• Home
• Assignments
• Meet The Beasts
• My Love of Reading
• The Music in My Life

My Love of Reading

From a young age, my father fostered in me a love of two things; computers and books. Instead of reading me books at bedtime, he had me read books to him. My dad bought me every single copy of Harry Potter as it came out. I still remember being so excited when I got each new one and hunkering down in my room while I finished reading each one. I constantly carried around a book so I could read everywhere; at school, in the car, at dinner, I was hardly ever without one. In elementary school I looked forward to one day each year, the scholastic book fair! I loved browsing through all the bright new books, full of new stories and information.

I read a lot while I was in school but once I graduated, I didn’t pick up any books for a while. Life got too hectic, I was working a service industry job, and I was always too tired to want to read in my spare time. I am not quite sure what made pick up reading again but I do remember one of my favorite things to do while I lived in Chicago, was to walk down to peruse the book selection at my neighborhood bookstore with my now husband. When I moved back to Austin, I stopped reading again but during COVID picked it back up. I started reading the Avatar comics and other graphic novels and then I joined a book club at work. I really enjoyed being able to discuss books with people, so once the club disbanded, my friend and I started reading the same books at the same time.

My husband and I like to recommend books from our past to each other which is how I found the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson. I immediately fell in love with his accessible writing style and fleshed out world building. His magic system, Allomancy, which uses different metals, was unique and interesting. He wrote the story from the perspectives of different characters, which can be confusing with some Authors, but he managed to make it so seamless. During COVID he held a Kickstarter for 4 additional novels he had written in secret, so we chose to pledge money to get the highest tiered option. The following year, in addition to the 4 books, we had a box come each month that had swag from his various book series. I currently have one last book of the 4 to read, and I am sad that I am almost finished. Most of his books are all within the same world so they are connected. This was my first real glimpse at his writing outside of the Mistborn Series and it sent me down a rabbit hole of his other works. Thankfully, he never stops writing so. I have a plethora of books to choose from.

Other than Brandon Sanderson, I have been enjoying picking up graphic novels to read, my favorite one is Fables, and I have slowly been collecting all of the copies. I think I am about halfway to my goal. My friend has also gotten me back into an author I loved in high school, Holly Black. Her books are set in a world where faeries are real, and we just finished reading one her book series. It has been nice to have someone to motivate me to read more.