On Reading.

Reading is an incredibly important skill. If you're lucky, you have parents that thought so too. Mine read me all the typical fare.

Goodnight Moon.

Where the Wild Things Are.

In The Night Kitchen.

It wasn't until I had found my first book on my own that I really felt like I was reading though. One day while visiting a garage sale I found a box of books hidden away near an antique end table. Most of it was stuff that was rather boring to my child's mind... like Shakespeare.

Source: Pixabay.com

However, I did discover a little gem that was marked for ages 6 - 8. For the life of me I cannot remember the name of that book. However, I can tell you that it was about a young boy that fought an evil wizard in a custard shop. I'm sure that it was ridiculously trite and contrived, but then children's books aren't usually great works of fiction. To me though, it was a masterpiece.

That was the book that first got me interested in reading. I read tidbits of articles in the newspaper, and various little books here and there.... but I still didn't understand what reading really was about.

It wasn't until I was 10 years old that I got my hands on a book that completely changed my worldview.

My friend's mom had taken us to a bookstore and told us that we could pick out whatever book tickled our fancy. She was a bit of a strange one, but quite generous.

I chose a book by an author I had never heard of - Piers Anthony.

That book was called Dragon on a Pedestal and it was the seventh book in a series that took place in a world called Xanth. Fortunately for me, Xanth was a forgiving place. Reading a book out of order was not considered a cardinal offense.

Dragon on a Pedestal is about a young girl who has the power to enhance any attribute of anyone or anything.

Everyone in this Xanth has a power. Some of these powers are weak, like the ability to write your name in a book using only your mind. Others are incredibly strong. The people with strong powers were called magicians and they essentially ruled the Land. This young girl was well on her way to becoming a ruler.

Sound interesting?

To this day I would argue that the Xanth series is the best young adult fiction series ever created.

Piers Anthony has several other great fantasy series as well. Unfortunately, as he got older Anthony decided that his perversions would spill out onto the page. He ultimately created a book called Pornucopia which caused people to revisit some of the themes in his earlier Works. He is now considered by a great many people as morally questionable.

The damage was already done though. My love of fantasy and science fiction novels was born. I moved from Anthony to Asimov to Tolkien to Clarke.

I just couldn't find enough books to read.

It really saddens me today to see so many people locked in front of the TV set instead of picking up a book. I've actually met a great deal of people that have never read a single novel.

Most of these people tell me that they don't have time to read even though they have time to watch every episode of Game of Thrones or The Walking Dead. Did you know that Game of Thrones was a fantastic book? You should check it out. The series is actually called A Song of Ice and Fire. Not Game of Thrones. That's just the title of the first book.

I do admit that I really like the TV series as well though.

I do wish more people would read. Reading truly is fundamental. It gives you a gift. If you haven't read a book in a while, why not check one out soon? You can buy ebooks for pretty cheap, or you could literally check one out from your library.

Reading - don't underestimate it's importance.