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Literacy Musing Mondays: Fun Week & Giveaway!

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New Host, Controversial Guest Post, and A Giveaway!

Welcome back to Literacy Musing Mondays. We have great news this week. We have a new host: Leslie. Leslie recently guest hosted for us. She is a devoted wife, mother of three great kids and, most importantly, a follower of Jesus Christ. She loves long summer days, photography and stealing quiet moments for writing. Connect with on her on her blog, Forever Joyful.

This is going to be a busy week. In addition to a new host, we have a guest post from Holly Pennington.

Holly Pennington

Holly writes about vulnerability, faith and freedom at www.dreadlocksandgoldilocks.com with her dreadlock-wearing poet friend, Kari.  She lives in the Seattle area, where she loves to read, and is thankful for the awesome library system.  She would love to connect with you on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Her guest post is going to cause a lot of conversation. I hope you enjoy.

4 Things I Learned From Hating to Read

By Holly Pennington

In high school, reading Watership Down, To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, and anything Shakespeare were battles to stay awake.  I would surrender the night before the test, leaving hundreds of pages unread, then pray for multiple choice.  I cannot recount my childhood in books, and I have no blissful memories of Little Women or Anne of Green Gables.

Because I hated to read.

It was an unlikely book at an unlikely time that made me fall in love with reading: Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, during my second year of college.  Maybe the fact that the book was not an academic assignment played a role.  Maybe it was that it was only 224 pages.  Maybe it was just that it was a fascinating story.  Or, maybe, it was simply that, until then, I wasn’t ready to be a reader.

I can easily turn regretful at my dislike of reading during my early years, filling up with anxiety over all that I am sure I missed.  I will never get those reading years back.  And, considering the impact books have had on me during the second half of my so-far-life, I sometimes wonder who I would be now if I had loved reading then.

But, if I had loved reading then, I am pretty sure I wouldn’t believe the things I do now about books.

  1. Reading can’t be forced and it’s not for everyone.  It’s not like piano lessons or exercising. We can’t force ourselves, or our children, to read every day and expect the 10,000 hour effect to emerge.  We can’t schedule ourselves into bibliophilia.  I wonder if, before TED talks, Netflix,  Instagram and YouTube, forced reading was more fruitful than it is now.  While, for me, the most powerful form of inspiration is the written word, this is not true for everyone.  Why can’t a podcast be just as life-changing as a book?  It’s okay to not be a reader at all, and it’s okay not to be a reader right now.  Maybe we need to be ready to be readers.  And being ready comes at all different ages, for all different reasons.
  2. Reading doesn’t make you more interesting.  Do you ever hear someone quote something they read in a book and immediately peg them as smart and interesting, just because they are quoting a book?  The last time I checked, regurgitating other people’s wise words doesn’t make you interesting.  But, putting them into practice does.  Reading can so easily be turned into a status symbol or an ego prop.  We think if we can say, “yes, I read that book,” when the movie comes out, we will be part of the “smart and interesting” club.   But, what really makes us interesting is when the stories become part of us, when they seep into our blood, carrying a new rhythm to our heart.  What really makes us interesting is not when we can quote an author or “yes” our way through the “Have you read…?” questions.  What makes us interesting is what we do with what we read.
  3. You don’t have to read a lot to call yourself a reader. Do you ever turn reading into a competition?  When your mom reads six books during a ten day vacation (my mom really does) and you are pretty sure you have read six books in the last six months, do you reconsider calling yourself a reader?  When you run across those Best Books of the Year lists that come out in December, do you feel like you’ve failed?  They make me want to download one of those “reading goals” charts and start scheduling away.  Sometimes I think it would feel so good to be able to say that I read one hundred books this year.  Then, I remember that, really, I would rather read 5 amazing books and let them change me.  I want the books I read to carry me into new ways of seeing and living as they become part of me.
  4. Books choose their readers as much as readers choose their books. Into the Wild taught me this one.  I wasn’t a reader.  But that book chose me.  And it changed me.  The high school classics didn’t choose me and I didn’t choose them, so maybe this is why we never got along.  But, now I listen to the mysterious whisper of books.  I answer their calls.  Sometimes it’s an irresistible cover, sometimes it’s a trusted friend’s heartfelt recommendation, and sometimes it’s a perfect-timing arrival from my books-on-hold list at the library.  Books can choose their readers.  And this is when they change us the most.

After nearly twenty years of calling myself a reader, I still haven’t revisited my high school battle books or read Little Women.

But, my life has new rhythms because of the books in my blood.

So, thank you, Into the Wild, for knowing that I was ready.

Be sure to check out Holly’s blog today for more of this great post!

We also have a giveaway in store for our readers and participants!  You could win $40 in either PayPal cash or on an Amazon gift card. The winner will choose. We will run the giveaway through Friday, October 2nd and announce the winner on the Monday, October 5.   Just complete the entries in the Giveaway Tool below for your chance to win!

 

Now on to our linkup! Meet Your Hosts    

Ashley @Circling the Story   Blog/Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest/Instagram    

Leslie@Forever Joyful   Blog/Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest/Google+    

Mary @Maryandering Creatively   Blog/Facebook/Twitter/Pinterest/ Instagram/Google+   

Tami @ThisMomsDelight   Blog/Facebook/Pinterest/Twitter/Instagram/Google Plus  

 

Last Week’s Top Clicked Post!

 

Sarah’s Post at Devastate Boredom

    Sarah has a great list books that you will want to add to your own list of to-be-read!  I enjoyed her quirky and fun descriptions of her featured titles. Be sure to check it out. Want to be the next to be featured! Just link up a post and if you are read the most, we will feature you. Also please make sure you link back to us so others will know about our link up and join in.     We try to make it worth your while to linkup with us by promoting your posts across our social media networks. We also pin your posts to our Pinterest Board!   Follow Mary Hill’s board Literacy Musing Mondays Linkup on Pinterest.  

Now it is time to link up to the Literacy Musing Mondays hop! You will have until Saturdays at 12 p.m. now to link up! So come back often. :) Literacy Musing Mondays

Linkup Rules:

 

Include a link back or the blog hop button linked to this hop on your posts.

 

      •  Link up the urls to your posts not to your blog.

 

 

      •  Please remember this is a family-friendly linkup. We reserve the right to delete any posts that are not family friendly. We love all kinds of literature and genres including family-friendly inspirational romances, fantasy, or scifi. We do not welcome anything with excessive sexual content or cursing.

 

 

      • Please visit two posts on this linkup: the one right beside yours and one of your choice. Don’t link and run. I really would love to see more interaction this week! Share comment love! Remember it is also nice to follow them on their social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. PS: leave a comment below letting us know if you especially enjoyed a post so our readers will know to read it too!

 

 

      • Follow your hosts and co-hosts on their social media.

 

 

      • Tweet about the link up too.

 

       [tweetthis]Come join the fun! Link up your family-friendly, book- or literacy-related posts at Literacy Musing Mondays![/tweetthis] 

Linking up with these hops this week: #LifeGivingLinkup; Inspire Me Mondays at Create with Joy, Inspire Me Monday at Angie Ryg,Mama Moments Monday, Motivation Mondays, Good Morning Mondays, Inspire Me Mondays at Table for 7, Mommy Monday Blog Hop, The Book Nook – Blog Party For Book Lovers!, Together on Tuesdays at Chronically Content, Totally Terrific Tuesdays, Women with Intention Wednesdays, What to Read Wednesdays, Mom’s Library,  A Little R &R Wednesday’s linkup, Kid Lit Blog Hop, Booknificent Thursdays,  and TGI Saturdays.

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Comments

  1. I agree with your assessment of reading, reading is personal,just because you read doesn’t in and of itself make you interesting but it does give you something to talk about especially with other book lovers. Books do choose you as much as you choose them. Thanks for a great contest and happy reading.

    Reply

  5. Great post! I think we do try to “force” reading to kids before they are ready and make them “hate reading”. Thankfully, all my children LOVE to read… my girls more than my son. My son has a very limited genre, but he does read. Great reminder to let them “mature” and find that book that “grabs them”. Thanks for sharing with #What to Read Wednesday. We hope to see you again next week.

    Reply

  6. Hi Mary,
    Wow! Lot’s of big news 🙂 I love this guest post about reading. I really appreciated what Holly said about it just possibly being the right time in life. So many times as parents we push our kids to do things they just aren’t ready for. It doesn’t mean they never will, but often if we push too hard, we may give them a bad memory and they will be adverse to it forever!
    This was my first giveaway I ever participated in! Ha! It was fun 🙂
    I also want to thank you for your support and encouragement over on my blog. Your kindness means so much!!
    Blessings and smiles,
    Lori

    Reply

  8. I can’t imagine not loving to read. I feel like it’s my blood.
    Your list of how to not force reading, and there are different types of readers is good.
    One of my sons and my daughter is a reader, my youngest son is not.

    Reply

  11. First, thanks for stopping by my blog, Mary, and pointing me this way! I love the ‘reading can’t be forced’ comment. It can’t. I was an avid reader up until high school and then just got so busy with life that I didn’t pick it up again until I was in my mid-thirties. Forcing a person to read (kid) often does the opposite. When they want to find a book, they will. And if they don’t, I doubt it’s a sin.
    Tonja Drecker recently posted…Review: Inspector Dewey by Kristen Heimerl with Giveaway!My Profile

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  13. Hi Mary. Thanks for stopping by and saying hello and for inviting me to the party! Looking forward to getting to know you and others. I love the part in the post about not having to read much to be considered a reader. I have not read a book in a long time. I have started one or two, but didn’t finish. I think I have adult onset ADD. I read more blog post now days than anything else, so…does that make me a reader?
    Lowanda J recently posted…This Summer I…My Profile

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  14. I love this post. I hated reading as a child too. That is, I hated reading Braille, because I hated the fact that I was going blind. I loved listening to books but never the “real” literature. Now I still mostly like non-fiction and autobiographies, mixed in with some juvenile fiction. I definitely learned that reading cannot be forced.
    Astrid recently posted…Autistic Adults and IndependenceMy Profile

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  16. I started to enjoy reading when a friend read me the first chapter in a Nancy Drew book. I still love mysteries and fast paced books. But I listen to a lot of books on tape too. I like to listen while I do other things. I used to wonder why I didn’t love to sit down and read like others I knew. I’m so glad to live in the audible age.

    Reply

  17. I think this a post that so many need to hear. Don’t give up on reading altogether just because you didn’t like it as a kid. And I hated the books I read in high school just because of the way they were taught–it didn’t inspire me. Also, it’s so true that you don’t have to read a book a week to be a reader. So ofter voracious reader is confused with reader.
    Megan Gonzalez recently posted…Prepare for Success: 3 Tips for TripsMy Profile

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  23. I LOVED Holly’s post…can’t exactly relate to now loving books, tho…lol
    Sharing a piece of fiction that my blogging partner, Candy, wrote. At least she says it’s fiction, but it’s pretty darn close to what I felt when my oldest son got married!

    Thanks for hosting such an interesting party, Mary. I hope you’ll join us over at Coffee & Conversation on Wednesdays!

    Have a terrific week 🙂

    Reply

    • Hi, maybe controversial to hard a word? Maybe I should change the post title to conversational? I just wanted to attract readers. Thanks for your continued support.

      Reply

    • I’m happy to see the controversial post is conversational too 🙂

      I wasn’t intending to be controversial, but it is ok if it is. I hope it helps people who feel self-conscious or less-than because they don’t enjoy reading. And, I hope it helps parents of children who don’t like to read. It may just not be the right time yet.
      Holly Pennington recently posted…Wandering HomeMy Profile

      Reply

  25. Controversial is right!

    The people you meet, the books you read and the things you do are what impact a person most and change their mind according to NY Times best selling Author Andy Andrews. I tend to agree with him. I’m a voracious reader. Love a good book…
    Susan B Mead recently posted…Is PeaceMy Profile

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  26. Having been a teacher of the primary grades and having taught the basics of how to read to so many kids over so many years (still tutoring too), I must admit that I did not read well until I began to teach. I learned to read by sight back in the 1950s. I could read but slowly. The slowness kept me from enjoying those ‘have to read books.’ I just could not read them fast enough to get them all done on time for the many teachers needing me to read and write and …. But in the 1970s, when teaching became my job, I learned phonics because I had to teach it to many children. Once I had that under my belt, combining it with sight reading, I was able to read faster and better. I love reading but am still a word-by-word reader. I just cannot skim over the and, a, the, an and all of those. I read them all, but I LOVE TO READ!! I even had the privilege of being a children’s librarian in one of our public libraries for four years.
    You have hit many nails on the head with this article and I am glad to have read it!! Thanks. ~ linda

    Reply

    • Thank you so much, Linda. Great point about the speed of reading – that could have been my issue too. I know I kept getting behind in the reading assignments in school and then it felt impossible.

      My hope is that teachers and parents don’t label kids as non-readers just because they don’t like to read school books or during the school year.

      Even after having this relationship with reading growing up, I can find myself worrying about my 8-year-old daughter who doesn’t love to read and/or trying too hard to help her love it!

      Thank you for reading and for your insightful comment!
      Holly Pennington recently posted…Wandering HomeMy Profile

      Reply

      • I hated reading assigned books too, especially Faulkner in 12th grade. Who can relate to his works? He is my least favorite writer of all time. Just my opinion. I think kids should be allowed to choose their books to read and write about with teacher guidance of course. I am no better for having read Faulkner. (although his stream of conscious writing helped me as a writer.) Now I have argued myself in circles. It is late. LOL
        Mary Hill recently posted…Fall Brilliance — a PoemMy Profile

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