Daily Prompt: Bedtime Stories
What was your favorite book as a child? Did it influence the person you are now?
You know, I think I am one of those rare kids that never went near a book. My parents never read a book to me (that I can recall), I never went to the library of my own volition, and my bedroom never had a book. It’s strange because when I think about it now, every time I entered any one of my friends’ room during my childhood, there was always a small two-shelf bookcase filled with books that were in tattered condition, stepped on, colored in, etc. If you looked in my room at that time period, you’d see a huge bin full of Lego blocks. Man, oh, man, I loved playing with them Lego blocks…
Whenever a reading assignment came around, I rushed through the book. I was bored senseless. It wasn’t until I was older when others kept suggesting that I should start reading because I so enjoy writing.
So there was no influence from books during my childhood. How has it affected me as a person now? I don’t know. I relied heavily on my imagination during those years – most of which has bothered me big time when I find out that someone else has beaten me to the story idea first. I think I am so used to playing with my own stories that it’s really difficult for other stories to grasp me into their world.
While I type this, I believe the first book that I willingly read of my own volition was “Desert Eden” by J.M. Morgan. It was a book that my mother owned and she said it had that ‘end of the world’ stuff that I seem so fond of, and I gave it a whirl. Harry Potter followed after and I couldn’t put those books down at all!
I guess it’ll always feel like that I’m trying to play ‘catch up’ because everyone is constantly recalling their favorite books during their childhood and I’m like, “Well, that’s another book I’ll have to read…”