The most recent edition of the Reader’s Digest has an article about things to be thankful for and one item in particular got me thinking. It states that in 1970 “barely half the people in the world were literate, and many of them could afford only a few books. Today, more than 80 percent of the world’s people can read, and 22 percent have access to the greatest library in history (the Internet).”
It’s hard to imagine a world without books. I know not everyone is an avid reader and I’d think that making it through school with those huge textbooks was torture for them. That’s why I’m happy to say that I fall into the “love-to-read” category. It started when I was a child and my mother would read to me storybooks like Where the Wild Things Are,
Goodnight Moon,
and of course The Cat in the Hat.
As I started to mature, so did my reading tastes. E.B. White became a favorite author of mine with his books Charlotte’s Web and Stuart Little,
as did Laura Ingalls Wilder with her Little House on the Prairie series.
I read those books so many times that the binders began to wear out. My love of reading was partly attributed to the hours we spent at the local library. Every summer my mother enrolled us in their reading club for kids. The object was to read as many books as possible and at the end of the summer, we were given a certificate stating how many books we had completed. Being the little competitor that I was, I would read hundreds and hundreds of books. This meant we had to go to the library every week to get new titles – I’m sure my mother wondered what she had gotten herself into.
That love for reading continued as I grew up. I began to read the typical teenage books such as Blubber, by Judy Blume.
And the Nancy Drew series was a definite favorite.
These books carried me over to my adult years when my love of reading only increased. Of course, by then my tastes had changed somewhat. I now fancy mysteries and thrillers like the book I’m currently reading by David Baldacci called The Whole Truth,
and reference books like Peterson’s Beyond Portraiture or this book about Photoshop CS3.
I enjoy reading so much that buying books has almost become an addiction. I use Amazon.com regularly as it is a great place to buy used or discounted copies. And don’t even get me started on the local book stores. Stores like Borders and Barnes & Noble now offer food and beverages and a warm, cozy spot for reading through your new purchases. Give me that and a bathroom and I’ll be set for hours.
I tell you, just thinking about all these books puts a smile on my face. There is something about the smell of the binder and the sound the pages make as they’re turning. Books have the ability to take you as far away as a small town in Japan or the jungles of Africa, without ever leaving the comfort of your home. All it takes is a little imagination and a library card, and you have hours of entertainment at your disposal.
That doesn’t include all of the online reading that is now available. I spend hours every week reading through blogs and articles on the Internet that cover everything from pregnancy to photography to cooking. Isn’t it amazing? A wealth of knowledge is available online, any time we want it. It’s little wonder that there is more than 80 percent literacy in the world today.
Who would want to miss out on all of the fun?
What about you – are you a big reader and if so, what books do you like to read?
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