I attack it like you would an addiction. I spend as much of my free time doing it and I can't get enough. I read many books who's title and/or author's name I cannot remember and likely never knew. It really made no difference, I was tearing up 3 books a week and needed to feed the literacy monster I had awakened.
I was definitely encouraged as a kid. Much more than most of my chosen peers. I was taught that there was freedom in knowledge and the more you knew, the more prepared you'd be for life. Experience is the true teacher, but reading sets the path for learning. It's the inspiration. The seed. Yet, I was still not a bookworm.
Since my reading awakening I have made an honorable attempt at figuring out what type of writing excites me without reading every book I come across to see if it's 'good'. Once I start a book I for some reason feel obligated to finish it. Even if I'm bored to death I'm sure to find one revelation-inspiring stretch of words somewhere in the book. (Black Swan by N. Taleb comes to mind...)
At first I noticed the books I enjoyed centered around making me feel inspired, strong. Books that gave me hope and made me to 'be all I could be'; validation. Stories who's characters were faced with problems seemingly aligned with mine. Stories of heartbreak and failure followed by perseverance and triumph. The everyday hero winning the battle within themselves.
Stories do take you somewhere else. You can dream vicariously through them. You can find advice and encouragement along with regret and shame. You can dream possibilities and solutions; and close the door on the past.
I do love Michael Pollan and Barbara Kingsolver and their creative non-fiction. Fantastic at story-telling life, though they are a bit nerdy-tame.
I have recently been exposed to Richard Marcinko aka Demo Dick via my older brother.
(I usually acquire reading material by suggestion. Most top readers' lists are full of stuff I have no interest in and leave me with too many options, yet dead-ended. Maybe I'm looking at the wrong reviews... suggestions?)
Back to Marcinko. Best known as Commander of SEAL Teams 2 & 6. A full-throttle, bad-ass military man with clear vision, extreme honor, and titanium balls. A potty-mouthed, beer drinking, killing machine. I love him.
The baddest of the bad boys and the books her writes are not based on characters of imaginary reverence, they are based on real people who did insanely brave, calculated, dedicated, and bull-strength work in their lives for their country. Cherry on top, he's a fantastic writer.
I have read the infamous 'Rogue Warrior' and just finished 'Red Cell' this morning. I am thankful he has a dozen or so more. His writing reaffirms my conscious and morals. It feeds my warrior spirit and makes me proud to be an American.
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