A History of Reading

A History of Reading

-my personal journey-

Hi, my name is Missy and I love books with an intense passion. One could say, I am obsessed with books. I haven't always been crazy with book fever. I started reading at a fairly young age and got hooked in the 5th grade when my mom gave me her Nancy Drew collection. These mysteries were so delicious. By the time I hit middle-school it was all about the horror books. R.L. Stein and Christopher Pike was all I read. If I got in trouble, my punishment wasn't being grounded from t.v. or video games it was from books. I always had one in my hand.

There was a bit of a break in reading for a few years. Friends became more abundant and reading fell to the wayside. But by the end of high school I got bit by the book bug again and Stephen King came into my life. The bigger the book the better. I sought out the longest books he wrote. Desperation is my all time favorite book of Stephen King's. By college, I discovered Patricia Cornwell and murder/mystery thrillers was all the rage, especially with C.S.I: Las Vegas being my favorite t.v. show. I was still reading Stephen King on the side and had just added Dean Koontz to my shelves of loved authors.

College ended and I started a family. So it was borrowed magazines and children's picture books only. I was content with that for a few years but I still craved books. I decided to make a Book Club with my friends on Myspace. I went first, then my friend went next. The book my friend choose was Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. I didn't know anything about Twilight in '07. Didn't know it would grow to be a crazy fandom/hatedom. What I do know is that book was awesome in my opinion, and the first YA book that I had read since my days of Christopher Pike and R.L. Stein. 

My town got a bookmobile and my reading intensified. I was borrowing around 6 books a month. Some YA, mostly random adult fiction. I would just look up books online, in the Target book section, I would find pretty covers and read the synopsis. If they sounded good I would request them. I then tried Oprah's Book Club List. All of those books were too depressing for my taste and so I stopped reading her picks. I was sad. I had no book friends, no real information on how to find books. I would just re-read the two series I owned over and over. Twilight and Harry Potter. Then in Feb, 2013 I was told about a website from a friend called Goodreads. This new friend also started giving me book recommendations. By August of 2013 my eyes were blinded by the awesomeness of BOOKTUBE. What is this world, where books are abundantly discussed by more than enthusiastic readers? YA was my new staple and I tried to get my hands on all the books that were being talked about. I wanted in on the action. 

By January 2014, I decided I needed to be apart of this community. I needed more books in my life. All of my other hobbies, mainly World of Warcraft and the rest of my PS3 games started collecting virtual dust. I had abandoned them for paranormal worlds and fantastical creatures.

Bookoutlet was mentioned in a video by a booktuber and I started collecting books. Then I found a used bookstore in my area that sells $1-$5 books. My collection grew even more. I felt more confident in my book buying selections and went right back to my first love horror. On my shelves are mostly under-hyped authors and titles, but I do have a few well known books as well. 

I may be new to the blogosphere, booktube and goodreads but I am having a blast and learning as I go.