As I shared in “Reasons to be Grateful: Libraries,” I have always been a huge bookworm. I was an early reader, devouring titles far beyond my grade level from a young age. Who needs standard second-grade reading material when you can handle Babysitter’s Club and Nancy Drew? I confess that Stephen King’s Christine made my tummy turn a few times in third grade (ugh, that scene in the tunnel-bridge in chapter 14!). Still, it was no challenge for my reading comprehension abilities.
My love for reading often got me into trouble as a youngster — at school (reading recreational books during class), at church (perusing my new selections from the church library during the sermon), at family outings (sneaking into my grandma’s smut books), and at home (ignoring everyone to read instead).
I was practically obsessed with reading. I’d even consume nonsensical materials, like spending my whole shower reading the shampoo and conditioner bottles, or reviewing every last word on the cereal box during breakfast — multiple times a week, no less.
It turns out this may have been a feature of my neurodivergence: I recently learned that 84% of people with hyperlexia are autistic. This condition relates to children who develop a strong interest in letters, possibly even fixating on them. Hyperlexic children also possess an earlier, more advanced ability to read than their peers.
These criteria indeed described me to a tee, and it didn’t go unnoticed. After meeting me just a few times when I was in second grade, my older sister’s friend aptly nicknamed me Webster due to my penchant for using so many big words he couldn’t understand.
Another neurodivergent quirk about my reading habits is that I typically have 3-5 books in rotation at any given time. My therapist pointed out that this might be challenging for neurotypicals to keep track of, but for my AuDHD brain, having various categories of books on hand allows me to choose what to read based on my mood, satisfying my craving for novelty and dopamine.
Whether my love of words and reading style is a symptom or a personality trait is debatable. But what is certain is this: I love love love loooooooooove reading.
One of my least favorite things about my two stints in higher education is that all of the studying left little time or appetite for recreational books. In the years since finishing my master’s, though, my love for reading has returned with a vengeance.
I’ve begun turning to audiobooks to fill many of the countless hours I spend driving between pet-sitting gigs. Along with traditional reading, the number of books I plow through in a year has reached an epic new high for me, with more than 50 titles annually becoming a norm. JOY!
Another thing I’ve really appreciated during my recreational reading revival is finding more opportunities to read and discuss books with people. During K-12, undergrad, and grad schools, I really took the built-in sense of reading and learning as a community for granted. That’s why I’m jazzed that I found a fantastic free book club called Leaders Who Fiction, which I’ll talk more about in a future blog post. If poetry is more your speed, you may instead enjoy Blue Stoop’s new Poetry Club.
I’m sharing this not just to geek out about reading, but also as an invitation to discuss books with anyone interested. What are you reading? Do you love it or hate it? Would you recommend it? What’s next on your list? What’s your favorite book? I’ want to hear it all!
If you’re a fellow bookworm, you can also connect with me on StoryGraph. (Not familiar with StoryGraph? Read my blog post, “Getting the F**k Off of Goodreads” to learn more.)
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