Sandi Shilhanek | Personal History of Reading...or Why I'm a Reader

Sandi Shilhanek
April 19, 2009

Yesterday Sara discussed what bugged readers and made them turn away from an author. I want to know why readers read. What is your favorite thing to read about? Do you remember discovering reading?

I personally don’t recall when, where, how, or why I learned to read. I also don’t remember the first book I read independently. I do know that my parents thought I could read until they caught me with the book upside down, and backwards, and realized I hadn’t learned to read it all, but had instead memorized it.

I’m sure I became a reader because I remember growing up somewhat lonely and friendless. Board games required at least one other person, but reading is totally independent and can be pretty much done anywhere! I know that some of my favorite books were those read to us at school, and to this day I still own copies of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlotte’s Web, and Mr. Popper’s Penguins.

Buy Your Copy today

Buy Your Copy today

Buy Your Copy today

I remember being bribed to do things with a new book, and of course that almost always worked, but how do you decide which book? Choices were and still are limitless! I don’t recall the first grown up author I read, but something tells me it was more than likely Danielle Steel’s The Promise.

So as you see I read to combat loneliness, but continue to read to venture to places that I probably won’t ever be able to afford to go to in person. I read to escape the chores that are required of a wife and mother, and which I really don’t like doing. I read to escape the frustrations that being that wife, mother, and employee often bring to me.

Now it’s your turn…why do you read? Do you remember the how, the when, the why or the what that turned you onto reading? Do you feel like the day just isn’t complete without a certain number of pages or perhaps a certain amount of reading time?

Until next week happy page turning.

Sandi Shilhanek

DFW Tea Readers Readers 'n 'ritas... celebrating literary obsessions

And of course, comments are welcome AND rewarded! I'm not sure what's in this weekend's Fresh Fiction blog bag, but let's think about this: been to two signings this week, always buy books, hmm, might be something "interesting" to win! Yah never know!

Comments

46 comments posted.

Re: Sandi Shilhanek | Personal History of Reading...or Why I'm a Reader

I've been reading ever since I can remember - hiding under the covers with a flashlight after the lights were out for the night. I'm usually reading at least two books, sometimes more. Can't imagine not reading.
(Leslie Gladnick 12:51pm April 19, 2009)

started just awhile ago with firends who read then got me hooked
(Kim h 3:27am April 19, 2009)

Sara should the mood ever hit Mr. Popper is a great story. It's really about a man who has a dream and finally achieves it, and his
family helps him even though it does require some sacrifice!

Leslie, I know many people talk about reading with the flashlight under the cover, I for one don't recall ever doing that. Is it fun? Did I
miss out on a childhood ritual?

Kim, look at all the great books and series you don't have to wait for! I hope you enjoy reading as much if not more than your friends.
(Sandi Shilhanek 6:28am April 19, 2009)

I've liked reading since I was young though I don't recall any specific reason why I started reading.
(Rachael Haas 6:31am April 19, 2009)

My mother has a picture of me at age two with a book and it looks like I am really reading it despite the fact that the book is upside down. To this day, I can still read upside down! I remember learning to read in school and picking it up so quickly that I always read ahead of the class to see what was going to happen next - I didn't want to wait for the teacher. That is a trait that carried through all of my years of high school and college. There is just something magical about books and I can never get enough of them. I have at least have a dozen books going right now, one for each room, practically!
(Margay Roberge 7:11am April 19, 2009)

I have loved to read for as long as I can remember. For me, reading has always been entertaining. I love the romance, the mystery, and traveling to another time and place. I suppose the first books to really hook me were the Nancy Drew books. As an adult, I have found books to be a great stress-reliever.
(Cheryl Castings 10:10am April 19, 2009)

I love when reading a book and being taken away to another place or reading about characters I would never encounter.
(Teresa Warner 10:39am April 19, 2009)

Why do I read? That's almost like asking me why do I breathe?? I've been reading for as long as I can remember. My parents made sure I developed a love of reading. Anyone else old enough to remember the records that accompanied the children's books?? I had my own little record player and I played all of those little 45s and 33s to death!
(Debbie Wiley 10:59am April 19, 2009)

You ask "Why Do I Read" -- I read to take my mind off my problems. I started reading when I was young and I remember going to the library and falling in love with Nancy Drew and the Bobsey Twins.
(Danielle DeBuono 11:08am April 19, 2009)

I've been reading forever it seems. I still have my Winnie the Pooh books in a box set, I still have my first Little House on the Praire and I still remember sneaking to the library instead of going home! I think I was like 7! Not a good thing, but I have parents that just weren't there, so books were!

best
billi jean
(Billi Jones-dimatteo 11:18am April 19, 2009)

Hey Sandi, I read for a variety of reasons, but mostly to learn about new and different things...I read for enjoyment, as a means of escape, a means of distraction, and just to learn more about relationships with people. I know that is kind of wierd, but I don't get into relationships, not friendships, easily. I am too fearful, because I don't know what is going to happen. So, I read romance novels mostly to get a sense of how people act when they meet new people for the first time. I love Victorian lit, Rochester and Jane: my absolute favorite romantic characters...yeah, I know, not your typically romance, but I read it as such. I also read them to learn more about the time period; I am so in love with that era and the Middle Ages. I first starting reading at my mother's knee...she was reading romance novels, Mills & Boones, and I fell in love with the "fairy tale" locations and just the love stories. Betty Neels and Anne Mather were two of my fav authors then. A day doesn't really go by without me reading a couple or more pages in the three or four books I am reading at any given moment. It just doesn't feel like the day has ended when I don't read for fun. I have to be in a really depressive state to not read on any given day. No matter how busy I am, I always make time to read...as someone else stated...it is almost like asking "why do I breathe?" I hope that everyone has a wonderful day today...Have a happy reading day...

Peace and love,
Paula R.
(Paula Robinson 11:22am April 19, 2009)

Great Question. I can't remember learning how to read except I am pretty sure it happened in daycare since I was in daycare since I was about 3 years old. I do remember when I became an avid reader and that was later in life. I was in my early 20s and a friend gave me my first Julie Garwood historical romance. I was hooked from then on. From there I started to explore other authors and genres but historical romance still continues to be one of my first loves.
(Desiree Dalton 12:05pm April 19, 2009)

I read to take myself to a different
place filled with interesting people.
I've always read for that reason. I
remember my 3rd grade teacher
reading a book aloud to the class
every day after lunch recess. It would
calm us down and make us look
forward to being back in the
classroom after recess. Just a
wonderful experience. And then, there
was Nancy Drew. I bought each book
with my own babysitting earnings.
Love to read fiction more than
mysteries now.
(Mary Hundley 12:18pm April 19, 2009)

I don't think I really started reading myself until I was a young teenager. I just wasn't into it until then. Now I read daily. I read to escape into my own little world. In reading I get to visit places that I have never been to before and will never get to visit. You can go everywhere in a book, even back in time. I love it!
(Gail Hurt 12:34pm April 19, 2009)

When I was young and someone drew my name in the Christmas gift exchange they always knew that I would like a book more than anything else they might get me!
(Karin Tillotson 12:39pm April 19, 2009)

My love of reading began early and has continued. I feel energized by reading and the ability to be transported to another time and place is wonderful. I remember reading the entire Anne of Green Gables series when I was young because my mother introduced me to this amazing story and has contributed to my love of reading. Nothing is comparable to reading a memorable story.
(Sharon Berger 12:39pm April 19, 2009)

As the daughter of TWO librarians, and the granddaughter of an elementary school teacher (K-3), NOT reading was NEVER an option!! My grandmother taught both my brother and I to read by the time we were around 3 or 4, and I was always reading above my grade levels. It used to drive my teachers crazy, especially in 5th grade, when we had to do these stupid reading assignments, and then fill out little booklets on what we had just read. I'd always be done 10 - 15 minutes before everyone else in the class, and have to sit there and fidget, until my teacher would take pity on me and let me pull out what ever it was I was reading for fun and read that until the rest of the class was done. The downside of that was that everyone thought I was showing off, so it didn't make me any friends.

Sorry, I'm rambling. Anyway, to me reading is a form of escape, of learning, of relaxation, of friendship ( my best friends and I are always trading books back and forth!), of travel when I can't afford to go anywhere. I simply can't imagine a life without being able to read!

What do I like to read? A better question is: What WON'T I read? That list is much, much shorter than the first one! I'm not too big on horror, westerns, or certain areas of sci-fi. Otherwise, pretty much anything goes, at least once. I, like probably everyone else, have my favourite authors, and will buy and read anything they publish, although I do draw the line at the grocery list! I must admit, however, that I have been known to sit and read the OED (Oxford English Dictionary), because it's simply a fascinating piece of research and information about the english language! The same goes for the Dictionary of Regional English (DARE), put out by the University of Wisconsin - Madison. The last volume (S - Z) just was published, now they're going back and starting the revisions at A. Those two sets of dictionaries are such important resources for anyone wanting to know more about the engli
(Lynn Rettig 12:45pm April 19, 2009)

I don't remember learning to read, either. It's just something I always remember doing. By the time I was in fifth grade, I was reading at college level and was placed in an advanced reading class. Today, I read anything and everything I can get my hands on. Genre isn't important, as long as the author can keep my interest. Just this weekend, I finished a crime novel by Patricia Cornwell and a romance by Linda Lael Miller.
(LuAnn Morgan 12:51pm April 19, 2009)

Why do I read? It just seems like a fact like my eye color or other immutable things. My first grade teacher really was the one who turned me on to reading. I did not like reading aloud but reading to myself was just like magic from the first moment. If I don't get a change to read something before I go to sleep, I just can't sleep or don't sleep as well. It's like chill out time to stop focusing on all the things that I need to do but instead soak in and slow my brain to a kind of more meditative relaxed space. My first novels were Walter Farley's Black Stallion and Marguerite Henry's novels which were way beyond my reading level when I picked them up but they were about horses so I just read them anyhow.
(Merri Crawford 1:13pm April 19, 2009)

I think the first books I can remember reading as a child was the Babar books. Then was Pippi Longstocking and Charlottes web. But I think my love of readind really started when I was in maybe grade 4 and I found this books called Sarah, it was about a young girl and how she it to grow up being jewish and what it means to her. But the book that really put my on the road to romance was Mrs. Mike., I loved that book so much. And from their the rest is history.
(Kathleen O'Donnell 1:30pm April 19, 2009)

Reading is such a sweet escape. I read the entire children's and young adult section at my local liabrary and knew when a new book was on the shelf. With lights out at night, I used to read by flashlight and that makes eerie shadows with scary books.
(Alyson Widen 1:58pm April 19, 2009)

I grew up out in the oountry with no neighbors, so then no nearby playmates, so I discovered books and fell in love! My mom had a huge collection of all the classics (Little Women, Black Beauty, Little House, Nancy Drew, etc) so I got hooked on those and always had a book in hand. ALso I had an elementary school teacher who was big on promoting reading and held a contest to see who could read the most books, and the top 10 winners would be treated to a trip to McDonalds, now when you are 8 years old that is the coolest. A couple years ago I ran into that teacher and told her thanks for inspiring me to read. And for a footnote, I remember I believe maybe 6th or 7th grade everyone got a hold of Judy Blume's book FOREVER and we all passed it around, it was the "it" thing to do.
(Shauna George 2:11pm April 19, 2009)

I've read all of my life, from an early age. The Secret Garden and the Nancy Drew mystery books were among favorites.
As an adult, I tried some of the romance books and didn't like them. All historicals with women as chattel and being raped, which turned into love (what?!). I didn't read much again until about 6 years ago. I was reading Cosmo, and Every month it has an excerpt of a romance novel. One month it was Linda Howard's "Open Season". I bought the book and that kick-started my romance reading. I still love mostly contemporary romance.
I read for escapism and fantasy and mostly entertainment, as I'm not much of a TV watcher. I couldn't live without my books and online friends that reading has brought me!
(Janet Lewis 2:25pm April 19, 2009)

the crazy thing is that when i was a kid, i hated to read. sometime after my first husband left, someone gave me a book, that was it! i started reading to escape my life. and to some extent i still do that.
(Becky Kinkead 2:38pm April 19, 2009)

I grew up an only child, and was shy. I still am, but I loved to read. I was reading at 3 years of age, can't remember the first book I read as a child but I did love the Little House series a lot. I still have my set. I devoured all the Judy Blume books and just about all the books in the little library by my grandparent's house. In high school I'd often visit there before going to their house. I still read voraciously. Mostly fiction, actually I'll read just about everything.
My children are becoming readers, their school requires them to read daily. It's nice to be able to share my Nancy Drew books with my daughter, and go to the library and help my son choose books he enjoys also.
(Lisa Walters 4:26pm April 19, 2009)

Margay , that sounds like a great picture. I don’t think my family took any pictures of me reading or not! I don’t really remember if I was ahead of the class or not when doing the
required reading, but I know that while I’m raising non readers my one son is ahead of his class in their current read Brave New World.

Cheryl, you and others have mentioned Nancy Drew, and when I was young I didn’t like her. Now I am fussy about my mysteries but I read some…much more than I remember
reading when I was younger.

Debbie, I don’t recall having any records with my books, but when I taught Kindergarten I had a listening center and was always ordering cassettes and books for the kids to sit
with headphones on and listen. We all loved it! I had enough copies of the book for everyone in the center to have their own copy.

Billie Jean, I still have some of my childhood books as well. I never read the Little House books, but when I was teaching one of my students checked one out, and was totally
hooked. Her parents had to buy the set for her!

Desiree I went to daycare too from an early age, but I don’t know if that’s where I learned to read or not. I know a bunch of people are hooked on Garwood, but I’m still way
behind on her.

Mary, I’m glad your teacher read to you I remember the second grade teacher reading to us, and those are the first chapter books I had to own. When I taught I read to the class
whenever I felt like, but we always ended the day with reading!

Lynn, It’s great that reading was so encouraged at your house. My boys hate it, and it was suggested I model more for my oldest. I looked at that counselor and said I read 100+
books a year how much more modeling would you like. She had no comment of course!
(Sandi Shilhanek 4:49pm April 19, 2009)

Merri, Kathleen, Shauna, Becky, and Janet thanks for sharing how you got your start in reading. It’s very interesting to see how many things
different readers have in common and how different they are!
(Sandi Shilhanek 4:52pm April 19, 2009)

I have always loved to read. Now my daughter and granddaughter are also readers. My gd loves going to the library with me. What I like is finding new authors. The only thing I don't really like to read is paranormal. But my gd does.
(Judy Anderson 4:59pm April 19, 2009)

My earliest reading memories surround Little Golden Books. I smile when I see them in a store today and catch myself picking one up just to see if it's the same story....it is! As a young reader I was introduced to My Weekly Reader at school and read Nancy Drew at home. For me, reading was a place to hide. I was painfully shy (hard to believe it now, I'm sure). While reading, I didn't have to awkwardly try to carry on a conversation with someone. Though my friends waited until the last possible moment to finish their required book reading for class, I enjoyed every minute of it.

Strangly, I quit reading after college and only rarely picked up a book for probably 30 years. Don't get me wrong, I read, but it was magazines for the most part. One day, while I was in a Hastings Books to get a couple of magazines, I flipped through Jemima J by Jane Green, bought it, read it in one sitting and haven't put the books down since.

I usually have 3 books going at once: one in my purse, one by the bed and one on the coffee table. That way, I'm seldom caught without something to read. I still read because I'm shy, but for the most part, it's for the pure joy of it.
(Jill Hayden 5:42pm April 19, 2009)

I don't know how old I was when I started reading, in school I guess!! I grew up where there was no TV until I was 12. My family got our first TV when I was 13, there was one channel!! Yes, one channel & we were thrilled. I was already an avid reader by then and have never stopped. The first books I can remember reading were the Bobbsey Twins. I read all of them & couldn't wait for a new one to come out. I don't remember owning books I went to the library. As a young adult I moved into "teen romance" and from there went on to adult books. My favorite books are still romance or romantic suspense. These days I tend to buy more by author but do like discovering a new voice.
This is an interesting discussion Sandi. Nice to see so many comments.
(Donna McClure 7:06pm April 19, 2009)

Ever since Mrs. Wilson's first grade class I have rarely been without a book or two going. I loved reading from the start and was the only kid on my block that was punished by being grounded from reading. Why do I read? Well, I read when I'm happy, sad, bored, lonely, have a 10 minute break or a 30 minute lunch, while I'm waiting for the dryer to go off, to find out what happens next, to visit old friends, to visit new places- times- attitudes. To be with the detective that solves the crime, the mother who saves her child, the lover who finds her soul mate, the wizard fighting for what's right and the bad girl who loves doing what's wrong. I read because it's the weekend, or there's nothing on TV that comes near being as engrossing, or the Dr. is running late or I'm line at the DMV. It would be easier to ask why I don't read.
(Janet Beckley 7:25pm April 19, 2009)

I commented before about my own love of reading that began at an early age. I am a retired teacher, and I hope that I instilled my own love of reading in my students. Since I taught kindergarten and first grade, I hope that I not only taught the children how to read, but also the pleasure of reading. I know that when I read aloud to students, it was one of my favorite times of the day.
(Cheryl Castings 7:35pm April 19, 2009)

For me I was from my Mother who read to me when I was little and she herself was a reader. Then from there I just fell in love with reading. They even know me by name and voice at my Barnes And Nobles. I will almost try any author once(except Sci-Fi and Western, not the romance that have a western theme in it Those I will try and read, I'm talking straight up westerns) I will also read anyway/anyplace. My favorite place is the couch and my Mother's car when she driving. My Mother still reads too so she knows when I'm reading I would like to have the radio off so I can read. I also have been known to bring a book into a movie theater and read while I'm waiting for the movie to start. I also have been known to read while in a restuarant while I'm waiting for my food to come. So now you know.
(Maggie Roso 8:15pm April 19, 2009)

Debbie, I had the books w/records too! Can't tell you how many times I listened to Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious and Winnie the Pooh. I've never met anyone else who had those books.

I can't remember when I started to read, but I know my mom read Green Eggs and Ham more times than she could count. I'm going to guess that started it for me. She also got me the Weekly Reader books. Can remember reading all the Nancy Drews, then moving on to Agatha Christie and then into romance - all by the time I was 12. The library was definitely my best friend. I'm guessing one of the reasons I love to read is because I was an only child. Not shy - I always had friends (my best friend was also an only child who loved to read), but you can't always be with your friends and dad ruled the tv, so reading was a great option.

Now, I'm lucky enough to have two daughters, both of which read. I don't have the time to read as much as I'd like, but I always have a book I'm reading!
(Amanda Reeder-erdly 8:19pm April 19, 2009)

I got hooked on romance in 7th grade with a Harlequin Romance. I love the escape that reading gives me. I've got three boys and even the dog is a male so this allows me to indulge in my romantic side. If I get extra cranky my husband has been known to ask me if I've had a chance to read lately. LOL
(Lisa Freeman 9:04pm April 19, 2009)

Don't know what my first books were,
but reading has always been very
important to me. I'm the oldest of six
- all very close in age. Every Saturday
starting when I was in third grade or
so, I'd walk into town as early as I
could and spend the day at the library.
I read mostly science books for a long
time and added Nancy Drew. I spent a
lot of time by myself at home and
would read a good part of the time.
The habit continued through high
school and college. In the Peace
Corps, volunteers were given library -
a box of about 25 books. We' read
what we liked and pass them around.
Reading was a lifeline at some times -
especially during rainy season. Today
I read for work - I work in a small
library. I try to keep up with both
children's and adult books. It has
been enjoyable finding new authors.
However I now have more books on
my TBR shelf than I'll ever be able to
read. I read just about anything
except horror and erotica. Still like
suspense, romance, and nonfiction
best.
(Patricia Barraclough 10:02pm April 19, 2009)

I started reading at 16 while on summer vacation at my aunt's house and she had to work my first day there. She had a whole bookcase of paperback romances. My first romance was Captive Bride, a Regency historical by Johanna Lindsey. I was instantly hooked and have been reading off and on ever since. I read to keep my sanity. To relax. To get away from the real world.
(Debbie Beverley 11:53pm April 19, 2009)

The first book I remember reading was Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. This is still a sentimental fav of mine, but I really became a reader after I graduated from college. Now I only read fiction, preferably romances of all genres. Love them
(Carrie Divine 9:08am April 20, 2009)

I have enjoyed reading I think since about the second grade. I remember Mom saying
" Joy put that book down and go outside and play." I remember the Little House Series, Box Car Children, Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden and more... It takes you to a different place.
(Joy Hoormann 11:33am April 20, 2009)

I don't remember when I started reading. I do know that it was at a very young age and that because of this my parents thought I'd grow up to be a genius (ha-ha). The first books I read were the Little House and Nancy Drew books. And my first romance book was at the age of 12 and was A Rose In Winter by Kathleen Woodiwis. The reasons I read are for relaxation and the exotic locales are cheaper than an actual trip (I can vacation vicariously through the stories).
(Jody Faltys 4:29pm April 20, 2009)

I don't recall when I started- I just know that I have always loved to read! A favorite was Black Beauty and I could swear there was a book called Smokey the Cowhorse but I haven't found that as an adult. I was a loner and books were my friends. And of course the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew were favorites. I even read the dictionary and encyclopedia one summer or maybe two! Now I read as my form of relaxation. Always have a book or two going!
(Martha Eskuchen 10:43pm April 20, 2009)

I have always enjoyed reading since I could remember.

I read for the enjoyment, to relax, to travel to places I probably would never get to go to in real life.

I read all kinds of books. My favorite genre's are mystery and romance.
(Michelle Sauer 12:18pm April 21, 2009)

Another great question Sandi!I don't remember learning to read, I just always have done so. I know my mom read the little golden books to me but I don't remember a particular book until I read Black Beauty myself. I love reading to others--I read to my brothers, my students, my daughter and now my granddaughter. Books have been my joy and refuge my whole life and I am grateful for them. I don't know where I'd be without books!
(Mary Perry 6:21pm April 21, 2009)

I started VERY young reading - I was one of the "do it myself" children and an only child. Yeah, boardgames are the WORST gift to give to an only child. And I've been reading ever since. To combat loneliness, boredom, or just to escape to another local - one far away and exotic that I'll never see outside of my mind's eye.
(Kelli Jo Calvert 4:46pm April 23, 2009)

I started reading when I was young, first book I remember picking as a teenager was "Christy".
I love to read, my sanity would not be the same without them! lol
(Chris Jones 2:48pm April 29, 2009)

I started reading at a very young age and would rather lay around picturing myself in another world than to go outside and play and was caught quite a few times with a flash light undeer the covers after lights out! I always have a book out in lines at the post office, doctors waiting rooms, etc.
(Brenda Rupp 7:25pm November 10, 2009)

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