When I was younger, I read voraciously. My parents didn't push reading on us, just like I'm not pushing it on our son. I suspect and his teacher suspects that he has some reading ability at this point, but there's no flashcards or trying to make him read. I figure that sooner than I want he won't let me read to him anymore, so at this time, I will cherish the snuggles and reading. We started reading to him when I was pregnant (only occasionally) and since then there's probably only been a very few days where he hasn't had something read to him.
When he was 5 months old, he LOVED Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb by Al Perkins. It could even stop a crying fit in my son if you pulled that book out. It's still a favorite of mine to pass on to new parents. With a grandma as a former librarian, my son's collection of books is enormous and his "favorite book" changes on a weekly basis. His love for reading is developing well. I imagine he may become somewhat like I was when I was a kid.I was a voracious reader. I would read anything I could get my hands on. Whether it be National Geographic, a bunch of old Reader's Digest books my grandparents had or the Encyclopedia Britannica, I would read it. I would generally work on 5-7 books at the same time (which made for heavy baggage when I travelled anywhere.)
I read a lot of non-fiction because I wanted to learn about everything, but generally I liked to switch between books. Sometimes, I would be so enthralled in a book I would stay up late to finish (including Harry Potter and Lord of The Rings).
Then Veterinary School happened. That squashed my desire to read really anything additional to all the other stuff I had to read and keep up with. I'm not sure if it was my eyes, my brain, or my spirit- they were all exhausted from all the academics. It was hard to motivate me to try to upload anymore information. For a period of about eight years, I really didn't touch many books.
Then I was busy with an internship and my first few years in practice. As my need to "upload" more academic information slowed down, I desired to learn more about the rest of the world. Especially when I was getting ready to plan a mission trip to Mongolia, I wanted to read more about the culture and place I was going to. Around this time, I found out that you can check out books from the library electronically, without stepping into a physical library.Fast forward and I had my son and spent many hours nursing him. During his feeding sessions that could take an hour, I would put my phone on airplane mode and read away. The more I read and the more "senior" I became as a veterinarian and confident in my knowledge, the more I've gone to recreational reading. I still have a tendency to read a lot of non-fiction, or historical fiction.
Last week I just finished, The Zookeepers Wife: A War Story. It was a great story for me to read. I'm 50% Polish, so learning about Polish heroes, especially one's that lived in the same era as my grandparents was engaging. I also have a fascination with World War II history and how ordinary people are capable of extraordinary actions in hard times. It was a very engaging story and one that I had a hard time breaking away from. I also loved that the people in the story utilized their knowledge of animal psychology when dealing with humanity- and inhumanity.
Another book I'm close to finishing is Extreme Medicine: How Exploration Transformed Medicine In The Twentieth Century. As a medical professional and a lover of history, this was a perfect molding of the two. The author has lived an interesting life, from working on helicopters, to aerospace to a diving doctor, he is like a jack of all trades who makes medical lingo accessible and can tell a great story. I wish that when I was in veterinary school I learned how reconstructive surgery and skin flaps originated with World War II pilots. That would have helped me get a lot more excited. From all different medical advances, the author goes back into the history of how they came about- how heart surgery was "forbidden" up to the 1950s and how anesthesia used to be the profession for doctors who couldn't do anything else- how times have changed!
I have a couple more books on my to-do list next, A Man Called Ove, My Badass Book of Saints and Hidden Figures are on my to-do list.
My husband and I are actually listening to First Sisters, by Jenna Hager and Barbara Bush and I may end up finishing it by reading. It's a book that has been fairly family friendly for the car and fairly light for driving.
What books are you reading now?
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