Friday, April 17, 2015

WHY I READ

Author Linda Zern gives a few words on how reading became and why reading is so important to her:

"In the beginning, I read because I had to figure out what those two crazy kids, Dick and Jane, were up to with their dog, named Spot.

Then I read because the words were everywhere: cereal boxes, road signs, billboards, newspapers, and the instructions on the back of the Jiffy Pop popcorn. The words were everywhere. And I could READ them. It may have been the magic of ordinary things, but it was magic.

After that, I realized that the Reader’s Digest people had filled our house with edited, condensed volumes of . . . well, everything else from Michener to Buck. Those books were condensed—like soup—just add reading, so I did.

For a long time, I read to escape. Enough said.

For an even longer time after that, I kept right on reading because 1) it was one of the things I could do when I breastfed 2) it was cheaper than jet skiing 3) and it kept my mind from atrophying into tapioca.

In the time that followed, reading became a habit that enlarged my soul, filled my mind, dazzled my dreams, and acquainted me with the world as it might be, could be, should be, would never be, but wouldn’t it be cool if it was—in a sparkle unicorn kind of way? I kept right on reading, until I ran out of the kind of books that I wanted to read.

Now I read to know what to write, always keeping in mind all the lonely little girls out in the dark places who turn to books for comfort and company and to figure out what Dick and Jane and that silly dog named Spot are up to."


You can visit Linda's website at: http://www.zippityzerns.com
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