Fortnight of Guests 2012: The Story Siren

Being a Reader

First off, I want to thank Megan for inviting me to participate in her Fortnight of Guests! My name is Kristi and I blog over at The Story Siren and have been doing so since 2007. I love reading young adult literature, so that's mostly what you'll find over there.

It was hard to come up with a topic! I thought about doing summer reads or beach reads, but I decided to do something a little more personal. So I’m going to talk about being a reader, and how possibly it has effected my life.

I would say that I’m a reader. Not that being a reader means I am part of an exclusive club, but I do feel a special kinship with someone once I discover that they also share that passion.

I don’t know if I was born a reader or not. I like to think I was born one, but more than likely I was simply a product of my environment. My grandma and my mother are both readers and I was often in their presence when they were doing so. Growing up my grandma read to me, what seems like, every night before bed. I suppose it’s mostly her fault that I find myself identifying with the “reader” label.

I’m thankful for that label. I wasn’t always.

Reading wasn’t cool at my high school. It was often associated with nerdiness, and I so desperately wanted to be labelled as cool. It didn’t happen, but that’s a whole other guest post in itself! Though I didn’t do much reading during that time, beyond the pages of Seventeen and Cosmo mag, I still considered myself a reader. Thankfully, it was only a brief lapse, in college I could be a reader again and I wasn’t afraid to wave my reader flag. I often find myself reading YA titles now and wishing that I had them during those times in high school where I struggled with everything about myself.

I’m glad that I’m a reader. Being a reader has gotten me through hard times.

Reading made me understand things later on that I couldn’t fully comprehend in the moment. Reading was a friend when I thought no one cared. Reading made me care.

I’ve been a princess, an orphan, a vampire, a scientist, a spy, a wizard, a drug addict, a pirate and a boy. I don’t think any of that would have been possible had I not been a reader.

Reading has given me perspective. It’s removed filters that life has places in front of my eyes. I used to think that I was a compassionate person because of the people who raised me, but maybe it’s because I’m a reader too. I can put myself in the shoes of another person, experience what they are experiencing, and live their life for a few moments before the story comes to an end.

Being a reader is a wonderful thing.

I’m a reader.

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Thank you so much for taking part, Kristi!   I loved this post and I agree completely with everything you said!  I hope you all loved it just as much as I did! :D
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