Reading for fun rekindles a passion for books
I’ve rediscovered a passion: reading for fun.
Back in elementary, middle and high school, I seemed to always have a book with me. In high school, I recall carrying around several and switching between them, reading before class started, in the halls and on the bus.
In college, I did a lot more reading for learning, and not as much for fun.
Then I got a job, got married and had kids. Suddenly, my reading for fun was classified under Dr. Suess and Little Golden Books. Rarely did I read a book for my personal enjoyment.
Reading library books
As my children got to an age where they picked out books, we started visiting the library. The kids seemed to enjoy it, and I looked forward to it. Often, we would visit on a Saturday and check out a big stack of books and probably some movies, too.
As the kids got old enough to spend a few minutes perusing the shelves in the children’s section, I’d head over to the adult section and pull a book or two for myself. In particular, I enjoyed biographies and an occasional mystery.
As my kids started reading young adult and teen books, I would read them, too. It was nice to talk about the books with them. In fact, when my daughter was in seventh or eighth grade, we took part in a book club at her school. The discussion wasn’t very deep, but it was something we could do together.
When they were older, my kids didn’t want to go to the library. I’d still invite them, and my husband would get DVDs, while I would browse the shelves alone, picking out a variety of books, knowing I’d bring most back the following week unread. Still, I liked the library visits.
Even then, with older kids, I had plenty of demands on my time. It could take me weeks to finish a book. I remember renewing “Anna Karenina” three times — and still not finishing it.
Libby makes reading easy
Even after I moved to Tennessee and got a library card, I didn’t read as much as you might think. I visited and checked out books, but I didn’t finish them all.
Then Libby came into my life.
Libby is the online library app I use to read a variety of books.
I never thought I’d like to read on an electronic device. It’s certainly not the same as a paper book. But it’s easy to use and handy. I can download a book and start to read it immediately. If I don’t like it, I can return it and choose another. I believe I can have 15 books checked out at once, although I rarely have more than one.
I do so much on my phone, reading is an easy thing to do. That ease had made it possible for me to plow through a lot of books.
And, like most library materials, it’s free! The downside is I don’t need to go to a real brick-and-mortar library, and I miss those visits.
Goodreads and reading goals
A few months ago, I joined Goodreads, a social website to find, read and track books, in advance of publishing and promoting my own book. As part of the set up, I was to choose a reading goal for the year. I picked 25 books — or about one book every two weeks. Then, I added all of the books I had read on Libby, and six months into the year, I was nearly at 25 to start.
Typically, I alternate between fiction and nonfiction. I try to choose books that interest me and some that challenge me. Occasionally, I’ll get a dud, and I just return it early.
Goodreads will let you rate books, too. I tried that, but I realized the ratings are really subjective. Books are something you need to experience yourself. It’s not like a review for a kitchen gadget on Amazon. Someone else might love or hate your favorite books.
While Goodreads has its good points, Libby is the real star. It’s allowed me to rekindle my passion for reading for fun. Get yourself a library card, download the app and read for fun!
How to Be a Better Writer Tip
On to apostrophes
I wrote recently about hyphens and how AP Style has changed its guidance on when to use hyphens in compound modifiers. That change received a lot of feedback in the writing and editing world. Now, AP Style editors are discussing apostrophes. Fortunately, most rules are safe, but they admit they are discussing a “possible change to our guidance on the possessive form of singular proper names ending in S.”
The present rule is to add only the apostrophe: James’ book, Chris’ pen.
What do you think? I see it other ways in various media, including some of the books I read, and I don’t like it. I want it to be the way it’s always been: Just the apostrophe. Maybe I’m just a creature of habit. Editors often are. It’s easier to have a set of rules to follow and not have them change, or it gets confusing for editors and readers.
Or maybe readers don’t care. Do you? Let me know in the comments.
