reading's for the birds.

Growing up reading was one of those things that my mom impressed on my siblings and me. I didn't fully grasp how much I loved settling down with a good book until college though. I read a lot up until then, but mostly for classes and the like; the concept of reading for the sheer pleasure of it didn't come until later. Fortunately for me, I was both an English major and a Journalism major at the University of Iowa, so reading was something that never fell by the wayside, as it does for too many. I can remember reading entire books from 7 am until 2:30 every Thursday for my post-colonial literature class senior year.

Something professors always dropped between the first and sixth day of class was this: "Good readers make good writers." And that's true. It's something to do with the company you keep makes you who you are. That concept has bothered me at various times, mostly because I wanted to be better than my company, my peers (sorry, I'm competitive — nope, I'm not sorry). But, that all just comes with time, becoming better, that is. Then again, sometimes the company you keep makes you who are in a way that more so means you're the opposite of your company rather than a reflection or composite. They've influenced you into an entirely different direction from their own, similarly to when a particular author influences your writing style. And, that's neat.

That's when reading becomes most interesting: when you read an author and, using what you've read, develop your own style — as life will force your hand to do.

So, I read, and you should, too. Go to the library; it won't cost you anything.