I think it all started in Primary school. We used to have one afternoon a week where the class would be split into 5 groups of 5/6 and we all had to decide on a book to read. Once decided, we would all go around in the circle and take turns reading it out loud. I remember wanting to pick a book about the Loch Ness Monster, but no one wanted to read it! I mean, who wouldn’t want to read it?!
I can’t remember what books we read, but I remember being excited when this day would come, and we got to read.
I also remember when our teacher would read Harry Potter at the end of every school day, before the bell would ring and I used to bring my copy in and follow the words she was reading to us all. I was captivated.
When I got to year 5/6, my friends were all starting to read Jacqueline Wilson and so not wanting to miss out, I made my mum buy me some of her books. She bought me Vicky Angel, Girls in Love , Bad Girls, and Lola Rose. Whereas I would borrow The Illustrated Mum, The Suitcase Kid, The Lottie Project, etc. We weren’t a rich family, so borrowing books was how I would get my reading fix.
After a few years, I was being nosy in my mum’s room and picked up a book called ‘A Walk To Remember‘ by Nicholas Sparks. My mum told me to read it and so I did. And I fell in love with it. It is seriously my all time favourite book (and the movie is a favourite too.) I’m not sure what it is about A Walk To Remember, but I know I was completely hooked by it. Sure it’s based in 1958, but there was just something so different to it that what I had previously been reading with Jacqueline Wilson. It was more grown up. It had true love and heartbreak and cancer as a storyline. It was about a good girl and a bad boy falling in love and it was about changing and bettering yourself. I do have to admit, when i was in year 8 – 13/14 years old, I just used to come home from school, put the movie on and say every line along with the actors. This went on for about 6 weeks. YES, that is how in love I am with this book/film. Although there is quite a few scenes in the book that are not in the movie, none of that matter. Th love they had in the book, was portrayed brilliantly on screen. I think that is what had be obsessed over A Walk To Remember, and still now, after so many years have passed.
Then Sophie Kinsella came along in year 9/10. My friend gave me “The Undomestic Goddess” to read, and I knew, after reading it, that Sophie Kinsella would become one of my favourite authors. After giving the book back, I asked my mum to buy me some Sophie books for Christmas (It was around Xmas when I borrowed it). I was not disappointing at all, and after receiving The Undomestic Goddess, Remember Me? and Can You Keep A Secret? I went out and bought The Shopaholics books. Since then, I have also purchased her books under ‘Madeleine Wickham.’ and bought I’ve Got Your Number. Obsessed much? Yes I think so.
When I got to 6th form and started making money from my part-time job and EMA, whenever I would go shopping with my mum or with my friends, I would always buy books. In Asda and Tesco, there would always be deals in like “3 books for £7” and this would happen every week! Because I read really fast, I was spending all my money on books until my mum told me to go to the library because it was cheaper. I didn’t listen to her though, and kept buying more books each week. It was a godsend when one of my best friends got into reading books too, so the both of us would switch books with one another. It did save money for a while, but I would just be drawn to the book aisle and would end up buying more.
When my mum bought me a Kindle for Christmas 2 years ago, when I was in university, I loved it! Although I didn’t have much time to read, i still piled it full of books to read when I did have spare time. I thought it was the most amazing thing ever and I still do. I class it as my baby! Because of my kindle, I have discovered new authors, new books, and an even stronger love for books that, of course, I set up The Book Lovers. Having a Kindle and having Amazon recommend books to me, having 1-Click (Which is super bad for me as I spend all my money clicking on books), it’s given me a range of different books at my becking-call. Although I still do buy paperbacks of my favourite books I have read on my kindle, and my grandparents still buy me paperbacks for Christmas, I don’t think I could ever go back to paperback, if I’m being honest. With my kindle, all you have to do is click buy for the book and its an instant download. You don’t have to wait days for the paperback to arrive and Kindle copies are released way before paperbacks too.
If asked, I would definitely tell people to buy a kindle because now I have so many favourite authors and new books that I love that I just wouldn’t have known who they were if it were not for my kindle.
So, that’s my story, how did you get into reading?
Z. Elizabeth 