Into the Past with Denise Jaden (Never Enough) + Giveaway Entry

Today I welcome Denise Jaden, author of Never Enough who is here to talk about her favorite books and other things at ages 5, 11, 15 and 19.  I love these types of posts and I hope you do too, so enjoy!

Books and Other Favorite Things From the Past

I wasn’t much of a reader as a young person, so I’m expanding this blog post to include a variety of my favorite things from the past. I think it gives a much fuller view of who I was growing up.

Age 5 – At age five, I don’t think I was reading at all yet. I tried a bit of ballet this year, but didn’t do particularly well at it. I was a scrawny little thing, regularly picked on by my older brother. I liked Barbie’s and riding bikes with the neighborhood kids. I have one book that I read to my son when he was younger and my mom says it was one of my favorites, though I don’t remember it. It’s called The Dog Book by Jan Pfloog.

Age 11 – By age eleven, I was really into dancing with my Polynesian dance troupe. I was involved with competing and our group acted as a real team. I loved working together, aiming for excellence, and it kept me focused as a pre-teen. As far as books go, I wasn’t much of a reader, but I did delve into a bit of Nancy Drew and Judy Blume during this time. I especially loved Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret

Age 15 – By age fifteen, I was smitten by soap operas. I rushed home from school each day to rewind my VCR and promptly watch my episode of General Hospital. I was one hundred percent in love with Jack Wagner (Frisco).  I would even leave the beach at two o’clock while on vacation because I wouldn’t miss an episode.

As for reading, this was my rebellious phase. Because teachers and parents were telling me how important reading was, I did everything I could to avoid it. I remember watching The Outsiders movie so I could avoid reading the book (which I’ve read and loved since).

Age 19 – This is around the age I started college. I was forced to read a certain amount of literature for school, but surprisingly still remember a few things I read back then. I wouldn’t call them favorites by any means, but the memorable ones included works by author Robertson Davies (I’ve always loved his name) and Geoffrey Chaucer. I was in the theatre program at university, so most of my reading at this age was either plays to perform (I was in Of Mice and Men, playing Curly’s Wife) and non-fiction writing about the stage.

I was in my late twenties before I discovered a love for reading, and people are always surprised when they hear that. I hope my lack of early love for books will serve as inspiration for other late starters, because now I truly can’t stop!

Thank you Denise for the great guest post.  It's interesting to find people that came to reading later in life. I feel you at age 15, I hated everything they made me read, I think I lived on Cliff Notes.  That was my period where I was turned off to reading, but I picked it back up in college when I had more freedom and I haven't stopped since.  And I agree, I hope this encourages people that are starting to read later to keep it up.  Reading is wonderful no matter what your age!

Giveaway:
See this post on Denise Jaden's blog for the wonderful prizes she is giving away during the blog tour.  If you comment on posts during the blog tour, you get an entry into the giveaway, so make sure to leave a comment for Denise here on this post for your entry on this stop!  There are some great prizes up for grabs!

Check out the Trailer for Never Enough: