Friday, August 21, 2015

The Reading Promise

The 3,128-night reading marathon that my father and I call The Streak started on a train to Boston, when I was in third grade.

The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma is a charming memoir about a daughter and her father, the books they shared together over a nine year period, and the transformative power of reading. I love books--especially ones about books and reading--and I absolutely loved this one. At the end, there's a "Reading Promise" that the author hopes everyone will choose to make. Here's an excerpt from it:
I promise to read. I promise to read on my own, in print or on a screen, wherever books appear. I promise to visit fictional worlds and gain new perspectives--to keep an open mind about books, even when the cover is unappealing and the author is unfamiliar. I promise to laugh out loud (especially in public) when the chapter amuses me, and to sob uncontrollably on my bed for hours at a time when my favorite character dies. ... I promise to tell everyone I know how reading calms me down, riles me up, makes me think, or helps me get to sleep at night. I promise to read, and read to someone, as long as human thought is still valued and there are still words to be shared. I promise to be there for books, because I know they will always be there for me.
Isn't that a great promise to make?
Happy Reading!

4 comments:

  1. OK-- I'm definitely adding this to my wish list! Thanks, Lark!

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    1. It's great! I think you'll really like it.

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  2. What a beautiful promise! I love reading about the ways books bring people together and it sounds like this is a good one.

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    1. I loved their father/daughter relationship. And their shared love of reading and books. I'm really glad I got a chance to read it.

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