You know how in middle school, high school, and college you have to read a ton of text books, books off the required reading list, and stuff your teachers make you read? Well as an adult, aside from things having to do with work, you can read anything you want. ANYTHING!
When I was growing up my Grandmother read me kids books and biographies about historical people. My Mother read my fairy tales and kids books and my Father read my The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. And they read to me almost nightly until I was reading on my own. But I had trouble reading because I have dyslexia and reading out loud was a nightmare and you know every teacher just loves to make kids read out loud. So I began to hate books and it took until I was in middle school before I began to love them again.
I started out reading the William Allen White and other award winning books. They were nice and some I really loved but they weren't quite, exactly what I craved.
In High school, for the first three years of English classes I liked all the required reading but when it I got to senior year, English comp college reading, I wanted to slap my teacher every class period. She picked out the worst books ever! And when it came time for college, it didn't get any better. Thankfully, I'd been seeking out books on my own and I was lucky enough to get a weekly trip to the bookstore. I read fantasy, I read young adult fantasy and Sci Fi, I read romance, some classics and plays, and some non-fiction too. But I felt kind of bad for not reading the gems of the literary world.
Well as is turns out, like in all genre fiction, there are crap books in literary too, and when you are a poor, extremely choosy (ehm picky) person, you want to make sure that the book you are reading is worth the money you paid for it. So my point is, if there is something that you love to read from shameless, raunchy erotica to the most snooty of mainstream literature, READ IT and don't feel bad for it for goodness sake don't let anyone make you feel less for what turns your crank in the reading sense.
I like this post because your final statement can also be applied to writing. We can write literally anything (now that we are all grown up and not having to write essays and book reports, lol) and the only thing we have to do is write it. Reading is so vital to writing and it's good that despite the innate repulsion many of us have to required reading, you have still found enjoyment and fulfillment in reading. ^^
ReplyDeleteYes, it can. Which is why I enjoy writing what I write and dabbling in other areas, areas with more kink and some with fright.
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