"Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him." Maya Angelou

I remember the books from my childhood much better than from later years.  I graduated from comic books to “adult” books (meaning books without pictures) on my 9^th birthday.  As I sat down at the breakfast table a hardback book was lying there.  I assumed it belonged to a parent and took no notice.  Mom asked me, “Aren’t you going to look at your birthday present?”  It was a book for young boys, “The Mercer Boys at Woodcrest” by Capwell Wyckoff.  ( Confession: I had to “google” to find the author.)  The book came with an epiphany - I was old enough to read  grownup books!  No more of the “Dick, Jane, and Spot” nonsense. I got a library card and read all the series involving the Mercer Boys and the Bobbsey Twins. 

This led to more worthy literature such as “Robinson Crusoe” and “Treasure Island.”  I still have my original copy of “Robinson Crusoe.”  I take it down from the shelf every few years and sign it on the inside cover.  My first signature was from the 6^th grade and 9 signatures follow that - 9^th grade, 22 years old, 31, 38, 42, 52, 60, 67 and a just entered entry at 72. It’s a silly thread tying the years of my life together.  I’ve read it a few times.  I now wish that besides the signature I had written notes detailing where I was, my outlook on life, and status.  It surprises me how little one’s signature changes over your lifetime.

Regrettably, I find that the older I get, the less I read.  Fiction bores me more easily.  Perhaps, I’ve read it all already.  The books I do read have a science aspect to them and teach me something I didn’t know.  Three come to mind: 1) “The Selfish Gene” by Richard Dawkins; 2) “Guns, Germs, and Steel” by Jared Diamond and 3) “The Structure of Scientific Revolution” by Thomas Kuhn.  The stuff those books taught me, I hadn’t even realized I didn’t know.

Two books of fiction that enthralled me were, “Catcher in the Rye” by J. D. Salinger and “Across the River and into the Trees” by Hemingway.  I read “Catcher…” at the right time in my life.  I WAS Holden Caulfield.  I like all of Hemingway’s books and the literary critics proclaim his “Across…” as one of his poorer efforts.  I have the opposite view.  I think it is his best.  Contains a great deal of subtlety.   I’ve reread each of these several times.

I envy those of you who can buy the latest best selling novel in the grocery store and enjoy it.

Studies have shown that reading fiction improves empathy and social skills.  Is that relevant as to why so many, comparatively speaking, prisoners can’t read?  They have no bond with their victims?

2014 Lester C. Welch