My Reading History

Whilst thinking back to my childhood it struck me that reading was a much bigger part of my life then than in later life, which is a shame. From a very young age I would always have my head stuck in a book and I have a great number of memories associated with this.

I think reading was a large part of my life because as a child you have a lot of spare time spent at home, so reading is a good way to pass the time. Books were always on the agenda at Christmas and birthdays and I remember collecting series of books along with my brother and sister such as ‘Mr Men’, ‘Puddle Lane’ and the Roald Dahl series. Books were always the topic of discussion and our parents reinforced reading.

I am not sure whether or not I could read before I started school; my earliest memories are of reading the ‘Roger Red Hat’ books at school along with picture books such as ‘The Hungry Caterpillar’ and ‘The Tiger who came to Tea’. I always secretly hoped that a tiger would come around for tea, as it would be a nice change!

I am highly influenced by other people when selecting what to read; other people have recommended many of the books I have read. Even now I sometimes find it hard to get in to a book and often lose interest if I am not captivated early on. My mother was a keen reader as a child so many of the books I read were ones that she had from her childhood. Titles that stick out are ‘Anne of Green Gables’, ‘The Secret Garden’ and ‘The Naughtiest Girl in the School’, which I think is by Enid Blyton. All of these books have a young female lead and I think from a young age I felt more comfortable reading books containing characters I could relate to.

At the age of about 10 I was allowed to go out and play in the street with friends so I think I did start to read less at this time. It was also around this time that I began writing and started dreaming about being a writer. I vividly remember an imaginary game I used to play with one of my best friends who lived on my street and my brother and sister. Our garden backed onto the woods and we used to go in to the woods pretending to be investigating a murder that had taken place; we used to really scare ourselves, especially when it started getting dark. The characters we had established for ourselves developed over a number of years and I started writing a novel documenting the adventures of ‘The Adventure Kids’. I have no idea if I still have this and would probably be very embarrassed to read it now!

I began writing a lot in my spare time whether it was stories; poetry or song lyrics and writing probably took over my love of reading.

During my teenage years I read a number of ‘coming of age’ books that probably taught me lessons in life. I remember collecting the ‘Sweet Valley High’ books and wishing I could be a beautiful, blonde twin; come to think of it, it was around this time that I went blonde! Shopping on a Saturday afternoon would typically involve purchasing the latest ‘Point Horror’ books that were on offer in WH Smith.

It was probably around this time that ‘Sugar’ magazine hit our shelves and for a year or so books didn’t get a look in! It wasn’t until we began studying Shakespeare in year 9 that my interest in literature was revived. MacBeth was the first play I studied in detail and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Since then I have read a number of Shakespeare plays and have seen a number at the theatre. I especially enjoyed the ‘Taming of the Shrew’, which I studied for A Level and began questioning ‘Is Kate really tamed?’ My enthusiasm probably stemmed from my English teacher, who I absolutely adored. I remember dragging my then current boyfriend to see the ‘Taming of the Shrew’ starring Ross Kemp at the theatre during my time at university in Plymouth whilst all our friends were out getting drunk, I think he only said he enjoyed it to keep me happy.

It was during my late teens that I began reading more widely and out of my comfort zone; I also read some of the classics of English Literature that my peers had been encouraged to read at an earlier age. Whilst studying English Literature for A Level I was conscious that I wasn’t as ‘well read’ as some of the other people in my class so I started reading considerably more around this time and got a lot more out of it. Along with fiction I also started reading non-fiction associated with Psychology and History, which I was also studying at the time. I was especially interested in European history during the 1930s and the psychology of personality and I read widely around these topics.

Studying English at A Level introduced me to a number of texts and genres that I probably wouldn’t have explored otherwise. I remember reading ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, and although it was a very different idea to anything I’d read before I still enjoyed it and found it exciting to study and explore. I remember being captivated by Philip Larkin’s poem ‘Here’ from the ‘Whitson Weddings’, I wrote my first critical essay about this poem and it was then that my English teacher had an insight in to my personal response to literature and began to encourage my reading and writing. He began making suggestions on books he thought I would enjoy and encouraged me to express myself more as I was very shy when I started college. I found reading and writing in response to this, really helped in developing my confidence. I vividly remember being on a beautiful beach in Devon on my own with no one for miles and it evoked the sombre and exhilarating mood that I had felt whilst reading ‘Here’. The line ‘Here silence stands like heat’ sprang in to my mind and it was a very strange sensation to make the connection between the poem and the place.

I read my favourite books for the first time around the age of 17, ‘Birdsong’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice’. I remember being moved to tears by Birdsong, which had never happened before. I thought the historical element of it would appeal to my granddad so I bought it for him for Christmas; he thoroughly enjoyed it although we didn’t discuss the sex scenes! My granddad is an avid reader and he began lending me some of his favourite books to read, which were typically crime thrillers.

I really enjoyed Pride and Prejudice and remember watching the BBC adaptation and reading ‘Bridget Jones’s Diary as a continuation of this. I clearly remember when I first read my favourite scene of Pride and Prejudice, (when Elizabeth sees the painting of Mr Darcy at Pemberley and begins seeing him in a different light), I was on a plane flying back from Austria; this has always stuck in my mind for some reason!

I did not study English since leaving college and my reading became somewhat sporadic. I did try and read as much as I could as I do enjoy it and liked to feel as though I was stimulating my brain in some way whilst working 9-5 in mundane jobs. The books I have read in recent years do not stand out except ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ although I do always have a book on the go! I do still enjoy writing however, and I did embark on a writing course, although mainly I write as a hobby. When writing it is important to find interesting material to write about; reading helps with this, as does personal experience. I like to visit places of historical significance and write about them and I try to keep a diary when I can so I don’t get out of the habit of writing. When I have completed my studies there are a number of places in the world that I intend to visit and I will write about these places as I go.

Reading material as an adult that I read as a child really emphasises the influence experience can have on your interpretation of a text. When I applied for this course I read a number of things that I had read whilst I was studying and seemed to get more out of them. It was really exciting to think about studying English again; I spent my notice period at work reading Shakespeare criticism online!


One of the main reasons that I want to teach English is because I want to put my passion for it to good use; whilst I was working I was very aware that I was neglecting the thing I love most, so a career in something I care about seemed like the obvious choice. I am finding getting back in to studying a considerable adjustment, and it is bizarre getting up on a Monday morning to write an essay or read a book, but I am relishing the opportunity and the challenge.

Yes! You read the hungry caterpillar too! What a classic.

I really liked reading how the power of a poem captivated you.

You´ve read The Handmaid´s Tale too!!! Crazy idea but an amazing book!

Bliss and sugar were my bibles too, i loved the embarrassing stories section.

I loved the idea of you playing detectives as a kid. I used to do similar stuff as a kid, but never had the guts (or the inclination) to write about it later. I really admire you for continuing to write as a hobby, and I think it's a great idea to write about the countries you travel to. I kept a diary when I was in Australia for a few months, but I'm not sure anyone but my teenage mind would be remotely interested in it!

You probably realised that I read your reading story before I wrote mine as you reminded me of the Sweet Valley Twins. I'd love to read some of the stuff you've written on the Open University course if you're willing to share it! Amanda

I love to hear of books that have greatly moved people. I will have to track down a copy of Birdsong now!
I had a similar experience with a book called Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison. I'm sure it left me traumatised!