How did you become a reader?

[cghipp]

Originally Posted by xg4bx

Those were awesome, I always looked forward to the Scholastic flyers. Unfortunately a few clicks on Amazon doesn't have the same magic .

These days the Scholastic flyers are more than halfway full of toys and movie tie-ins. It's sort of depressing.

Did any of you have RIF days at school (Reading is Fundamental)? Apologies if it's already been mentioned.

[GadgetMan]

Originally Posted by cghipp

My parents were (and are) voracious readers, so as a child I was always exposed to their love of reading and viewed it as something you always do when you don't have to do anything else. My dad was also a fantastic storyteller, and would regale us with bathtime stories that included your basic fairy tales but also a slew of Bre'r Rabbit stories, which we couldn't get enough of.

When I was three, my favorite book was "Bears in the Night." I had my parents read it to me so often that I was able to match the words to the story, and then I recognized those words in other stories. (I can still recite it nearly verbatim!) My parents would also help me sound out unfamiliar words, and I'm sure their professional backgrounds (writing instructor and elementary school principal) gave me a big advantage. I started kindergarten when I was four (late birthday) and spent as much time as possible in the "reading center." My dad was the principal of the school (it was before kindergarten was mandatory and my school didn't have one) and he checked so many books out for me that the school librarian admonished him for "pushing me" too hard. But they never, ever pushed.

I still have vivid memories of scouring the library shelves in elementary school, looking for anything interesting that I hadn't already read. What I wouldn't give to have that much time to read today!

You have got that right.. I search for time to read.. Semi Retired here and still can't find enough time to read.. I have my Kindle, Nook etc in my briefcase 24-7... sheesh..

[GadgetMan]

Originally Posted by ucfgrad93

My father was a big reader, and I guess I got the habit from him. Loved to read as a child and it has stuck with me.

Yep.. that is how I got the GREAT habit of reading.. form my Dad.. Sweet..

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

I was created as a sleeper-agent and placed on this planet by my programmers to read anything and everything available—to glean everything I could about your culture through its literature. I've done my best, and now I've been recently "awakened." I would be lying if I said I'm not at all concerned with the pending data dump. I think I will miss Encyclopedia Brown the most.

Those of us in the know, know that your programming has been corrupted so badly as to be unfixable because you read 50 Shade of Grey. Everything you've learned through our books is lost to you except what is in that horrible horrible book. In fact, now that's all you know. So we have nothing to worry about because your mission failed due to one truly awful book that you had the misfortune to read.

[DiapDealer]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Those of us in the know, know that your programming has been corrupted so badly as to be unfixable because you read 50 Shade of Grey. Everything you've learned through our books is lost to you except what is in that horrible horrible book. In fact, now that's all you know. So we have nothing to worry about because your mission failed due to one truly awful book that you had the misfortune to read.

Organic circuitry and genetic storage lacunae aren't really corruptible. If I'm alive, the data is intact. Even if, however, what you say were true... my makers need only decide if they wish to fight or schtupp you. Neither would have a particularly disastrous impact on the ultimate goal.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by DiapDealer

my makers need only decide if they wish to fight or schtupp you. Neither would have a particularly disastrous impact on the ultimate goal.

They'd be joining a long line there. Plenty of others already doing that; politicians, lawyers, bankers, hollywood producers, B&N customer service reps...
Better keep the penicillin handy if they expect to take that road.

Me, I'd suggest a slight nudge to Apophis...

[theducks]

My folks gave me a 'Lifetime Subscription' to Readers Digest when I was born. Maybe they knew something...

There were always book in the house, but my parents were occasional readers. I was the one who could be found reclined on the couch, reading (about 2nd grade).

[pdurrant]

Both my parents were English teachers. There have always been books around. I have read books for as long as I can remember. I certainly remember one instance of getting into trouble at school for reading a book when I should have been paying attention to a lesson. That would have been around age 8. (Good grief — 40 years ago!)

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by AnneT

Imagine my astonishmend when I first came at my parents in law, and I couldn't find a book anywhere...

Goodness me. A house without books or bookshelves? Inconceivable.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by theducks

My folks gave me a 'Lifetime Subscription' to Readers Digest when I was born. Maybe they knew something...

There were always book in the house, but my parents were occasional readers. I was the one who could be found reclined on the couch, reading (about 2nd grade).

Wow! That's cool.

[HarryT]

Like others, I can never remember NOT being a reader; I must have read a very considerable proportion of the books in my local library during my teenage years. Certainly all the SF and pretty much all the mystery sections. I've been reading e-books since about 1986, starting with a Psion 2a "palmtop" for which I wrote my own reading app, and then a whole succession of PDAs. I remember my feeling of utter amazement and joy when I stumbled on PG in the early 1990s.

[Geralt]

I was a child in a war that found its only entertainment in reading books under the candle light.
Bosnia 1992-1995.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by alucarda

I was a child in a war that found its only entertainment in reading books under the candle light.
Bosnia 1992-1995.

Sorry you had to experience that! Hope there are no lasting debilitating effects. War is deadly to children and other living things.

[cghipp]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Sorry you had to experience that! Hope there are now lasting debilitating effects. War is deadly to children and other living things.

I feel sure that you mean that you hope there are NO lasting debilitating effects! And I hope so, as well.

[Geralt]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Sorry you had to experience that! Hope there are now lasting debilitating effects. War is deadly to children and other living things.

C'est la vie. Because of it I have a unique experiences and worldview in this day and age.
Well, I "earned" my war wound but it was not debilitating. Just nice scares for memory sake.
I did more damage to my continually worsening myopia and astigmatism during those candlelit days and during university.