Thursday, May 27, 2010

A passion for reading.

When I was a kid, if my parents chose to punish me, they turned off my TV. It was a great hardship. Until I discovered reading. I became an addict for Nancy Drew mysteries. By the time I was twelve, I was reading adult fiction. Nothing stopped me. I loved reading.

But I have seen our society change. Some people still read a book every chance they get. Others regard reading as a chore. Why? Is it the books they were forced to read in school? Have traditional publishers begun to bore us with their formulaic books? Have schools failed to create good readers, so that young people struggle to follow a storyline?

Or are we passive, preferring to watch the world through a TV set?

Don't get me wrong, I still watch a lot of TV. But I read a lot, too. If Harry Potter can inspire millions of children to read, then it must be the books that have been the problem. What does it take to inspire you to start a novel and discover the world inside?

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