by Andrea Grigg
I was the child who read under the bedclothes with a torch. The one reprimanded for attempting to read at the dinner table. The one who ALWAYS took a book to the bathroom … and I still do!
Yes, I love reading. I would even go so far as to say I’m obsessed with it (I guess that’s the addict part) and I know I’m not alone.
Last week I put this question to a Facebook group I belong to as well as on my personal page. ‘What behaviours has your significant other/family put up with when you’ve got your head in a book? Some were hilarious! Here are just a few.
* I have a Kindle because it's easier to cook one handed when you're reading from it rather than a book. You can turn the page with the press of a button.
* Starting to read at 8 pm 'for an hour' and then realising that it has somehow become 3 am
* My husband is also a reader and we respect it in the other. When we first got together we would have weekends away on the sofa and whoever could break away from their book would need to go get takeaway. Luckily we are not usually addicted at the same time
* Audio books, sitting in the car park at work, waiting to hear the end of the chapter, or in the driveway at home.
* Struggling to pull out of the book to function in everyday life, and referring to characters and story lines in everyday conversation with people who don't have a clue what I am talking about.
* Laughing out loud while reading.... then having the kids or hubby ask what's funny... On the other hand, they never ask me why I'm crying while reading...
* So engrossed in a book that I forget I've got dinner cooking - until that burning smell eventually registers.
* I am reading on a Kindle now so I can cook whilst reading. I even read whilst on the treadmill. Reading late into the wee hours and waking up grumpy. And best of all, if I fall asleep reading in bed I don’t lose my page any more!
* Hubby: "Where are the children dear?" Me:"We have children?
* Apart from NOTHING getting done, I take on the mood of the book, happy, sad, anxious, romantic (enough said), angry, etc and watch out family if it's not going in the direction I think it should!
* Kids turning into prunes in the bath while I sit on a stool. "Can we get out now?" "Not yet. One more page…"
* Sometimes I burst out laughing at something I've read and everyone wants to know what's so funny, but I just kind of wave my hand in the air and say, 'I'll tell you later', because I'm too absorbed in the book and don't want to take the time to explain
There were a few of these …
* I hide in the loo and read so I don't get caught!
* Everyone thinks I have a problem because I'm in the bathroom too long!
Lol! Two classics to finish with:
* My Mother was not a reader and just could not understand how I could lose myself in a book so deeply I was completely unaware of what was happening around me - to the extent that the house almost burnt down one night! I was sitting up reading after everyone else had gone to bed. We had an open fire in those days and all of a sudden my Mother rushed in and screamed at me - an ember had popped out of the fire onto a cushion and it was on fire! LOL.. I hadn't even smelled it...
* As a child I sat up in the pine tree with a book in the summer- and wasn't aware of the sap dripping on to my long hair. I had to have all my hair cut off because we couldn't get the pine sap out. I still read with the same lack of awareness of what is going on around me- 50 years later! Yep – we’re obsessed!
And I think this image about sums it up …
So! Anyone got a ‘head-in-a-book’ anecdote they can share? Or a quote about reading? I’ve got a Pinterest board full of them. You can view them here:
Until next time, happy reading!
Andrea Grigg lives on the Gold Coast, Queensland, and is a writer of contemporary Christian romance. Her first book, ‘A Simple Mistake’ was a finalist in the 2012 CALEB awards. Her second novel, ‘Too Pretty’ was released in August this year.Website: www.andreagrigg.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/author.andreagrigg?ref=hl
Twitter: @andreagrigg
Andrea, great post! I was the kid who was secretly reading by torchlight under the covers :) I used to read on the bus and occasionally miss my stop because I was too engrossed in the story.
ReplyDeleteCould've become quite costly, Narelle, in both time and bus fares! Thanks for sharing :)
DeleteThanks for this Andrea (and all your honest contributors). Had to laugh at some of these. And parents are worried about kids being obsessed with computer games! My mum would limit me to reading one book a day because she otherwise little else would be done. It was always'can I finish the chapter' 'can I finish the page' whenever called to do something. At the same time, teacher reports were urging her to encourage me to read more to improve my spelling. What they didn't realize was that I read so fast (and for meaning), that spelling was immaterial to me and I hated rote learning. Thankfully I've improved my spelling since primary school though I still love books :)
ReplyDeleteThey are funny, aren't they Jeanette? And I think you might've been more of a book addict than I was as a child! Thanks for commenting :)
DeleteAndrea, my husband tells me he used to ride his pushbike along with a book open on the handlebars when he was in his early teens. Hmmm--and he's still here to tell the story!
ReplyDeleteWow - your husband was a brave man, Jo-Anne! I gather his habits have improved :)
DeleteI'm struggling to see what's funny here. Are you saying this isn't normal behaviour?
ReplyDeleteAnd a note to the person who cooks while reading on her (his?) Kindle: I fried one e-reader because I reading while stirring a rice risotto. The steam got into the inner works and it died.
Nothing funny about this at all, Iola. Very serious. And I'll pass on your note :)
DeleteOh my goodness!!! The pine sap story is the BEST! Loved all the others too, they resonated with me a little too much. Yep. Me too. Hands up!!
ReplyDeleteI remember loving one of my aunties a 'little less' at age 11 when I had a sleep over with the cousins. Aunty had no clue a good mother let her kids 'finish off the chapter' before she switched off the light. Always a sign of a decent human, I thought. Still do. :)
Thanks Andrea. Lots of fun today.
Blessings
Dotti ;)
I loved the pine sap story too, Dotti. And I completely understand your attitude towards your aunty. I'm sure she knows better now :)
DeleteHilarious post - and comments too, Andrea! Makes me feel quite normal after all. I wasn't so strange as a child - especially a teenager readerholic. Should I warn folk it can be inherited also? Our eldest son can get lost in another world in a book - and TV of course. My long-suffering mother was visiting us when I had to speak to him a few times before he heard me. She grinned. "Serve you right, Mary!"
ReplyDeleteWell they do say what goes around comes around, Mary. Funnily enough, none of my children are hooked on reading as much as I am. Thanks for stopping by :)
ReplyDeleteHe he he, some real classics there, one of them mine. I won't say which ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks Andrea for a Friday smile
Glad you made the cut and I'm glad it made you smile, Cat. I own't tell which is yours either :)
ReplyDeleteAndrea - what fun. I've always found it strange that my 2 boys don't read (well the eldest has now started. Yay!) when I'm sure that's what they've seen me do most.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, Andrea.
Monkey see isn't always monkey do, is it Ian? Still, I haven't given up hope :) Glad you enjoyed the post.
ReplyDeleteMy son (9 next week) is a good reader but just hasn't got into reading books - until now. Suddenly he's discovered Diary of a Whimpy Kid and he's interested, engaged and wanting to read more. With my daughter it was Deltora Quest that got her hooked on reading. Feeling half my job as a parent has been accomplished lol.
ReplyDeleteWhen I taught Grade 6 I read Deltora Quest to my class, as well as the Rowan of Rin series. Emily Rodda is a winner in my view! And how good your son has discovered the joy of reading too! The Diary of a Whimpy Kid has engaged so many kids - I love it when boys get into reading.
DeleteWonderful, Andrea. We're all one of a kind. I didn't have torch as a kid but loved bright moonlit nights.Yes, moonlight is magic.
ReplyDeleteAny kind of light would do, hey Rita? Sounds like you're a book addict from way back :)
DeleteYep, explain the tears... Too funny or too sad.. Kindle one handed reader LOL me 2
ReplyDeletePhones aren't too bad either, Deanna! One tap and the next page appears ... lol
ReplyDelete