My reading journey

Photo by Tom Hermans on Unsplash

The first book I ever remember holding was a board book of farmyard animals. I was about three, had measles and was sitting in our front room in the semi-darkness.

I didn't grow up in a house full of books. My mum read magazines and sometimes books and my dad read James Herriot books after he retired for something to do when he wasn't down the shed!

Growing up I read the magazines my mum and grandmother read - Womans' Weekly and sometimes My Weekly or Woman or Woman's Own. But mainly it was Womans' Weekly. I read all the stories in those, including The Robin Family.

I don't remember being read to much as a child. Whether because I just dont't remember, or it didn't happen, I have no idea, but I do remember when I was about 8 or 9 my mum used to buy us a magazine called Treasure. In it was serialised The Borrowers. My mum read it to my brother and I and I was totally hooked and couldn't wait for the next instalment. I loved that story so much that I now have a copy of the book.

At school I wasn't a reader. It wasn't something that interested me. The first book I remember actually liking was The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C S Lewis. I loved the fact that there was another world beyond the wardrobe. I also remember liking a book by Gerald Durrell, but as a class we read To Kill A Mockingbird. I hated it. These days I'm a firm believer that you have to be ready for certain books. This is one of them. I didn't understand it back then as a young teen. When I came back to it as an adult I loved it, and I think that's because I had more experience of life and it suddenly resonated with me.

We didn't study poetry at school. I came across it once in primary school, and rather liked it, but I didn't come across poetry again until I was an adult.

As a teen/early twenties I bought the sort of magazines my mum would have frowned upon - Loving and True Romances. I devoured them cover to cover and had my very first poem published in one, though they misprinted it by leaving out two lines! Later I switched to Cosmopolitan.

I left school aged fifteen and it wasn't until I left that I joined the library. Because I'd never been much of a reader I had no idea what books I might like, so I went for things that interested me. I loved nature and anything to do with early man and read books by people like Richard Leakey and the findings of our ancestors in Africa. When it came to fiction, I borrowed what I thought I might like. It took me years to find my way and to the person I am now who reads on average at least one book a week. My taste has branched out into most genres.

From my mum's small book collection I tried Agatha Christie, but soon realised she wasn't for me. However, one book by Daphne de Maurier called The Loving Spirit really hooked me. It's a family saga, and I loved it so much that I still have that book today. Of course I read things my mum said I shouldn't, including Lady Chatterley's Lover. It wasn't nearly as racy as I expected, but by then I had read far racier things anyway!

I had a phase of reading loads of Mills & Boon, even joining their bookclub for a while, but I grew out of them.

Reading has broadened my horizons. Of the books I read as a young adult, Hatter's Castle by A J Cronin still stays with me.

I still use the library. I also buy new books and charity shop books, as well as swap books with friends. There is no room to keep books I've read, so I have to be harsh and part with all, except some non-fiction books I can't bear to part with, or I might use as reference to my writing.

Reading has grown along with my writing. I feel I write much better as an older writer who has more life experience, like I have grown into reading certain books.

If this post sounds familiar it is because I've probably written about this before. Having had this blog since 2009, certain subjects will inevitably crop up again.

My last point is this. My dad was not much of a reader. Even he admitted that. If he couldn't understand a word he skipped over it. But once, when my brother and I were young and had gone to bed but still awake, my dad was decorating the landing. While he painted, he made up a story about a little bird. I don't really remember the story, but the fact that he had the imagination to make up a story that I was glued to. When my own boys were young, I did the same. They particularly liked stories with a main character having the same name as them. I have a recollection of one story about a bear who flew an airplane, and when we kept guinea pigs, I wrote a story about them! I also wrote a story about a child with a talking TV remote control which I entered into a competition.

I still have my fascination for early man, and adored Jean M Auel's Earth Children Series, especially the very first book
. It was probably the longest book I had at that time, but I couldn't put it down. Some things have followed me through life and my interests end up coming out in what I write. I don't think I've written anything about early man yet, but music crops up a lot, as does religion. Maybe I'll chat about that sometime....obsessions with certain subjects!

Photo by Tom Hermans on Unsplash