Mary Sullivan
If you're reading this Super author blog, chances are huge that you're an avid reader.
Like most of you reading this, I don't have as much time to read as I would like. I do, however, remember a time when I spent hours and hours immersed in books and loved every minute of it--when I was thirteen, fourteen and fifteen. One of my favorite places in those days was the library.
Don't get me wrong, I wasn't physically inactive. I was involved in sports and all of the 'normal' activities of youth with my sisters and girlfriends, but if I could squeeze fifteen minutes for reading out of any hour of the day, I would steal it!
I remember walking home from school reading--yes, reading while walking. I walked slowly, so I never bumped into anyone. I was careful crossing the street. If anyone I knew passed me, though, I had no idea. If I was in the middle of a book, I couldn't wait for that afternoon school bell to let me out so I could get back to the story, and read it all the way home. Were any of you this strange???
I would stay up all night until I finished it. Whether until 1 a.m. or 5 a.m., I would finish if I could and spend all of the next day yawning.
Being from a family of seven children, I learned to block out noise around me. My sisters thought it was pretty hilarious to sit all around me while I had my head buried in a book and say the most outrageous things about me and I would miss it all.
If I didn't have a book on the go, I would read anything that was in front of me. Morning after morning, I read the cereal box while I ate breakfast: front, back, sides, top and bottom.
This was a long time ago, so one of the things I read was the clothing catalogue that arrived every year before school started. Up here in Canada, it was the Eaton's catalogue. I had little money and no hope of buying anything and wore a uniform to school, but every year I planned a detailed and extensive wardrobe anyway!
At one point, I discovered Vogue magazine. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. It was the '60s and the clothing was fun and fabulous. Mary Quant and the British influence were huge. I didn't make a lot of money babysitting, so I owned only a few copies of Vogue, but I treasured those and read them cover to cover time and again. Don't get me started on how gorgeous--and what an eye-opener--fashion photography was.
I ended up marrying a man who told me he also used to walk and read at the same time, to and from school or his part-time job or a friend's house. Other than myself, I've never heard of another person doing this.
Of course, that ended years ago, once life's responsibilities took over. There isn't as much time as there used to be for reading, but I still do love to and, of course, now I write.
Where was the oddest place you have ever read a book? Or what is the oddest thing you've read? Did any of you read cereal boxes when you were a kid?
I'd like to give away a copy of This Cowboy's Son to someone who posts today.
57 comments:
I have always enjoyed reading. It allowed me growing up to escape from my life to a better one. It lead to my career as a librarian. Soon I was in to deep to realize that librarians don't just sit and read. What a bummer! The quietest place growing up was a big huge closet in our bathroom. I would sneak in there to read where it was quiet. I carried that on to college where I learned that you have to make use of all your time, especially if you are a college student, dad, hubby, worker etc. So, I would read there then too. I guess the habit stuck. I actually do read other places too, but you said you wanted the wierdest!
Scotty
I remember those Eaton's catalogs - and the school uniforms LOL. I read everything and anything I could get my hands on. I used to fake sick from school so I could stay home and read.
Yes!! I do love to read....anywhere....car, sofa, on porch, toilet!!!
Hi Mary,
Yes, I have always loved to read and I did read cereal boxes too. I love libraries and book stores too. I will read anywhere!
Scotty, I would have loved a quiet, cozy place for reading, like your closet. I'm glad you had a private spot available to you. Yes, I did ask for the weirdest, LOL. When I was that young, I too would have thought that working in a library would be the best job on earth.
Anne, I wish I'd thought of faking illness to get out of school--just for reading, yay! This winter, I got the flu for the first time in years and got a TON of reading done because I was useless for anything else! Believe it or not, it was great.
Jackie,
"car, sofa, on porch, toilet!!!"
LOL, me, too. I carry books all over the place.
I never go to an appointment, or drive someone else to an appt. without a book in my purse.
Tammy, I'm glad someone else read cereal boxes, too! Makes me feel not quite so weird ;-)
Mary--I still read while I'm walking. I work on a college campus so the paths are pretty nice. I was reading one of Jeannie Watt's books one time and walked into a bush. I scraped my face and had to explain that to everyone I met for the next few days. Didn't change my habits, though. ;-)
Scotty--I also read in a closet when I had a job as the night maid for a hotel. I mostly took care of the ballrooms, conference rooms, and the bathrooms for the night club. There was a lovely supply closet with an overhead light bulb and stacks of towels perfect for lounging. Those supplies were well-inventoried during my tenure at the hotel.
My brother and I used to fight over the "interesting" cereal box in the morning. And just last week my son complained that the Cheerios box has been the same since Christmas. He wants them to switch up their back cover copy quick! ;-)
I think I was born with a book in my hand. Not really but I can remember borrowing books from my school teacher in grade one. I did read some books more than once simply because that was all there was to read. I remember catalogs Eatons and Simpson Sears and the spring and summer issue and the fall and winter issue and most important the Christmas ones. Yes to cereal boxes as well.
The weirdest thing I ever read was sitting in an outhouse where the toilet paper of the day was an old ranching magazine. I remember going into the main house and asking if I could take the magazine home if I left them our spare roll of real toilet paper that my parents always carried in the car. My mom was so embarrassed but I'd found something new to read. For years when we'd visit that ranch I'd take the current magazine and go sit in the grainery and read it. If a farm kitten was available to cuddle I was in seventh heaven as we didn't have pets at home.
I read while I was in labor, it took my mind off the pain. I also like to read pamphlets while I'm waiting in the doctor's office.
Car trips when i was a kid
Cereal boxes were my morning wake up! We lived in a two story house when I grew up and my Sat chore was to clean upstairs bedrooms, often I would flop on the bed and read instead of getting busy, my mom what shout up the stairs, "are you reading or working?" Pretty soon I got wise to this and would take the broom and hit it on the floor every min. or so, to fool mom into thinking I was working on the chores. I'm sure she caught on as it took me forever to clean upstairs. Another fond memory. These blogs are forever taking me back to my youth. I believe thats why I love reading so much, you never feel old when your reading!!!
Ellen, another walking and cereal box reader! Sorry, but I'm sitting here laughing because you walked into a bush. Thank you for this morning's chuckle. So your son is keeping up the hallowed tradition of cereal box reading? I love it.
Kaelee, I LOVE your story about the ranching magazine toilet paper. I remember years ago I saw a roll of toilet paper in a joke store that had a joke printed on every tear-away sheet. I thought it was a brilliant idea! I have no idea how soft it was, but would that really matter when it was such great reading material? ;-)
Linda, you read while in labor? What a fabulous idea! I wish I'd thought of that during my 23 hours with my daughter!
jcp, I envy your ability to read in a moving car. I get sooooo nauseous. Audio books are a pretty good substitute, though.
Okay, it's confession time for me. Books almost led me to a life of crime. I was in first grade, and the nuns wouldn't let us take any of the readers home at night. So I stole one. I still vividly remember opening the cabinet where they were stored and shoving one into my book bag. I hid it beneath a pile of clothes in a drawer at home, and I would take it out and read it when there was no one around.
Unfortunately, my guilty conscience nagged me every time I read it, and I eventually returned it to school. Then I discovered the library. Bliss!
Gloria, ha! Great story about cleaning. I'd be willing to bet your mom knew what you were doing all along ;-) Or rather, what you were NOT doing--cleaning.
"I believe that's why I love reading so much, you never feel old when your reading!!!"
Gloria, you make such a good point. I can go back to books I read when I was a teenager and still enjoy them. They take me back to that period, remind me of other books I was reading them, and the music I was listening to. But also, when involved in a really great book, you aren't 20 or 40 or 60. You just ARE.
While I never tried reading and walking at the same time you could find me on a swing in the backyard reading until one or the other of my brothers tipped me off of it. But my favorite place to read was on the floor between the bed and the wall. And I confess I was a cereal box reader also but the trouble with that was my older brother would grab it away from me when he eventually got to the table for breakfast ~no he didn't want to read it....he wanted the cereal!!!
And since I have read your book don't enter me in the drawing.
Margaret, I'm so glad the nuns didn't catch you when you 'borrowed' the book! The nuns in my school wouldn't have been too pleased about it. For my first few grade school years, it would have meant getting a ruler across the palm of your hand. But then again, you did have a guilty conscience so everything worked out ;-)
Ah, libraries. How many lifelong readers have they nurtured...
Ellen, reading between the wall and the bed sounds cozy and private. Unfortunately, when it came to cleaning my bedroom when I was a kid, I was a little too much like Gloria. I did more pretending to clean than really cleaning. So...too many dust bunnies around my wall for me to have read there.
I am a compulsive reader. I don't just love to read, I HAVE to read. When we get ready for a trip, I spend the week or so before stocking up on books. I might forget to pack my toothbrush, but I'll make sure I have enough books. Now with a Kindle on my phone, it's not such a problem if I find I've read through my allotment, thank goodness for backlists!
Hi Mary. I come from a family of 8 kids, so I could really identify with your post and I so miss reading. Just don't have enough time to read the way I used to. Love libraries!
I've been known to read a beer bottle or two! lol
Kristina, I'm crazy about back lists, too, especially when I find 'new-to-me' authors who have good-sized back lists. So many new treats!
BTW, toothbrushes are over-rated. Books? Never. LOL
"I've been known to read a beer bottle or two!"
Good one, Helen!
You came from a large family, too? I used to think the house was so crowded and wish I had only one really great sister. Nowadays? I love being from a large family. It's funny how priorities shift as we get older. Mainly because we have our own separate places to live! Ha!
Mary, when my kids were younger I used to hide in the bathroom to read. It's the only place where they wouldn't bother me. Hmm...maybe I should set up my office in there *g*
I've read while walking, while cooking dinner at the stove, during Track Meets, volleyball, basketball and baseball games, and when I wait for my kids to finish practice, I pull out one of the magazines I keep in the car for just that reason :-)
I'm trying to incorporate more reading time into my day. Hopefully it'll work as there are so many fabulous books I want to check out ;-)
The heroine in my June book, Married by June, stole a book from school when she was in kindergarten. How funny is that, Margaret?
My 5th grade teacher had a book called The Complete Book of Horses and Horsemanship in our classroom library. I read it compulsively even though the biggest pet I'd ever had was a gerbil. Toward the end of the year I realized I wouldn't have access to the book anymore so I started copying it out, page by page, in a black marble notebook.
My teacher (Sr. Mary Katherine) found out what I was doing and she gave the book to me as a gift. I still have it.
Read pretty much anything with words. Still do. Cereal boxes, the aerosol cans in the bathroom...anything. I read while driving. Well, not exactly. I read at stoplights. You can get a lot of pages in at a 2-3 minute red light.
Beth, I remember using the bathroom as a refuge for reading, too! Oh, I know what you mean about trying to read more each day. I have two huge baskets stuffed with to-be-reads and don't want to give up any of them without reading them.
Ellen, what a lovely story about the horse book. Sister Mary Katherine recognized an avid reader and made sure to support you in remaining so for years to come. Very generous gesture. No wonder you kept it.
'the aerosol cans in the bathroom'
LOL, Patricia. I read jars of cream and bottles of mouthwash while I'm brushing my teeth.
I too loved libraries. Still do. Love the Dewey Decimal System and often go to my hometown library to put their non-fiction books in order - as they are upstairs and the desk is downstairs, so it is difficult for staff to stay up there for any length of time.
I read encyclopedias at my library when I was young. Spent an entire summer compiling a report on Christopher Columbus, just for the fun of it. Spent the rest of my reading time poring over romances, stretched out on a beach towel in our backyard.
Today I have a reputation for reading while walking along a paved trail. People think I'm nuts. Me? I think I want to finish a book, so why not multitask? If I meet someone who can walk with me, then I'll put the book in my back pocket to continue later; otherwise, I can read while watching the yellow stripe down the middle of the path.
Didn't eat breakfast as a kid, so no cereal boxes. Sorry.
If I'm eating alone, I'm often catching up on our local newspapers or old magazines that friends have given me. If I start a book, I'll want to finish it, so I tend to leave those until I have an hour or so available.
Hi, Mary! While reading your post I thought the whole time...wait that's me she is talking about! lol I have done that all. I've read the books my older brother had to read for school even though I didn't really understand them but I was reading and that made me happy. And yes, I read the cereal boxes so many times, I think I can recite them by heart. Also, when I'm eating alone, I'm always reading the newspaper or something like this. My bf keeps joking that as long as he gives me something to read I'll be happy!
Readers read. That's for sure.
Add me to the reader/walkers queue. Bad habit as you get older. Ellen, you're lucky you didn't walk into traffic. Could have been much worse. Shame on Jeannie for making the story so darn intriguing, right?
Bubblegum wrappers. They used to have jokes--really lame jokes--inside.
I read everywhere. And if there's nothing to read, I write. I'm addicted to words, it seems.
Scotty, I wanted to be a librarian, too. I was sure that was the best job on the planet, but at some point I decided I wanted a job that didn't involve staying indoors for long periods of time so I went into journalism. Sigh. This was before bad UV rays. Live and learn...;-)
Deb
I have books I'm in the middle of reading all over my house. I don't like to be without reading material so I put them where I'm most likely to be. Some days I carry 2 or 3 with me to work even though I'm not going to finish even one of them on my lunch hour.
There's a older gentleman who reads while walking through our neighborhood park trail. And I often wonder how he does that. I can't even chew gum and walk at the same time any more.
GRRRR, just lost my post. So here's a shortened version. I too read everything and everywhere. If I don't have a book, it's labels off the aersol cans (pests, cleaners), off of milk cartons, cereal boxes and other food products. I read in the car (though not while driving), on the airplane, in the bathroom, the bedroom, the living room, the garage. I read whenever I can which is not nearly enough with all the other responsibilites I have. Sometimes I do read until late if I have a really good book that I can't put down (till 3 a.m. this morning and I was at work at 7:30 a.m.--needless to say I'm dragging today!). Weirdest place I've ever read was probably at the beach at night using teh flash from my cell phone for light!
I used to read the cereal box on the English side and then turn it around and try to read the French side.
When I was younger I loved, loved, loved reading better than anything. I always had a book in hand and rode my bike to the library or my aunt's store as often as I could. My mother used to hide my book until I cleaned my room. Talk about mad. I'd get furious when she said smugly, "Clean your room and you can have your book back." Books were my crack. LOL.
Mary, I used to read while walking to and from school, too! We lived in a rural community and I only had one quiet street to cross. As a child I read every waking moment including at the breakfast and dinner table (if my parents let me). The most unusual place? In winter I'd get up early before anyone was awake, turn on the heat and go to the living room. I'd sit behind a recliner, next to the wall, on top of the register. The warm air would rise between the drapes and the lining. I'd sit in my warm cocoon and lose myself in a book for hours until the rest of the family got up.
Me again. I love hearing all these stories and knowing I'm not the only crazy reader! Just had to add another weird reading place now that I'm thinking back. I also used to read sitting in a cherry tree. I'd find a comfortable perch, open my book and read while picking and eating cherries. I even remember reading a book called 'Cherry Tree Perch' while sitting in that tree.
Laney, you sound like my kind of reader. So glad to hear you're a walking reader, too. Before I posted today's blog, I had no idea there were so many of us!
I save those books I want to finish in one sitting for a rainy afternoon or evening.
ClaudiGC, I think we're reading soul-sisters. When I'm eating alone, I like to read. It keeps my mind busy in a good way ;-)
Deb, bubblegum wrappers! You're right. I'd forgotten all about them. The jokes were usually incredibly lame, but when you're a kid that hardly matters. Almost anything can be funny.
Rogenna, I don't blame you for carrying more than one book around. There's nothing worse than being somewhere and having a bit of spare time available and no book!
Snookie, you need a little book light to carry to the beach with you next time. LOL
Chey, me, too! It was great practice when I was studying French at school. That was beaucoup years ago now. I've lost it all since then. C'est dommage ;-)
Liz, oh, oh, oh, mothers can be so mean! OTOH, um, I think I might have used that kind of trick on my own daughter.
Joan, your cozy spot in the morning before everyone else woke up sounds lovely.
I LOVE the sound of sitting in a tree to read, especially one that has its own built-in treats. How serendipitous that there was a book written called "Cherry Tree Perch." Perfect.
I've really enjoyed reading everyone's stories today. Thank you all for sharing!
BTW, I went out to pick up groceries this afternoon and passed a man who was walking and working on a crossword puzzle at the same time. Until today, I thought I was just an oddball. Now, I realize I'm a member of a pretty special community. There are a lot of us truly committed, or um, maybe obsessive, readers in the world, aren't there? ;-)
Mary, my son used to read in the shower. He'd leave one hand out and press the book against the glass...and we're talking Tolkien, so not a light book. He'd reach out to turn the page.
Can I say I'm proud I created another obsessive reader...
Karina
I keep something to read in the car for when I'm stuck in traffic. I read cereal boxes religiously. Then I like waiting for appointments because I can squeeze more reading in my day.
When I was a child I would sit on the roof of the car & read. I imagined it was a flying carpet, or I was on top of a mountain etc. It did not feel weird, not even to my family. Got to love a family that respects imaginings. Looking back, still not weird, except to a non-reader perhaps.
marypres@gmail.com
As a child, I read everything: menus, matchbooks, paper placemats at restaurants. I loved African folks tales and didn't read Little House books until I was an adult.
I couldn't read in the car when I was younger but seem to have gotten over that now. Thank goodness, it makes the time pass.
I have a car book, a doctor's office book, a bedtime book. And I have the kindle app on my phone so I can read my latest Kindlized book on my phone since I can sync the two.
Peace, Julie
Karina, I've never heard of that. That's hilarious!
Laura, two years ago when I was going to school my subway and bus rides were close to an hour and a half. Glorious time for reading! Sometimes it's so great when the doctor or dentist are a little late seeing me ;-)
Marybelle, I think every avid reader would agree that sitting on top of a car to read isn't weird at all! Apparently, there are NO places that are too weird for reading ;-)
Julie, one of these days I'm going to have to get a portable reading device. They sound so awesome.
Mary, I don't usually read while walking. Too much of a klutz to take the chance; however, I read most anywhere else.
Like you, I read cereal boxes or anything else that's handy. My DH and I have recently gotten a new television service that allows us to pause during live TV (I think it automatically records x minutes of broadcast). We always pause at the end of certain shows and read the "cards" that are posted at the end (like Mike & Molly and 2 and a Half Men). I constantly read in the bathroom and, in the pre-child days when I could take a leisurely bath instead of a shower, I often read in the tub, very carefully, of course.
I'm not as good at blocking out noise as you are, though. If it's just background noise (like street noise or whatever), it's no problem. However, my DH loves to interject comments as we're driving along, which is one of my favorite times to read. Rather than just say his piece and then be quiet, though, he will say something every now and then, frequently enough that I find myself re-reading passages because his comments have distracted me. I suspect he's doing it somewhat on purpose, but he's such a good guy otherwise that I really can't complain.
I love to read and I will read about anywhere. I also read the cerial boxes when i was growing up.
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