The book report

I love books. I love reading, I love writing, I love words, I love the feel of paper, the smell of an old book. I have my parents to thank for this love, and, I suppose, the ease in which reading and writing came to me.

I think a major factor that lead to my bookworm passion was the fact that when I was a kid, we read books aloud. We were able to spend time together. We were entertained, and therefore somewhat quieter. We were encouraged to think and feel and react with books and characters. With my dad, we went through the LOTR trilogy, and of course The Hobbit. We read The Chronicles of Narnia (all seven of them). We read Ender's Game, and Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. Just to mention a few. My dad exposed my sister and I to some pretty serious reads when we were kids, not even fully capable of understanding anything beyond the surface.

At my moms' house, we opted to find new books and new series. This is where I began the Harry Potter books. We made it all the way through the sixth one aloud. We also discovered the Artemis Fowl series, which I love. Simple enough for kids and teens who aren't huge literature fans, but witty and sardonic enough to wet the appetite of a feisty 18 year old as well. I still read them avidly.

While reading aloud has mostly been abandoned at my moms' house, I am proud to say that we have continued the tradition with my fathers. I ran my voice sore reading and The Hunger Games and Catching Fire, and we are waiting to finish the last of the trilogy, Mockingjay. If you haven't read these books yet by Suzanne Collins, don't wait, pick up a copy today. Now, in fact. I'll wait.

Even with totally comedic books like Nightlight, which is a parody of the Twilight "Saga," reading aloud can be much more fun. Last year I got a copy offhand at a Barnes and Noble, read it in record time, and then when I went to a party with a few friends, we stayed up until 4 in the morning passing around the book and reading chapters out loud to one another. The laughter and the fun was almost unbearably wonderful.

Anyway, these last two out-loud expeditions really illuminated how wonderful it is to share something like a book. You can muse about what will happen next, how the characters will develop. You can let yourself just listen (as I do so often with Jim Dale narrating the HP series in my headphones) and imagine seeing everything. I know some people think that movies made out of books are better. But they are wrong. (In my humble opinion at least) There is something so powerful about the written word, and I truly hope that power is never lost or underestimated.

Characters who can capture your heart, or imagery so powerful that you can close your eyes and truly believe you are at Hogwarts or in Neverland or outer space or Africa or ANYWHERE! These things are so wonderful and beautiful. To me, literature is something of an art form, when done correctly. You do have the portraits and the cartoons, and sometimes, just like in "real" art, there are cartoons that are better than portraits. I love reading aloud because there is no easier way to share your reactions and enter into another world with other people, at least in terms of bookworlds.

I can't imagine what my childhood would have been like without holding this tradition so nearly and dearly. Honestly, I can't even imagine what my NOW life would be like. There are so many series and authors and messages that I never would have found if they hadn't been read out loud to me. I don't mean to preach or anything, but next time you find a good book, I suggest curling up with your family or some friends, and sharing it.

Cheers,

-T.A.D.