If Reading Were Genetic… by Lauren Margolin
I’d love to think that reading is a hereditary passion; that there’s a gene for the simple love of reading. And maybe there is, who knows? One of my kids follows my book loving footsteps, while the other trails in my husband’s steps and views books as a necessary evil.
I’ve always been a reader but I didn’t grow to love it until high school; when the teachers would help me understand the symbolism that layered itself into the stories. I mean seriously, admitting to enjoy a teacher assigned book was so not cool! I could easily play the part of being so annoyed at our dumb summer reading; but once I sat my tush down in class I became consumed. It amazed me that arranging words on a page could be such an art form. And the realization that similes, metaphors, alliteration and foreshadow really made a difference; wow, the teachers were right all along.
I didn’t always reach for the school type of books though. In the 80’s, it was Sidney Sheldon’s books filled with mystery and betrayal, Scott Turow’s legal thrillers and Judith McNaught’s saucy romances that led me to be the reader I am today.
I bring this topic up as it’s almost the start of school and summer reading hangs over my son’s head like a dark cloud. I just can’t believe that I produced someone, whom I love dearly and wholly, that doesn’t like to read. He’s extremely bright and has an analytical mind, yet he’ll pick the summer reading choice with the fewest pages, has a movie adaptation and a spark notes companion. I continually boast about the movies he’s seen that were books first: Ender’s Game, DaVinci Code, Holes, Princess Bride, Great Gatsby, Fight Club, I Am Number Four, The Godfather and of course the obvious Divergent, Harry Potter and Maze Runner. It all falls on deaf ears.
Alas, the reading bug hasn’t bitten him and who knows if it ever will. I’ve come to accept that. It won’t, however, stop my imagination from running wild with visions of him calling me from college to tell me about the most amazing book he just read. Waiting for the day he asks me to discuss a book over coffee, well that’s just too much for even my imagination.
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Not only do I value your book reviews and recommendations, but love your way with words. That was a beautifully written essay
Thanks a ton and even more for passing the reading gene down to me!