My Antonia

I just finished Willa Cather's novel "My Antonia" this morning on the bus. This must be the third time I've read this book. The first time was when I was in grade school, I remember reading the bulk of the novel sitting in the large walnut tree on my Grandpa's farm. I've always loved books about pioneers and settlers. I must have read a dozen novels on people traveling by wagon train to the west and their many adventures. I loved the "Little House on the Prairie" series. Maybe I'll read those again. I think the last time I ready them must have been in the fifth grade. I remember I did a book report on one of them and made a mobile of the main characters, including Laura and her corn cob doll.

I read a lot as a child. I mean really a lot. Easily 3-5 novels a week, especially in the summer when I had free time. I loved to find a quiet place outside and just read for hours. I remember reading over 100 of "The Babysitter's Club" books one summer. By the end of the summer (I had just finished fourth grade, I think) I could read one of the 100 page books in an afternoon. A new book in the series would come out each month and the librarian would hold them for me when they came in so that I could have first chance at reading it. She also knew I would most likely return it the next day for a new one. I had made a well-worn trail on my bicycle to the little library at Gratton Elementary School that summer.

My grade school passion for reading became an escape in my junior high and high school days. When my family life got turned upside down by divorce and an abusive step father, I would retreat into my world of books. I would read just about anything I could get my hands on. (Ok not anything, I just couldn't make myself read Stephen King novels or other scary stories, although I did read a couple of really bad Harlequin Romance novels). I don't think I could have survived those years without reading as an escape. There is something about getting caught up in a story...sometimes I would read about people who were worse off than myself and how they lived with what life had dealt them. These types of stories helped me develop a "survivor" mentality. I just have to make it through today. I'll deal with tomorrow when it gets here. But at the same time, always looking forward to the day when I would leave and finally have some control over what happened to me. The day did come, the day I left to go to college.

I haven't time to read fun stuff these last few years. Mostly I spend my time reading science articles. However, I decided to start using my bus time to read for fun-instead of cramming in more science. I just recently bought a small stack of "classics" from Barnes and Noble (the little paperback ones for $4.95). "My Antonia" was one of them. I also have "Jane Erye" which I haven't read since my sophomore year in high school), "Pride and Prejudice" (I've seen the movie, but haven't read the book) and "A Tale of Two Cities". It's nice getting back into old habits.