I could pretty much say that I can quickly lose count of all the books I love. There is one that stands out more than any other. It isn’t my most favorite, but it is special to me.

Even though I started writing poetry when I was around twelve years old, I didn’t get into reading until I was around fourteen. My parents were getting frustrated with me about me not reading. I especially drove daddy nuts over that since he was a librarian at the local college. They could not even get me to read a comic book.

So you ask, what book changed that. It wasn’t a book. It was a TV commercial. On thursday nights my dad worked evenings at the library. Leaving my mother, sister and I at the house alone. It was on one of those nights that a commercial came on for a book by Anne Rice. I had to have that book. I told my mother right then and reminded her again when they showed the commercial again that hour. I told her again the next day, the next week, while she was giving me rides to the movies or other things, on the way to church and every time that commercial showed. I didn’t let up.

She bought it that week, but didn’t give it to me. She had the bright idea of hiding it and saving it for my birthday just over a month away. But I never let up. I could not get that book out of my mind.

I remember that it was a wednesday when I came home from school and found that book laying on my bed. I pretty much dropped everything. I didn’t got out and ride bikes with my friends. I didn’t do my chores. I didn’t do my homework. I sat there and read. I didn’t notice my dad standing in my doorway staring at me in disbelief when he came home from work. I didn’t come to the table when called to supper. I didn’t notice anything about anything until dad came in there and told me it was time to go to church. During church I was antsy. I wanted to get back home and read that book.

I finished reading Interview With a Vampire in three days. A week later I picked it up and read it all the way through again. I can pretty much say that I read that book at least ten times before I turned eighteen. I was now hooked on reading.

After I read that book three time, I started hunting around for more books to read. Mother told me there was a box of books that she read at my age in the attic. It was a box of Nancy Drew books published back in the ’30s. I read every one of them. I prefer the older Nancy Drew tales. They are much better than the rewrites that they put out now.

Because I got into the Nancy Drew books, my dad went and got me some Alfred Hitchcock’s Three Investigator books. I still have those first edition books. They are no longer being printed. So if you find one, it is gonna cost some money.

I’ve always like Vampire and scary movies and that is why I wanted to read the basics. Before I graduated from High School I read Dracula, Frankenstein, Invisible man and War of the Worlds.

During college I got introduced to Narnia. I’ve probably read each of them at least twice. Also got into the Belgariad series. While my son was at the National Guard Youth camp a few years ago, he read both of those series and it is so neat to talk to each other about them.

While I was working as data entry, I got into audio books. My favorite series are the Cat Who books by Lilian Jackson Braun. I would love to have a cat like Koko.

After I joined the army, I didn’t read much for years and didn’t read much while I was a truck driver. But since my oldest son looks like Harry Potter, I read all seven of those.

What am I reading now? Martha in the Mirror by Justin Richards. It is from the Doctor Who series.