On the Porch
Onisha Ellis
I remember vividly the wonder I felt when I learned to read. Oddly enough, my reading journey began in fear and trepidation. As a timid first grade student, I was frightened of a tall red haired teacher who would shout and shake her hand at students when we were too noisy in the lunch room. She was almost as scary as the gray haired first grade teacher who taught the other first grade class. She was mean!
We didn’t know who would be our teacher until the first day of school. On that day we were gathered in the school auditorium and seated by grade. Then the teachers would call out the names of the students in their class. Once the teacher had all of her students they would march us to our new classroom. To my utter horror, the tall red haired teacher called my name. I may have cried.
My next memory of second grade is being divided up in reading groups. I was seriously motivated to learn to read.
At that time Saturday cartoons had titles. For example, “Tom and Jerry Hunting a Tweety Bird.” I knew the writing on the screen was important but my older brothers would ignore my pleadings to read it to me.
I don’t know if I was a star reader but I do know that I learned quickly and it wasn’t long before I was a regular at the school library.
My thirst for reading never went away. During the child rearing days I had to get a little creative to find reading opportunities. I often read late into the night even though my son was an early riser.
Then sometime in late 2018 I lost my thirst for reading. It was like that part of my brain was wiped clean. I honestly don’t know how I survived.
I suspect that feeling the need to write book reviews, which I do poorly stifled my reading urge. Eventually my mind began to crave reading and when I abandoned my efforts to write reviews, the thirst returned.
Due to vision issues I read now on my iPad using the Kindle app.
Recently I noticed that Kindle was tracking the number of books I was reading.
- 2019 Nine booksed
- 2020 Seven books
- 2021 Eighteen books
- 2022 Fifty four books
- 2023 Seventy three books
- 2024 Fifty six books so far, plus around 90 audio books.
I am a bit shocked about the number of audio books. I may have counted some from 2023. Thank goodness I can get audio books for free through the Hoopla app.. If one has a library card and your library participates, you can access Hoopla and I recommend it!
It is normal for me to be reading a book on my iPad and when not reading, listening to a book. Just recently I wasn’t paying attention and was reading a book on my iPad and a different book on my phone. I was a little disconcerted when I realized it, but decided, no big deal… read on.
The question is why am I immersing myself in novels? I think I am escaping. I know I am escaping. I gravitate toward cozy mysteries with senior sleuths. Throw in a sarcastic cat or a clever canine and I’ll read the whole series. These stories are not real life and that is fine with me. Real life in 2024 is way too contentious for my psyche. I do throw in some historical fiction and more serious mysteries to keep me grounded. Too many animal involved mysteries and I begin wondering if my grand-dog, Ollie, might have super powers.
I am only able to indulge my reading obsession through the Kindle Unlimited plan on Amazon. It costs me $11.99 per month and I have an endless and instant supply of books. I especially like that Indie authors have books in Kindle Unlimited. The publishing houses determine the types of books we read and these days, I seldom like their choices. Indie authors have the freedom to write whatever their muse inspires.
Sixty-five years ago a scary, tall, red haired teacher gave me the wonderful gift of reading. I can’t imagine my life without books.
Our daughter, Rebekah participated in a book promotion that asked authors to share their current three favorite reads. You can read about hers at Shepherd.com.
After my retirement, I decided to re-learn the canning and preserving skills I learned from my mother but hadn’t practiced for twenty years. I titled the blog Old Things R New to chronicle my experience. Since then I have been blessed to have six other bloggers join me, DiVoran Lites, Bill Lites, Judy Wills, Louise Gibson, Janet Perez Eckles and Melody Hendrix
In addition to blogging, I’m a general “mom Friday” for my author daughter, Rebekah Lyn. I also manage her website, Rebekah Lyn Books
My 2024 goal is continue to use my love of photographs and words to be an encourager on social media.
Old Things R New 