Allison Symes's Blog - Posts Tagged "reading-journey"
Cherished Childhood Books
I owe my late mother a huge debt. She encouraged my love of books and stories from an early age and she was thrilled to see my first story in print, A Helping Hand, in Bridge House Publishing’s Alternative Renditions anthology way back in 2009.
Sadly, Mum didn’t get to see either of my two flash fiction collections (From Light to Dark and Back Again and Tripping the Flash Fantastic) though my Dad did see the first one.
But thinking about them, and in particular, Mum, led me to recall some of my cherished childhood books.
To name a few:-
Black Beauty
Heidi
The Famous Five - I had most of the set (close to about 20 books or so).
The Reader’s Digest Collection of Classic Fairytales - a huge two volume set beautifully illustrated too.
And then there were various Ladybird books as well.
And I used to collect the old I-Spy books which were themed on topics and you scored points for everything you observed on that topic when out on walks etc.
The best gift that comes from having an early love of reading?
Well it’s a gift that doesn’t leave you and you keep on reading. What you read changes of course according to age and taste but there is a reading journey as well as a writing one.
What matters is to ensure you thoroughly enjoy your reading journey (and if you have one the writing one as well).
Sadly, Mum didn’t get to see either of my two flash fiction collections (From Light to Dark and Back Again and Tripping the Flash Fantastic) though my Dad did see the first one.
But thinking about them, and in particular, Mum, led me to recall some of my cherished childhood books.
To name a few:-
Black Beauty
Heidi
The Famous Five - I had most of the set (close to about 20 books or so).
The Reader’s Digest Collection of Classic Fairytales - a huge two volume set beautifully illustrated too.
And then there were various Ladybird books as well.
And I used to collect the old I-Spy books which were themed on topics and you scored points for everything you observed on that topic when out on walks etc.
The best gift that comes from having an early love of reading?
Well it’s a gift that doesn’t leave you and you keep on reading. What you read changes of course according to age and taste but there is a reading journey as well as a writing one.
What matters is to ensure you thoroughly enjoy your reading journey (and if you have one the writing one as well).
Changes in Reading Tastes
How have your reading tastes changed over the years?
My big love reading wise will always be fantasy (especially the humorous kind and you can’t beat Terry Pratchett’s Discworld for that) but I have also developed a taste for crime novels (on the lower end of the gory scale) and historical fiction.
I’ve also developed a taste for non-fiction and have enjoyed some of the Ben Macintyre books and London by Peter Ackroyd, books I wouldn’t have looked at only a few years ago.
Having a Kindle has encouraged me to explore more books too and I will use ebooks as a way of testing out books by authors new to me.
I’ve also been reading more flash and short story collections. That of course is linked to my writing taking off in that direction. I want to read in the field I am in and am conscious I need to have a good reading diet of classic and contemporary fiction.
What is lovely is having books on my shelves (including the electronic one!) by writer friends.
Becoming more involved in writing myself has led me to discovering what colleagues produce and I am reading more types of books and stories now than I’ve ever done.
So where has your reading journey taken you? Have you discovered a love for a genre new to you?
My big love reading wise will always be fantasy (especially the humorous kind and you can’t beat Terry Pratchett’s Discworld for that) but I have also developed a taste for crime novels (on the lower end of the gory scale) and historical fiction.
I’ve also developed a taste for non-fiction and have enjoyed some of the Ben Macintyre books and London by Peter Ackroyd, books I wouldn’t have looked at only a few years ago.
Having a Kindle has encouraged me to explore more books too and I will use ebooks as a way of testing out books by authors new to me.
I’ve also been reading more flash and short story collections. That of course is linked to my writing taking off in that direction. I want to read in the field I am in and am conscious I need to have a good reading diet of classic and contemporary fiction.
What is lovely is having books on my shelves (including the electronic one!) by writer friends.
Becoming more involved in writing myself has led me to discovering what colleagues produce and I am reading more types of books and stories now than I’ve ever done.
So where has your reading journey taken you? Have you discovered a love for a genre new to you?
