My Reading Story

My Reading Story

“Stop reading and go to sleep now” mum would say, every evening as she came to switch the bedroom light off. “Yes mum” I would reply and then promptly use my torch as soon as she left so I could continue my book, determined to fight sleep until I had reached the end.
I do not remember if I could read before starting school I certainly do not remember being taught the alphabet at home. My earliest reading book was The Hungry Caterpillar, more pictorial than words but still a favourite. I remember being amazed the little caterpillar could eat so much and turn into a beautiful butterfly. It was a book that I would revisit, not tiring of the endless pages of food, as the caterpillar got fatter and fatter.
I loved reading at school and looked forward to story time as we gathered around the carpet of the classroom gazing up in wonder as the school teacher read to us. Story time was always so magical, we were all mesmerised and sat in complete silence.
One of my biggest influences is my elder sister who was also an avid reader. Over the years in a bid to outshine her I’d read her books as soon as she’d finished with them and over time we’d compete over who had read the most books. Even today our bookshelf is brimming with a varied mix of law books, autobiographies, classic and contemporary novels. Most of our children’s books were bought from the book club magazines from school called ‘Chip’ and ‘Lucky’. My sister is a real stickler for keeping books in pristine condition and even today our collection of Walt Disney books look shiny and new with bright colourful pictures.
I discovered The Famous Five by accident as my older cousins donated their old books to us. It was my first ‘big’ book full of words rather than pictures and I was completely engrossed. I remember reading about the four friends and the dog Timmy as they uncovered mysteries in the countryside. I remember feeling part of their adventure and read as many of their stories as I could get my hands on. As a very shy serious child I was always more comfortable in my fantasy world of adventure than playing with other children in school. Given the choice, I was happy to curl up in my bedroom with a book rather than play in the garden.
As I moved onto the ‘teen’ phase I began to read the Nancy Drew detective books and the Sweet Valley High series, pretending that I also went to a glamorous school where everyone was beautiful.
In year five of primary school I remember Ms. Curran reading Goodnight Mister Tom (Michelle Magorian) to us as a class. At first, we were all unconvinced that a story set in World War II about a young boy called Willie was going to keep our attention. However, Ms. Curran persisted and soon we began to look forward to being read to just before home time. Unfortunately, someone in the class stole the book, and despite the threat of getting the police involved no one in the class confessed to this crime. Our punishment as a class was to never have the story completed for us. I found this most upsetting, so I resolved to buy the book myself, as I simply could not bear the story remaining incomplete. This book was the first that moved me to tears, and remains a favourite. I encouraged my younger brother to read it too and found to my surprise that he was also moved by the story.
My first taste of Shakespeare was Julius Caesar, the set text for my SAT’s. I remember reading the opening act totally bewildered by the language used and being quite disappointed by the famous Bard. As we began to get through the text and make sense of the old language it was not as daunting however, I was still disappointed that after all the hype Shakespeare seemed quite boring and overrated.
I studied Lord of the Flies by William Golding at GCSE. Mr. Latimer (my favourite English teacher) did not convince me that this was a great classic, especially after making us watch the black and white film version. I was not interested in a group of boys who become shipwrecked on a desolate island and resented having to read this ‘boring’ book for school which I felt was far too basic for me. However, as the rest of my class began to progress I realised I also had to engage with the text and soon Mr. Latimer had captivated us all. I remember being shocked at the issues involved in the book, it had never occurred to me that the absence of rules could lead to such savage behaviour. Such a simple yet powerful story left me quite shocked about the issued raised about society. It was the first book that made me really appreciate the power of prose to delve into many issues and look at things from a different perspective.
I thoroughly enjoyed A- Level English Literature. I gained a greater appreciation for Shakespeare as I covered Much Ado About Nothing and Hamlet, which still remain amongst my favourite plays. I also began to widen my reading scope as I discovered contemporary writers such as Vikram Seth and Margaret Atwood. For my coursework I chose to compare and contrast the mothers portrayed in A Suitable Boy by Seth and Mrs. Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. As a very different subject matter to the rest of the class I was very proud of this piece of work. I enjoyed the freedom of writing original ideas and comparing two books from two different time periods and cultures.
To the disappointment of my English teachers (and the relief of my parents) I chose to take the ‘sensible option’ and secured a place at Cardiff University to study Banking and Finance. I still cannot believe I was able to sit through hours of monotonous lectures trying to get excited about graphs, algebra and incomprehensible equations. I still read the Economist occasionally but cannot fall asleep without reading at least one chapter of what I consider as a good book.
Throughout the years my reading has changed. Rather than stories of adventure, I tend to read more contemporary writings and enjoy books by Asian authors such as Arundhati Roy and A.K Narayan. I also try to read more biographies and book about current affairs.
Reading has always been my escapism. Rediscovering children’s literature has taken me back to the joys of reading and the power of imagination and perhaps one day I will be able to write something equally as inspiring my all time favourite children’s author Roald Dahl.

is how i seem to remember it, but was always trying to read like you with a torch or with the curtains back after bedtime

also with you on the hand me down books, so many choices already made for me in the books my sister would read though i dare say would have found roald dahl without her.

Can't stand Lord Of The Flies...