The Love Of Writing : My Love For Books

On the first week of school in second grade, my teacher, Ms. Byrd, took us to the library to check out a book. I wasn’t very excited at the time because reading used to bore me. I viewed reading to be a hassle rather than a way to gain knowledge. As our class marched up the ramp leading into the library, we were immediately greeted by a fragile old woman with hair as grey as a pack of Alaskan wolves. The old lady turned out to be the school librarian. She was extremely enthusiastic about reading and asked the class “who is excited to pick out a book today?” All of my classmates swung

“Superman and Me” by Sherman Alexie first appeared in “The Most Wonderful Books: Writers on Discovering the pleasures of Reading.” Sherman Alexie is a well-known Native American writer that publishes short stories, novels, and poetry. Out of the three narratives, I found myself connect with this story more than the others. Alexie tells us about his childhood as an Indian boy that grew up on the Reservation. His father was a big reader so as a kid he’s always had an interest in books and eventually it became a passion. As he advanced in reading at an early age, peers would have difficulty with the content that he’s already achieved. Other kids would frown upon him because it was out of the ordinary for an Indian to be smart. Children on the Reservation were expected to be unsuccessful, but Alexie refused to let himself fail. Throughout his obstacles in life, he ended up becoming a writer and now, visits the Reservation to make sure children get as much education as possible. Reading saved his life and he believed it could save theirs as well. Sherman Alexie uses multiple techniques throughout his narrative to inform the audience about how he saved his life through literacy by tieing in his personal perspectives.

If I could describe my relationship with reading and writing it would most likely have to be, improving. Of course I would assume the same happens to all students that their reading and writing skills improve as they continue with their education. For me reading has been a passion, so my reading skills are pretty advanced and I can say I am able to read well. In my case, being a child of two Hispanic parents, I do have a slight accent that can get in the way and make my reading a bit rough. Usually it is not so bad, only on certain words that either I do not know how to properly pronounce or certain letters that my accent acts as a physical barrier where I have to sound it out more carefully or work around my accent. While that is the #1 major setback I have during reading. Even with that setback I can still say that I am confident in my reading skills, reading at a well speed, improving, reading various books all that combined allows to be able to read almost anything. What I do enjoy about reading is that I see it being able to bring myself into that world that the author is writing about or to envision the story they’re telling as a movie. I like the idea of just sitting back or laying down with a good book for hours and getting deep into whatever I am reading. Personally once I pick up a good book it is usually hard for me to put it down without the paranoia of not knowing how it ends will eat me up and I usually finish a book within a few days.

I cannot remember a time in my life when I didn’t love reading and writing. My favorite books during my early childhood mostly consisted of Dr. Seuss books. I spent hours reading with my parents and on my own, we read a book before bed every night. When I was in Kindergarten I wrote my first book, about bunny rabbits. I spent hours making two copies of my picture book about what I believed bunnies did. My older sister became my first critic when she told me that my book was stupid and childish. I remember sobbing when a glass of water spilled on them and smudged the marker I had used to create them. My mom managed to salvage the books and they’re still in a box somewhere.

Themes for Writers, edited by Lynn Z. Bloom and Louise Z. Smith, Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2014, pp. 63-65.

Reading and writing has always played a vital part in my life. From toddler to adult, pre-elementary to college, I’ve managed to sharpen both skills to my liking. However, even though it significantly helped, schooling was not what influenced me to continue developing those skills into talent. Many different things shaped and influenced my learning, and now reading and writing have become the safety net of my life. I know that even if I have nothing else in the future, I’ll still have my talent and knowledge. To ensure my success, I hope to further develop those skills so that I may fulfill my wishes.

I picked up one of the books and fell in love with all the things that it could teach me. My mother who was a special education teacher at the time had always pushed me and my siblings to read. She brought home tons of books for us to read. When I told her I found a great book on horses she was so proud, and from that moment on I have always had a love of reading. My love for reading has grown so much that I now read everything in sight, but reading wasn’t enough for me as it turned out. From all the great books I read I started to come up with ideas about new exciting books people could write, that I could write. So during my eight grade year my burning desire to write a book compelled me to finally do so. I used three notebooks and a ton of lead and wrote my story. When I was finished, I typed it up on my computer and printed it out to show everyone I knew. When people saw that I wrote a book they were proud of me and this pride made me want to continue, but sadly school activities took up all my time and I was unable to finish my second book. My story of how I learned how to love to read and write isn’t quite like Sherman Alexie’s superman moment but it is

I remember as a child the weekly trip to the public library. Our town was a typical small town in the Midwest and a trip to the Carnegie Library on Main Street was always an adventure. I remember the high ceilings and the slowly turning steel gray fans which hung from elaborate plaster medallions. I remember the smell of wood, of leather and paper covered in printers’ ink. I remember dust lines on the shelves in some sections, and I remember standing in lines behind children in others. Yet, most of all I remember the wonder and the excitement waiting to pick the perfect book with the perfect story to fill a need of adventure in the coming week.

Books are amazing because they can exercise your imagination and you are learning at the same time the book I have chosen today is special to me because it has inspired my love for rugby and it has made me laugh and has entertained me for hours on end

Nowadays, I am still a reading lover and writes from time to time, I really appreciate I had a boring childhood to let me read extensively and developed my minds from all the masterpieces. When I recall the nights of reading books in the dormitory of the boarding school, I still feel warm and sweet. Because I know regardless how long the night is, there is a book which would accompany me as

Have you ever written something with no idea what direction you want it to go? A terrible predicament, really; especially with a deadline looming over your head, or with an idea trapped in your mind that begs to be free. Have you ever written something that you were so sure of, so proud of, that you couldn’t get the words onto paper fast enough, like the story you were trying to tell was a part of your very being? My life is a lot like this, most of the time. For most of us, including myself, the ups and downs of putting pen to paper or hands to keyboard are a fitting analogy to life itself. Some days, especially lately, now that I have the looming transition of college as a constant companion, I find myself unsure

Remembering as a little girl my mother and I used to drive down the road and she would always point out signs so I could visually see them and learn how to spell them too. Passing through our small-town spelling words as simple as R-I-T-E A-I-D to spelling words like J-A-L-A-P-E-N-O-S and her going through my phase of always asking why. Why does the “J” sound like a “H” Mommy? She always said learning how to read and write is going to be your most powerful weapon. My earliest memories about reading and writing were very pleasant for me. In a way I guess, you could even say that some of these experiences were even significate to me. It was the first time in my life that I can truly remember feeling amusing about learning. It was the little things she did. Mom would purchase picture book and check some out in the library as well. She would come into my room to read to me every night; she influenced me through the sound of her voice how strong and soft her words would hit the surface before I went into a deep sleep.

My journey through reading and writing started once I started school. I don’t remember the early years but they laid down a foundation for me. It got me to where I am today. I love reading for pleasure but I want to be more open to different types of genres. I’m not the best writer but I try my best to write well. I have a strong approach to writing an essay but when it comes to actually writing, I don’t feel too confident. I hope that this year will help me become a better reader and writer.

Do you love reading or do you hate it? Is it something that excites or causes your eyelids to slowly droop down until you see nothing but black? Is there a difference between reading Facebook or something on a website compared to those things with many tree killing pages? Do we as human beings long to make ourselves smarter? Certainly there are a lot of questions that should be answered by each individual who reads through this essay but at the core of our intelligence lies the ability to understand and reason. We do this through filling our minds with new information through the act of reading.

My reading experiences as child was an interesting combination of biblical short stories, Nancy Drew novels, and vinyl recordings of classic Disney fairytales. The most valuable experience I can remember from childhood was my weekly visits to the school’s library. The smell of the card catalog and challenging myself to locate books using the Dewey Decimal system gave me greater appreciation for literature and most importantly built a foundation for creativity and critical thinking skills.