Passionate about Reading

Some of my earliest childhood memories revolve around books.

• Sitting on the arm of my dad's chair while he read to my brother and me.


• Reading the whole Trixie Belden series during elementary school and junior high with my friend Marci.


• Begging my mom to let me read "just one more chapter" every night after she would tuck me in.

Although I had wanted to major in math in college, increasing bewilderment and a poor calculus grade helped me make the switch to English. It just seemed to be a natural fit.

When I first came to Nigeria, I read 40 books during my first three months here. I guess I had some time on my hands!

Many of the Nigerian women I work with tell me, "I can't read because I only finished elementary school. " To emphasize that point, Bayo was dumbfounded when Tobi was reading fluently by the end of 1st grade.

I started reading books to Tobi when he was about 6 weeks old. My Nigerian friends thought I was strange, but I knew what I was doing. All three of my children love books.

Last Sunday morning we were relaxing around the house since church wasn't until 10 a.m. The house seemed too quiet so I walked through to see what everyone was doing: Lily was 'reading' a book in the livingroom. David was doing the same in his bedroom. I'm so glad that they turn to books when they have time on their hands. From the kids' bookshelf pictured above, you can see that we have made books accessible to them.

I came across an interesting article recently about Dana Gioia, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). He grew up in a working class family that had little time for books. When an uncle died, his family inherited the uncle's walls of books. Gioia credits those books for all of his educational and professional achievements.

An NEA reading study found the following:

• "Books in the home, even if they aren't necessarily read by the parents,
  promote better scores not only in English, but also in science and math.


• Shelves of books are more important than income or parental educational
  background.


• Students of high-school-educated parents living in homes with more than 100
  books outscored students with college-educated parents and 0-10 books at home."
  (World, Oct. 4/11, 2008)

Wow. Books~what a wonderful legacy to pass on to our children.

For the Love of Reading

For as long as I can remember, books have been my best friends. When I was in elementary school, I would beg my mom to let me read "just one more chapter" before turning out the light.

Maybe I majored in English because it was just a natural fit. I generally have 2-4 books going at the same time. In a way that's reflective of my life because I am normally working on a number of major projects at the same time.

In the past few years, I have made a conscious decision to read mainly non-fiction. I have found that fiction just doesn't satisfy. In one of the latest books I read, I came across an author with similar feelings, and she put it so well:

"I never can get interested in things that didn't happen to people who never lived."
--Helene Hanff in 84 Charing Cross Road

Since I was a child, I've wondered why true stories are called non-fiction. It's really not a very pleasant sounding word. It doesn't sound intriguing even though most non-fiction I've read is very intriguing. Why does it need to be defined as what it is not? The word actually means "not not true." I just think whoever coined the term non-fiction could have come up with a better term.

How do I find the time to read? Usually at the tail end of the day. I don't watch any TV at all--maybe 3 hours a month. Lately whenever we try to watch a movie as a family, I'm sound asleep after the first 20 minutes. I'm getting more like my dad!

We try to read to the kids every night. I can tell they are on their way to becoming life-long readers themselves. We are currently reading Little Britches by Ralph Moody to the kids. It's the story of growing up poor on a rough piece of land in Colorado. Recently Tobi has started reading to himself. Prior to this, he has read short books aloud to me. The other night he read for an hour in bed! Great accomplishment for a second grader.

I get a steady supply of good non-fiction from my British friend Kath. I've been reading her books for years, and I've never come across a lemon yet.

What are some books I've been reading in the past couple of years?
84 Charing Cross Road and The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street by Helene Hanff
The Gervase Phinn series (5 books with anecdotes of his life as a school inspector in Yorkshire, England)
Do Hard Things by Alex & Brett Harris
Christy by Catherine Marshall (I know it's fiction, but it's based on a true story)
Little Britches by Ralph Moody (family read-aloud)
Empty Cradles by Margaret Humfreys (fascinating story of British children who were shipped off to Canada and Australia in the mid 1900s.)
Nobody's Child by Kate Adie (a history of adoption)
Eleni by Nicholas Gage (the story of why his mother was executed in Greece in the mid 1900s)
A Place for Us by Nicholas Gage (a Greek immigrant story of life in America)

Have you read a good book today?