The joys of reading

I grew up in a small country town and we didn’t have a lot of money, so I used to borrow books from our very tiny public library. I started my reading journey with Enid Blyton books, The Famous Five and The Secret Seven, then I moved onto Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. Rather predictable for a kid who enjoyed reading mysteries and used to think I could solve crimes too. Then I was given for a birthday the first book in the Trixie Belden series, again a teen sleuth who couldn’t keep out of trouble or sticking her nose in events that had nothing to do with her. I had fun reading them. Bought the next in the series when I had the money or given as a Christmas gift.

I had the most astonishing discussion (hilarious when I think about it) with a student at the current school I teach, and she is fan of Trixie Belden. Who would have thought? And was buying copies from second-hand stores. If only I knew, I could have sold her my collection, though I can’t think whatever became of the books.

I still love receiving books as gifts and when my family or friends ask what I’d like, I say books. Of course, my taste has changed significantly since my childhood days. I am embarrassed to say when I hit my teens, I did try romance books, a bit of Danielle Steele (don’t hold that against me) and Jackie Collins. I also read a little by Harold Robbins, boy was that an education for a 15-year-old. I hid the books from my parents 😉 and after reading Robbins, I have no desire (pun intended) to read the erotic genre.

After that short diversion, I delved into horror books, Stephen King and Dean Koontz were my favourites. I read Salem’s Lot at 15 and still have memories of something scratching at my window at 2 in morning and hiding under the blankets thinking vampires were trying to break in. Yes, illogical I know, but my imagination ran riot and the lesson here is not to read scary books into the wee hours of the night. From there on I was reading a smorgasbord of books, trying to gauge what I liked most, when I discovered a book about the myth of Atlantis and started to read Greek mythology. Not as much as I do now, but it did whet my appetite and led me to expand my library as I matured.

From the Horror genre, I moved into Fantasy and Sci Fi, read those into my university years and then extend my reading into crime, conspiracy stories, psychological thrillers, all of which I still read, and into historical novels. Selected of course, nothing after the fall of the Roman Empire, unless it’s about the Knights Templar.

I am sure that I have missed a few genres that I read, light fluff that doesn’t require a lot of brain power, which nowadays is all I am able to read. I have a stack of books to read that are currently in storage and heaps more on my Kindle. I would love to sit for a week straight and just read with no interruptions and nothing else to do.

If you could, would you like to spend a week reading? What was your favourite book or series you read as a child, and what do you read now? How much has it change or not?

Thank you for your continued support and as always, I look forward to your comments and will respond.

Historical fiction novelist and a secondary teacher, Luciana Cavallaro, burnt out but not done… yet.

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