you get started is LOVE of reading.
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Cassandra Arnold 