What book got you reading?

I am a reader. It’s always been an outlet for me; a chance to travel to new cultures, worldviews, and adventures. I’m part of three book clubs and also read a couple additional books on my own each month. Recently, I read two 5-star books in a row: Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God and Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken. They earned their stars for different reasons, but both books kept me enthralled and I learned so much about life through each.

It’s so exciting to see Bea already taking an interest in books. She loves classics like Goodnight, Moon, The Snowy Day, and Madeline, but also loves a series of art history board books and Jennifer Adams’ Baby Lit series. We will sit for long stretches, reading together. Mostly she loves snuggling and being read to, but sometimes she loves reading on her own or to her dolls.

Frank and I were talking about that one book that made us readers. The book that opened that door and introduced reading as a pastime. His book was A Farewell to Arms, when he was in high school. It was hard for me to come up with mine. Some of my earliest memories are reading with my parents and grandparents. I would fall asleep listening to the Miss Know-It-All series and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle. Later, on my own, I loved Little House on the Prairie and Anne of Green Gables. I have read and reread A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and my copy of To Kill a Mockingbird is dogeared and taped together. As an adult, I have shifted more toward nonfiction. Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma and A History of the World in Six Glasses by Tom Standage remain favorites.

All that to say, I don’t think I could choose just one book. I don’t have a memory of not reading. Give me a title and I could tell you how that particular book has shaped my life, but I couldn’t give that honor to a single book.

What book got you reading? Or, what books shaped your outlook today?