Reading has always been a part of who I am. Whenever I was asked what my favorite things to do were, my response would be the same throughout the years upon years of icebreakers we did in school. “I love reading”—and then I would get asked what my favorite book is, and it would always change as it does with getting older. As I had gotten older and reading became a personality trait for me, I began to wonder why I love reading. And not in the aspect of it being escapism or the journey of plot, etc. But I began questioning if I inherited the love for reading from one of my parents.
The question began popping up in my head when I started learning about DNA and genetics in middle school science. So I would always ponder the question in my head until I got the courage to ask my parents. As it turns out neither of my parents liked to read, my mom found it boring and my father in his typical Mexican slang would say he has better things to do instead of reading tiny words on dead trees.
Finding that out left middle school me in shock and as typical as the mind of a middle schooler was, the first thought in my head was that I was adopted. Which, I am not but the idea that no one in my family enjoyed reading as much as I did, not even a little, was unfathomable to me. Looking back now knowing why reading was so critical to me, I can see why my first thought was adoption was the logical reason behind why no one else enjoyed reading. Reading had become such a big part of my life, even today it still is, bringing comfort and being the overall cure to boredom for me since having a phone was not a thing until I got to high school. Reading created my imagination, and I will make it a gene passed down when I have kids even if it takes me becoming a scientist to do that.
About the author MJ is a psychology major at BMCC who grew up in Brooklyn. Learning everything that has to do with the mind and how people think is one of her few hobbies, along with reading young adult and poetry books. She also loves writing her own poetry amidst the late night hours which results in little sleep most times. Her creativity stems from her own life challenges and everyday things. Although reserved and introverted, MJ loves interacting with others, sharing stories, and connecting through similar interests like music, art, writing, etc. Through her reviews you can get to know more about her, hearing her most honest and authentic thoughts and comments about the books she reads in each of her reviews and reflections.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
