Anne Maddox Blog #3--Routman-Ch.3 "Share Your Reading Life"

 
       At a young age I enjoyed reading and being read to.  My favorite person to read to me was my Grandmother DuRant.  We only lived about 12 miles away, from Florence to Timmonsville, and we would visit every Sunday ,as well as "just me" visits.  On the "just me" visits she would always have something special for me when I came to stay over.  Mostly the treasures were a Little Golden Book that we read over and over until I memorized it,  or Betsy McCall paper dolls.  Other family members would read to me, but hers were always the best and most special because I loved her dearly.
     This early intro to reading influenced me greatly as an elementary reader.  Yes, we had the 3 groups.  I was in the top group, but we all could tell the most advanced reader was.  Early reading encouraged me to continue to read and even to excel in reading.  When I was in the 3rd grade we had the library we all knew about with nothing but picture books.  When we learned about a new and more mature library, I was totally ecstatic when I was one of the first groups that got to go to the "big library, with chapter books."
      I have always shared parts of my reading pleasures as an adult.  I tell them about my current faves and some of my recent past faves and give them reasons why I like those books.  They are the ones that were so good I did not want them to end.
     Yes, I was a good reader, but, I never thought about keeping a record of the books I've read or even to value it to the extent of Routman.  I also need some prioritizing of my time and energies spent on other outlets besides reading.  I need a monitor on my time because I know I need to read more than I do.