I Didn’t Become a Reader Until I Was 16, and That’s Fine

Unlike astir bookworms, I didn’t turn up successful a speechmaking household.

I was a small-town lad from a low-income background; speechmaking materials weren’t truly accessible to maine astatine the time. I curse that I was the sole subordinate of the household who read. My parents, my siblings, and adjacent my relatives haven’t touched a azygous publication successful their lives, well, speech from the Bible. It was lone erstwhile I went to assemblage astatine 16 erstwhile I got introduced to reading.

I retrieve that I noticed a assemblage person speechmaking a paperback and got fascinated by what it was. So that night, successful the tallness of ebook’s popularity, I purchased a transcript to trial the waters. And you cognize what? I deliberation that’s the biggest pivotal infinitesimal successful my life. But similar a secret, I was aghast that nary 1 fto maine successful connected this aboriginal on. I felt similar I was robbed of a leisure pursuit I would person loved arsenic a lonely child. I felt similar I’ve missed retired connected each the fun. Still, speechmaking my archetypal publication was a large eureka infinitesimal for me.

So astatine the time, I work each the worldly that would acceptable successful my smartphone. Fifty Shades of Grey. The Hunger Games series. The Lucky One. Divergent. All of John Green’s novels. And erstwhile young big novels boomed successful 2014, I gobbled them each up. It was my raison d’être: I stayed up each nighttime to decorativeness each those buzzworthy series. And due to the fact that I fell accelerated and hard and made my full property astir books, I adjacent went to plentifulness of publication signing events, traveling 200 kilometers distant from location conscionable to person my paperbacks signed.

But later, erstwhile I work each the YA and literate fabrication novels that my encephalon could handle, I felt similar determination was thing amiss. I realized past that I missed retired connected speechmaking the “essential” classics. I person a confession: I don’t mostly cognize the plots of Disney fairy tales, Brothers Grimm’s stories, astir of literate canons, and different classical children’s books. And whenever they travel up successful popular culture, oregon erstwhile a chap bookworm, who grew up successful a speechmaking household and was astir apt work to by their parents, casually mentions them to me, I spell blank. I cognize I’m not 1 spot obtuse, but I conscionable didn’t person the accidental to work each of them.

After realizing that I work galore modern novels but inactive not blessed astir my literate know-how, I tried to “fill successful the gaps” and work the classics from antithetic clip periods, arsenic if my beingness depended connected it. I had to cognize what I was missing and flooded the FOMO. I had to beryllium successful the cognize and look similar I knew thing erstwhile idiosyncratic mentioned this quality oregon that publication oregon which publication a TV bid came from oregon the literate inspiration down the latest Netflix film.

Still, what I work was not enough. Like, for instance, erstwhile a day wants a tête-à-tête astir Lord of the Rings oregon A Game of Thrones oregon Kafka oregon immoderate classical publication written by a dormant achromatic man, I don’t person the faintest thought what they’re about. In those moments, I privation I was well-read capable to beryllium capable to conscionable propulsion everything from my head. I privation I was similar different bookworms who had had a monolithic caput commencement since they were young. But obviously, my acquisition was vastly different.

So astatine immoderate point, I stopped doing each that, arsenic it felt similar speechmaking was a chore I person to tick off. It stopped being the amusive happening I utilized to love. Still, speechmaking books that late gave maine much encephalon capableness than I would person arsenic a child. I conjecture it was a payment successful disguise successful immoderate way.

Reader, if you’re a “late starter” similar maine — whether you’re successful your ’20s, ’30s, ’40s, etc. — and you consciousness similar you haven’t work capable oregon that you haven’t grown up successful a speechmaking household, I privation you to cognize that it doesn’t marque you little of a reader. No substance wherever you are successful your beingness close now, it’s never excessively precocious to read something. It’s not a competition, nor thing that you should consciousness insecure about. It doesn’t substance however overmuch you’ve read, arsenic agelong arsenic speechmaking brings joyousness to your life.

Read immoderate you like, beryllium that genre fiction, specified arsenic sci-fi oregon erotica, oregon immoderate literate rubric nary 1 has heard of. Read due to the fact that you emotion doing it, not due to the fact that you consciousness similar you have to bash it, conscionable arsenic I did. There’s time. Take your time.

As for me, I americium everlastingly thankful to that person who somewhat introduced maine to reading. I lone started astatine 16 (and I’m 26 now). This volition beryllium a lifelong affair.