A Love Letter To Reading

From first to fourth grade, I despised reading. My mom used to make me read for 30 minutes each day and I spent half of that time trying to convince her that we should do something else. During reading time in the fourth grade, I would pretend to be reading and I was so committed to the bit that I would literally have my eyes scan the pages but I still would not read a single word. The only books I did willingly read were the “Dork Diaries” graphic novels that had approximately three sentences per page. 

I was in the fifth grade when I discovered dystopian novels. We were reading “Among The Hidden” and upon reading the first book in the series, I immediately asked my parents to get me the whole set. Shortly after that, I read a book called “The City of Ember”,  and that was one of the first times that I finished a book and still thought about it often a while after. My best friend and I read “The Hunger Games” series at the same time and that was when I discovered that the only thing better than reading a book, is reading one at the same time that a friend is. I, of course, then read the “Divergent” and “Maze Runner” series.

In the seventh grade, I spent almost every history class reading (I still do not know how I got an A in the class). I would also walk around the halls while reading (not sure how I made it to class either). The librarian suggested that I read books by Jenny Han and to come back to talk to her about it when I finish. I read “To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before” and “The Summer I Turned Pretty” series and immediately wanted to read more books just like them. 

My hobby of reading continued on to high school where I was reading as much as I possibly could. If there was any spare time during the school day, I was most definitely reading. During my senior year, I read 65 books total and I believe that that is the most books I have ever read in a year. My sister got me a kindle that year for Christmas and that was truly life changing because I could read whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. This might be a negative thing though because I am constantly reading around five books simultaneously at all times. 

I truly believe that a little part of each book I have ever read stays with me. Everytime I finish a book, I feel as though I see the world from a different perspective. I practically always have a book with me and I truly believe that reading is such a fundamental part of life and that more people should incorporate it in their day to day lives. Why live one life when you can experience many?