How My Love for reading began

I wasn’t always an avid reader. In fact, I had to go to Title 1 (an educational program) to get remedial assistance with reading when I was in elementary school. Once I could read I told myself that I would read all the words in the Scholastic dictionary that my parents gave me…yeah that didn’t happen. Young Sherley was the oldest child in her family and she wanted to think that she was smart; that she was going to read the dictionary from A to Z…still it didn't happen. It isn't to say that she didn’t try, it’s just that something weird would happen whenever she opened the pages her eyes got droopy and her body relaxed…she'd fall asleep.

Real reading wouldn’t begin until a sixth grade vocabulary contest awoke my competitive side.

Here where the rules:

· You get the vocab list

· Read the books to find the words

· Write the context the word was written in

· Get extra credit points and public recognition

Easy, right? Not. There was another voracious reader in class which meant that I had to read a lot more books. So, I got to reading. Vampires, Werewolf, Coming-to-age, Teen Romance…you name it, I read it as long as it was fiction.

Fast forward a few years after AP English ruined my ability to read material that was truly recreational in nature (cue side eye to The Native Son). I now mostly read educational or enlightening material. Below is my ever-growing list of favorites!