I started reading all the books I could lay my hands on when I was twelve. Nothing could quell my voracious appetite for literary works of fiction. The Harlequin series, Silhouettes, Mill and Boons were my all-time favourites. I even extended it to Hearts and Hints Magazines.
My mum banned me from reading them because she felt it exposed me to immorality and I would soon become wayward. Anyone she came upon by accident, she added it to her bunch of firewood. My young uncle who also had my best interest at heart also visited unexpectedly so as to see if I still indulged in the vice of novel reading and wasted no time seizing it.
Contrary to their assumptions, I didn't become promiscuous, instead I became averse to the 'Nne ke kwanu?' kind of wooers common in my area. Neither did I live in a fantasy world where I was waiting for my Prince-charming who was tall, dark, handsome and rich to sweep me off my feet.
I turned out just fine.
Not only my mum had this kind of mentality . I remember a young girl I tutored confiding in me that her parents forbade her from reading novels but unknown to them she found an alternative online on Wattpad.
I've made up my mind to allow my children read as many novels as they wish to once they are able to read. It doesn't mean I won't teach and show them the right from wrong.
There are other factors that determine whether children will go haywire. Reading novels isn't a part of them.
I still read till date. And my children inherited my love for books. Each holiday,we go novel shopping for them. Growing up,i never had such problems, as my elder ones read. My dad used to give me pocket money. So every sat,saw me at utc, Kingsley in papa to buy books.
ReplyDeleteI use to hide and read them,but I can never forget the beating Mumsy gave me when she caught me reading m$b 😂 😂
ReplyDeletehnnnm I read mills & boom sotay my mama tire. one time my mum was with me at the airport where I was waiting for a flight back to school. I went to the book stand and bought an M&B. she started her usual complain of them not being good for me to read and took the novel back to the stand and replaced it with another book titled "God, sex and you for teenagers.. I was 15 at the time...I vex well but I kuku take the book go school.
ReplyDeleteThose good 'ol days of reading anything you could lay hands on. Nowadays, no time. Too many things to do too little time to do them.
ReplyDeleteI remember my dad tearing one thriller I was reading at night to pieces, cos it was late and it was a school night. Only for me to hear him bragging to his friends when I was writing wassce that he trusts me to clear English language cos I was always reading novels... 🙄🙄🙄
Hahahhahahahahahaha.. . He has forgotten. Parents are the same everywhere.
DeleteSame here. My mum does the same thing. Infact, their whole family knows I read. My aunt said my lil cousin who does the same got the habit from me🤷
Delete😂😂😂😂😂😂 lol see priding na
DeleteI love reading and started quite early. It has enriched my vocabulary and given me insights to so many things. It didn't make me wayward or promiscuous. I plan to even build my personal library where I would keep books I collect and I also plan to inculcate the habit of reading in my children.
ReplyDeleteStarted reading so early that I got my Dad’s bookshelf key( I dunno why Man was locking his shelf) and read EVERY single book there.
ReplyDeleteFrom documentaries,biographies to saved newspaper clips of Diana.
I was so hungry for books.
This was when I read Macbeth,Things fall apart etc.
Looking back now, My parents didn't really like this cos I would sneak off with the lantern and read until tears flowed down my cheeks. They blamed my bad sights on my ferocious reading.
Then I started hiding to read. Food I was meant to warm was burning... I read ALL my dad’s James Hardley Chase.
Then graduated to ‘give and take’ in secondary school. Sometimes my number on the queue could be 15. You would patiently wait until its your turn.
By accident I stumbled on a book seller somewhere around school😍😍😍😍 He sold second hand Harlequin,Masquerade,Mills and Boon,Crime, Then I found THIS CALDER SERIES. I am still looking for the rest of the books😩😩 This was were the few ‘coins’ I saved went to.
Reading was the reason I didn't watch too much TV growing up. Just few cartoons. Maybe lots of Indian films🙈 The times we were allowed to.
I started building my own library too.
And moved to the big girl stuff from Tami Hoag,James Petterson,David Baldacci,Robert Ludlum,Karin Slaughtet,Jonathan Kellerman,Stephen White etc etc.
Infact let me save this, my baby must read this to see how Mommy was before life happened!!😩😩😩
Pheeewwwww. Nice topic.
Let me screenshot this your reply. Off to look for those authors. I read James Hardley Chase books in primary school. My dad would hide his books on top of the cupboard but I would use our bunk bed's ladder to take them when he is out. I would hide in the cupboard, reading all his books. M/B, Harlequin, Zebra, Avon, Macmillan, Nora Roberts...Then the readers clique in school would exchange novels..Novels were gold then...I really appreciate a novel as a gift any time, any day.
DeleteOMG!! Cupboard???? 🤣🤣🤣😂😂😂😂😂
DeleteNora Roberts❤️
I love knowing people still read.
Hmm,Iphie are you me? i read every book i could lay my hands on. pacesetter novels were bae,James Hardley chase I even liked Ikebe super cos i'm artistic and love drawing.
DeleteCalder born Calder bred
DeleteOh, so it's a series? I only read This Calder Sky.. Beautiful novel. I miss reading fresh new novels.
DeleteI read the Calder series long time ago. Lloved it
DeleteI read and I am still reading them but Biko I am not a fan of allowing children read whatever they will lay their hands on once they are able to read;the evil prevalent now was not there while growing up,the fact that you turned out fine doesn't mean there were no classmates of yours who went to practice what they read.Me,I will seize,tear and burn if not for anything,for revenge na,was it not done to me?
ReplyDeleteSame here too.... I still read novels. But I'm not sure I would allow my daughter read novels cos what I see and hear every day now. Hmmm
DeleteWell said Zainab
DeleteThere's so much evil in the world I encourage reading but not just any kind of books
Not everyone can handle what they've read ,
At least I learnt this from my mom.
Naija girls no dey read again, na porn them dey watch
ReplyDeleteSearch the handbags of any Naija girls and na
50 shades of amu robber you go find 🤢🤢🤢
And na wetin you go find for the back pocket or wallet of a guy-man.....?
DeleteNO DEY DIGRESS
Na social media be the main thing..... Everybody want know wetin dey happen
After reading comments of people sharing their past and present experience you're still chanting 9ja girls do not read ?
DeleteEven the BVs that do not skip a day to acknowledge the gift of Anybook App?
ANG drink apple juice.
I STARTED READING NOVELS AT THE AGE OF 15. THE FIRST NOVEL I READ HAD 518PAGES. I HAVE READ OVER 150 OF DANIEL STEEL'S BOOKS
ReplyDeletestop shouting na
Deletemy love for Danielle Steel tho...
Delete😂😂🤣🤣😂Anon 16:25
DeleteReading your comment made me LOL
Na real stop shouting 😂😂😂😂
Nice topic...reading is life then.
ReplyDeleteI read o, to the extent my friends would tease me about it, see me begging for novel as if my life depends on it for survival. I remember my mum always beating my younger sis and i, until my dad stopped her and encouraged us, kia its well now no time again always busy, hmmmmmmm good old days.
ReplyDeleteMe late dad made me to fall in love with books. Anytime he travels to but goods for the shop books will follow, both age appropriate and not. And by the time I was a teenager I was hooked. I turn out OK
ReplyDeleteWhere can I purchase Brighter Grammar in bulk ?
DeleteI'd like to gift some celebs...
🏃🏽♀️🏃🏽♀️🏃🏽♀️🏃🏽♀️🏃🏽♀️🏃🏽♀️🏃🏽♀️🏃🏽♀️🏃🏽♀️
Ah! Na waoh!! Did you even read what you wrote before posting it?
DeleteI can never forget the destiny re-shaping slap that my beloved mother bestowed on me the day she discovered me reading one Hints magazine. I was so engrossed in what Alhaja's sugar son was doing to her that I did not hear her coming. One minute I was google eyed reading nonsense, next thing I saw was starrrrssss💥💥💥💥💥💥, when I recovered, the magazine was gone and I had a bad headache. I was 11 years old.
ReplyDeleteI got to know about stuff but I was never encouraged to try them out. Until much much much later.
🤣😂😂😂😂🤣😂your mother and mine might be relatives but we just don't know !!!
DeleteThat slap !!! I still talk about it .
I started reading my dads collection of James Hardly chase when I was about 10/11. it was the M&Bs my mum had a problem with. today I still read romance but do Christian fiction or heartsongs..
ReplyDeleteHmmmm...It all depends on the individual differences. So many individual believed that,any bad attitude displayed by their kids is as a result of the novel they have been reading
ReplyDeleteI Loved reading as a child. my parents were hardly around, busy all day. i read everything, hints, silhouette, m & b, Sidney Sheldon. no one bought them for me, i had neighbours who had working class elder sisters that loved reading. i would sneak into their houses, take the books and return at will, no one ever confronted me. i read 'every woman' sef at the age of 14. took the book from my neighbor's house. i was always indoor because of my reading habit. my siblings called me dictionary because i knew practically the meaning of every word. now life has happened to me, na me they do school runs, be lesson teacher, pastor for house, an employee, everything, that was how i lost my childhood hobby, 24 hours sef no reach me.funny enough i enjoyed to read romantic books at a young age. i still married as a virgin
ReplyDeleteWell my mum was like yours. I remember my dad giving me a special budget for novels. My mum would rant that I'm reading bad books. So my dad came up with a brilliant idea, that they (my parents) should read my novels before I do. The day God almost caught me, I was on a flight with my dad and started reading as usual, so my dad collected the book to read part of it. The cover of d novel was very innocent, just title and author but the first two pages had a massive scandalous picture. My heart was beating fast but God saved me, my dad actually opened the middle, read a couple of pages and handed it over to me. That was a narrow escape. I loved Jackie Collins and all but I still got married as a primary virgin and friends used to think I was wild because of the books I read. Reading is a very good habit to develop. Unfortunately with three kids now, I hardly read five novels in a year.
ReplyDeleteYou can tell those that read by the way they write.
ReplyDeleteI read a lot. I used to say I would read anything apart from my academic books. When I tell people I am reading the question I get most times is “what exams are you reading for?” I got the love for reading from my mom because she was doing her BSc when we were in primary school so she would bring her school novels home on weekends. Hints finished my money that year. Also discovered royallux from their ads in the magazine and that was how I started having breakouts. 🤷🏾♀️
ReplyDeleteI’m bad with keeping titles of books I’ve read though but once I start reading a book again, I remember I’ve read it.
ReplyDeleteI started reading from primary school, one of the first books I remember reading was pacesetter's undesirable element, then I started reading sweet valley twins, moved to sweet valley high, entered secondary school and started reading harlequin, silhouette, heartsong, Jeffery Deaver, any book I could lay my hands on the after secondary school I started reading books on magic, Para normal book, I read anything that catches my fancy then I saw a comment on this blog about amybook app, now I'm so hooked.
ReplyDeleteSometimes I sneaked up on my daughter reading under the cover and I remember me,myself and I reading obituaries and every other posters pasted on any wall whenever I am running errands for my parents,back at home I always had one book wedged between my fingers and my mum had to go warn the Akara woman to stop using paper to wrap the Akara because I am always reading the paper used in wrapping and ends up throwing the Akara away.
ReplyDeleteYour condition critical o, how you go dey read newspaper when them use wrap akara? I don crown you cheif reader of sdk blog.
Delete😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 omg, this comment threw me off balance. How will you throw akara away and be reading newspaper!
DeleteI read my first novel in primary 2 at seven years of age,titled "Chike and the river" by Chinua Achebe.What attracted me to the book were the pictorial depictions of certain characters in the novel.If I read about a particular character, I'd go back to check the picture of same person. The next one was " Isi akwu dara n'ala by Tony Ubesie or so.My parents moved a lot cos of my Dad's job.So if we live at certain areas,I got enrolled in nursery school and if we later moved to a rural area,I would attend 'Nta akara'.I was taught Igbo vowels at 'Nta akara' and it aided me in writing and reading very fluently in my native language.
ReplyDeleteYears later in Junior secondary school,I visited a paternal uncle to spend the long vacation, stumbled on his collections and discovered the James Hardly Chase series,Pacesetters, Silhouette Romance,Mills and Boon etc.
Because of my love of novels, I would save money weekly and use the bus to school,instead of taxis and by week end,I would buy a novel.
I later graduated to exchanging mine so I could read my friends,neighbours and even strangers books.
Before I entered Senior secondary, I started borrowing bestsellers from neighbours who were already at the university.
Before entering the university, I had already discovered books by Frederick Forsythe, John Grisham,Danielle Steele, Robert Ludlum etc.
I became a Library Prefect,so I could have unhindered access to any book I craved.Yeah right!And need I mention babysitting my neighbours two boisterous sons,so I could read Hints,Hearts,Lolly,Ikebe Super,Binta and Super Story(yeah Super story used to be a magazine).
I bought the ones I could as well,whenever I had any spare cash and if it was Lolly or Ikebe Super,you bet I'd hide them underneath my bed.The day my dad stumbled on one?Story for another day.He was so mad because he only bought Binta and Super story for me,occasionally whenever he got a copy of Tell magazine and others for himself.
Fast forward to years later as an adult, I read a different course but didn't get a job cause I was told,the labour market was saturated, bla bla bla.
But Guess what?I got my first job as a Reporter(something I didn't study but realized I had a passion for,because of my love for books).
Left the job later on to work as a media officer to an establishment,because the CEO was always reading my columns and feature articles. I had to do some media related courses later, so I could fit in and shut nay sayers that kept baying "but she didn't study Mass Communication".
Need I talk about the opportunities God brought my way because I started earning money from something I was innocently doing for the passion I had for it,which was always reading anything I could lay my hands on,and getting lost in my world of endless possibilities while my mates were playing outdoors.
It is even written that you will be blessed by the works of your hand,and the gift of man(love for novels in my case),maketh way for him.
Pheew!That's quite a handful. Madam Stella,kindly post inugo.
By the way,your blog is a life saver.Keep the good work up!
#Adannaya.
I read my first novel in primary 2 at seven years of age,titled "Chike and the river" by Chinua Achebe.What attracted me to the book were the pictorial depictions of certain characters in the novel.If I read about a particular character, I'd go back to check the picture of same person. The next one was " Isi akwu dara n'ala by Tony Ubesie or so.My parents moved a lot cos of my Dad's job.So if we live at certain areas,I got enrolled in nursery school and if we later moved to a rural area,I would attend 'Nta akara'.I was taught Igbo vowels at 'Nta akara' and it aided me in writing and reading very fluently in my native language.
ReplyDeleteYears later in Junior secondary school,I visited a paternal uncle to spend the long vacation, stumbled on his collections and discovered the James Hardly Chase series,Pacesetters, Silhouette Romance,Mills and Boon etc.
Because of my love of novels, I would save money weekly and use the bus to school,instead of taxis and by week end,I would buy a novel.
I later graduated to exchanging mine so I could read my friends,neighbours and even strangers books.
Before I entered Senior secondary, I started borrowing bestsellers from neighbours who were already at the university.
Before entering the university, I had already discovered books by Frederick Forsythe, John Grisham,Danielle Steele, Robert Ludlum etc.
I became a Library Prefect,so I could have unhindered access to any book I craved.Yeah right!And need I mention babysitting my neighbours two boisterous sons,so I could read Hints,Hearts,Lolly,Ikebe Super,Binta and Super Story(yeah Super story used to be a magazine).
I bought the ones I could as well,whenever I had any spare cash and if it was Lolly or Ikebe Super,you bet I'd hide them underneath my bed.The day my dad stumbled on one?Story for another day.He was so mad because he only bought Binta and Super story for me,occasionally whenever he got a copy of Tell magazine and others for himself.
Fast forward to years later as an adult, I read a different course but didn't get a job cause I was told,the labour market was saturated, bla bla bla.
But Guess what?I got my first job as a Reporter(something I didn't study but realized I had a passion for,because of my love for books).
Left the job later on to work as a media officer to an establishment,because the CEO was always reading my columns and feature articles. I had to do some media related courses later, so I could fit in and shut nay sayers that kept baying "but she didn't study Mass Communication".
Need I talk about the opportunities God brought my way because I started earning money from something I was innocently doing for the passion I had for it,which was always reading anything I could lay my hands on,and getting lost in my world of endless possibilities while my mates were playing outdoors.
It is even written that you will be blessed by the works of your hand,and the gift of man(love for novels in my case),maketh way for him.
Pheew!That's quite a handful. Madam Stella,kindly post inugo.
By the way,your blog is a life saver.Keep the good work up!
#Adannaya.