I remember one day I was sitting nearby a co-worker while on break at a secondary job in retail who said that since she has had dyslexia her whole life she absolutely hates trying to read because it can be so frustrating for her. She was in her late 50’s and it appears that she never received proper help. All I could think of how much reading bliss she has missed out on.
I have loved to read ever since I was a kid. Of course what I’ve read changed through the years, but currently have several different subjects that I prefer; Biographies shows how much famous people are just as screwed up as we are, have read about stars in the music industry, movies/TV and politicians, favorites are Goldie Hahn’s ‘A Lotus Grows in the Mud’, I was fascinated with Goldie’s story, favorite parts are the meaning behind the title, her adventure with a blind female baby elephant she named Belly Button and the good day her Mom had before dying (definitely a tear-jerker). Barbara Walter’s ‘Audition’ is another favored book, she was so strong when first starting in the television industry and all of the male chauvinism she endured and fought against but she was so determined to prove her worth and it was very interesting hearing about the people behind the story who she interviewed. Was extremely impressed with Hillary Rodham Clinton’s ‘Living History’, I always knew she was one smart lady but all I can say is WOW, she has always wanted to help people for the right reasons, she should have been President of the United States. All three ladies mentioned come from various backgrounds and followed different paths in life and are all amazing, YOU GO GIRLS!!! The mind-blowing Fiction writers are astonishing, Nora Roberts/JD Robb, Wally Lamb, Stephen King, James Patterson, Lisa Jackson, among several others, there are just too many titles to list. The inspirational tidbits from Martha Beck that I usually read in O The Oprah Magazine and ‘liked’ her on Facebook. I also love Poetry, the beauty of verse and understanding what is beneath the meaning, Maya Angelou is the Queen.
Most of the time I cannot afford to buy new books so I will go to a used book store and find all kinds of reading treasures that I would not normally buy, that is actually how I came across Goldie’s book, not to mention hitting the reduced sections at book stores.
While at my Mother’s house a couple of years ago I noticed she had a set of books from Reader’s Digest Select Editions published in 1999, each book contains condensed versions from four authors, one that caught my attention the most included Nora Robert’s ‘River’s End’ and Fannie Flagg’s ‘Welcome to the World Baby Girl’ and had to snatch it up along with another one that had John Grisham’s The Testament since I never read the originals. She had six of them and eventually emptied her bookshelf of them all, ordering more on Amazon.com. I have walked by that shelf thousands of times since 1999 and never noticed those books, but it’s amazing when I finally did.
For the last several years, some of the ladies I had worked with in my former department at the bank have been listening to audiobooks that you can get free from the library and they have literary saved my sanity while working during the day since I was in a large room filled with cubicles with all different types of personalities and plus help keeps my stress levels down when there are conflictions for various reasons, otherwise I’ll sit there and seethe. It’s a great way to listen to the old classics, I never read Moby Dick but listened to it instead and of course check out the authors listed above, even those I have read. I always have a mixture of audiobooks, usually fiction and biography but all are diverse. There’s only so much radio one can tolerate and get tired of hearing the same songs play over and over. Before the radio waves changed from analog to digital a few years ago we were able to receive the television station CBS on the radio and most of us would have Dr. Phil and Oprah on from 3:00-5:00, I was totally lost when the radio signal changed. Now there are Podcasts accessible from your cell phone, awesome.
A typical day at work for me is listening to a morning show on the radio then switching to an audiobook, depending on what I’m working on, possibly read any number of my favorite magazines that I subscribe to, play games on my phone or crochet during lunch, and read a few pages in a book while lying in bed before going to sleep, sometimes I’ll get my stories confused, oh well, keeps it interesting.
Reading is such a great way to escape reality, learn about other people’s experiences, discover new worlds, educate yourself with knowledge and with all the types of technology available, the written word is available everywhere, although I still love the feel of a real book in my hands.
Written in 2015
