I'm sure it goes without saying that almost all kids don't automatically like reading. Of course, most of us liked story time as children, but it's a given that kid's don't normally take a liking to things they're not naturally good at. Practicing things is hard. Learning things are hard. I never liked reading growing up, because every situation in which I had to read, I was being forced too (aka: school), and I hated school. 

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I hated school, not because I was forced to read, but because I was a shy, anti-social kid. School was a place where I was afraid to talk, move or even simply exist. Therefore, I hated every experience school gave me. Which included reading. 

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However, I'll never forget my favorite English teacher Mrs. Perry. She had told us in the beginning of the year "you're going to leave this classroom with a new passion for books, or you'll never like reading." This was where I fell in love with my first book The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau. It was like something came over me and when she read the first chapter in class, I HAD to know what happened next. It was safe to say that by the end of the night, I had already read the entire book. 

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From there, I was obsessed with finding my next itch ( for lack of a better term). What turned into one book, turned into thousands and well...if you're reading this blog, I'm sure you're well aware of what happens next. 

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(which is spend a large majority of my paychecks at the bookstore).