Confessions of a Book Addict
It is my pleasure to welcome Robin Kavanagh! Robin is a workaholic writer, mom, and college professor who is hoping to finally get one of her novels completed one of these years – instead of all of the nonfiction stuff that pays the bills. In the meantime, she’s mingling with and learning from fabulous writers and channeling their energy into pushing her stories forward and creating new worlds of her own.
My name is Robin Kavanagh, and I’m an addict. It’s been about four years since I started chain reading, and I have absolutely no intention of kicking the habit.
It all started on my 28th birthday. The company I was working for had instituted a policy that gave employees the day off for their birthday. I was about seven-months pregnant and so wired from working non-stop that I had no idea what to do when I wound up having the entire day to myself. My husband was at work. My daughter was at school, and my dad was scheduled to pick her up, so I had nine whole hours of nothing but peace and quiet.
I was bored out of my mind by 11 a.m.
So, I picked up the copy of Laurell K. Hamilton’s Narcissus in Chains that had been sitting on my computer desk for who knows how many months, care of my husband’s habit of buying books and never reading them. I’d seen various books in the Anita Blake series (of which Narcissus in Chains is the tenth book) throughout the house, but didn’t really know anything about it. I opened the book to some middle chapter and started reading.
The next thing I knew, everyone was home, and I was grouchy that I had to stop to attend to the business of reality. Since then, rarely has a night gone by that I have not spent at least some time reading for pleasure. This was a new concept for me; first because I was taking time for myself and second because I had never really looked at reading as something pleasurable. Utilitarian, academic, compulsory – yes. Relaxing, invigorating, cathartic – never.
So here I am, hundreds of books later, thoroughly addicted. I have my authors-of-choice, to whom I return on a regular basis, as well as favorite flavors that keep my mind tripping into world after world of uncharted territory: historical romance, paranormal, romantic suspense, sci-fi romance, urban fantasy… My only regret is regretting not buying stock in Borders and Audible.com!
Now it’s your turn: How did your love affair with reading begin?
Thank you Casey for letting me blog with you!
November 17th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
I remember my first romance Beloved Vagabond Anne Hampson. I fell head over heels with the book while riding home from high school. It was about man kidnapping a woman and in the end he is rich. I was in the 9th grade and lived about 45 minutes from the school.It took aabout a week but I read the whole thing and charished it for ever and always. I keep the book for years and then I went off to college and my mom threw it away. For years I have looked for another copy of the book on ebay and other sites.
November 17th, 2010 at 1:44 pm
I fell in love with books when I was a kid. My mom would take me to the library to get the Beatrix Potter books. From there I went to Nancy Drew. I loved those books. I eventually discovered romance and grown up mysteries, and I’ve been reading ever since. How wonderful that I actually get to write them now.
November 17th, 2010 at 3:56 pm
@Abigail: There are a bunch of copies available through Amazon Marketplace: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0373104707/ref=dp_olp_0?ie=UTF8&redirect=true&condition=all. I think I was in the 8th grade when I read my first romance: The Lily and the Leopard by some author I don’t remember. I kept it in my desk at school. Thank goodness my teacher never noticed! Some steamy scenes there.
@Anita: To this day I love Peter Rabbit.
November 17th, 2010 at 5:21 pm
Thanks soo much I really want a copy Thanks again!
November 17th, 2010 at 10:06 pm
Thanks for starring today Robin! I’m so excited you were able to hook Abigail up so she can find her first love! Anita, I was a fan of The Boxcar Children, but as I grew older, school books got in the way of free time and Moby Dick did not inspire one’s love of reading! Throughout high school and college I seldom read for pleasure, but ten years ago I bought A Christmas Keepsake at a yard sale for 25cents and fell in love. (thankfully, I still have it an pull it out to reread about this time of year. I’ll go dig in my “keep” box if anyone wants to know the author since I forgot). It was a light hearted romance with time travel to contemporary and regency times, and the escapism it brought me had me hooked. My mom, always an avid reader, got me started on historicals. Since then, I’ve never stopped reading. My only regret is not starting sooner. As always, thanks for commenting and ps – Robin will be back next week with more confessions!
November 19th, 2010 at 11:33 am
Your comments thrilled me, Robin. Lots of folks tell me, “I just don’t have time to read…” I want to answer, “Like anyone does?” But that’s not nice and I was born below the Mason-Dixon line, so I say instead, “You just haven’t found the right book. When you do, you’ll find the time.”
I fell in love with reading before I knew how–my mother read Treasure Island to me, my sister and brother.