#Whyiread is trending right now on Twitter*, and I’ve enjoyed reading the varied responses (not surprisingly, many have to do with escape—from a bad day, where you live, ignorance).
A big reason I was excited to see this hashtag is that I’ve had a “why I read” quote dog-eared for months, just waiting for a rainy day when I think someone needs reminding about, well, why we all read.
From Curtis Sittenfeld’s American Wife, first published in 2008:
Oh, how different my life would have been had I not grown up in the same house with my grandmother, how much narrower and blander! She was the reason I was a reader, and being a reader was what made me most myself; it had given me the gifts of curiosity and and sympathy, an awareness of the world as an odd and vibrant and contradictory place, and it had made me unafraid of its oddness and vibrancy and contradictions.
I love that, don’t you?
Why do you read? Tell Twitter—then come back and tell us if you can’t explain it in 140 characters or less.
*If you don’t have a Twitter page, you can still read people’s #whyiread answers here.
My situation is similar. My grandmother was the example of being curious of life and your surroundings. She always took the time to read to me and encouraged me to read. My grandmother lived on a farm and every Saturday we left the city we lived in and went to Grandma’s house. We had so many wonderful adventures exploring the farm and the many activities. I hope I have been that same inspiration to my grandchildren!!