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You would probably never guess based on how much I read today, but I grew up hating books. My parents struggled to get me to read anything. At one point they had to bribe me to read 100 books. They made a whole chart, and the majority of those were extremely short books meant to read your child to sleep. And I struggled with those. Any words that weren’t simple, I didn’t recognize, or couldn’t pronounce/spell. So, I wanted nothing to do with reading. It wasn’t until the seventh or eighth grade that I finally got into reading anything that wasn’t assigned to me by school. And throughout the years there were lulls when I stopped reading for various reasons. So, I thought it would be fun to go through those books.
A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket
This series was one of the first series that I got into reading around seventh grade that got me into reading. I remember reading these in the car on the weekends as my family went to my grandparent’s house (aka the cabin). I seriously loved these books and they helped spark my love for reading.
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
Originally The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe was an assigned book when I was in the fifth grade, and I’m 99.9% sure I lied about doing the assigned reading back then. Or maybe I read it but didn’t care about what I read. Later when I was in the seventh grade, I got a combined copy of all the books and decided to visit the series again. And I fell in love with it. I remember sneaking this book into classes to read when I got bored during lectures. I don’t know how I snuck in that book as it’s not small but I know I did and the book shows signs of that.
The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare
When I went to college, I stopped reading as there just wasn’t time for it nor did I have the money for books. While there were books here and there during that time period, I wouldn’t really say I was reading. So, there was a gap between the ages of 18 and 25 when I didn’t read as a hobby.
So, the first true book I would say was my return to reading was The Mortal Instruments. I started reading it after watching Freeform’s Shadowhunters, so I knew that Clary and Jace weren’t related going into the books. That was revealed earlier in the show than in the books. So, it was interesting reading the books knowing that detail ahead of time. But I fell in love with this world and read those books many times.
Sarah J. Maas series
While the Shadowhunter Chronicles sparked my return to reading, it wasn’t until I moved out a second time that I went from reading every now and then to consuming the mass amount of books I do today. I would point that spark to A Court of Thorns and Roses series and Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas. As I went from 13 books in 2019 to 140+ books a year as of today. I’m not sure where I’m going to end 2022 but 2021 was around 140, and I’ve already passed that so far this year.
Of course, there are other books that I loved but these are the ones I would point to that sparked my love for reading or marked significant changes to the amount I read. What books sparked your love for reading?
Love ya,
Mae Polzine
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