Tuesday, July 3, 2012

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:





25 comments:

Jessy said...

I also went through that rebellious phase when I was a teen where reading was uncool. I regained my love of reading in my twenties as well.

The Insouciant Sophisticate said...

I am surprised to hear that your love of reading started later in life but better late than never!

fredamans said...

We must be around the same age... I watched GH back then too... Anna was one of my favorites mainly I think she was beautiful... Ironically I was a teenager too. I was always a voracious reader though, since a very young age.

Anna said...

When I was fifteen I also was addicted to my soap opera but I loved Days of Our Lives. And it's never too late to have a love for books :)

Natasha said...

I have read since I was very young. I didn't get to read very much during high school though. I am back to reading alot now though.

Mary Preston said...

I grew up in a house full of books with parents that read. It's great that you now love to read,.

marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

Linda Kish said...

When I was 5 they didn't even begin to teach you to read til you were 7. It is so wonderful that they teach kids earlier now. It opens up so many avenues for kids. Of course now babies play with iPods. How weird is that?

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

Gaby said...

I freakin' love this cover :D

Na said...

I was smitten with soap operas in my teens also. Many played when I was a fun but some were stil playing. I remember rushing hom to catch each episode.

Cambonified{at}yahoo{dot}com

Theresa N. said...

I've been a reader all my life. In first grade I lived next to a library and would check up books, by the time I was in 5 grade I was reading books far advanced for my years.
Theresa N
weceno(at)yahoo(dot)com

Daniela said...

I'll be honest, I really hated books when I was younger. Until I turned thirteen I had to be forced to read, but then I decided to be a writer and I guess books sort of stuck to me :)
denise13727(at)yahoo(dot)com

Avie Serolf said...

Tnx for the giveaway..:D

Amethyst said...

Great post! I've always loved reading (learned how to read before I hit Kindergarten). In middle school, I use to watch a bit of All My Children for the episodes with Sarah Michelle Gellar and As the World Turns for Jordana Brewster. I think I even remember watching some of episodes with Jensen Ackles (whatever soap he was on).

Anah said...

Great post! I've always been a big reader. From Dr. Seuss to Mary Kate and Ashley to Nancy Drew and so on. I can't remember a time when I didn't love reading.

kathleen said...

Sounds like an awesome read! Great for the summer :)

mariska said...

i love reading since i can read a book by myself..kindda late , was at 8 yrs old..lol..

so looking forward to read this !

uniquas at ymail dot com

kathleen said...

I've always loved reading. From Dr. Seuss books to Harry Potter :)

mrichardson46 said...

Thank you for sharing. Having to read for class can be difficult, esp. when there is so much I want to read for pleasure.

Unknown said...

I had a love for books at an early age but it didn't turn into an obsession until my early 20's. :D

Jenn said...

LOL, I remember rushing home from school to watch Luke and Laura. We'd sit on my friends bed, not moving for an hour. GH was quite the craze back then. In fact, I still watch. But nothing can beat that feeling of when I was in junior high and high school. :)

GoGreen said...

Self esteem can be hard to achieve when the world seems to put unrealistic expectations on people, especially women.



Bonnie

alicia marie said...

I've always loved to read. Except for a lot of the required books in highschool, and I think I just didn't want to read those because I had to, but other than that i've pretty much always been a book nerd. I also was way into Days of Our Lives and would record it every day so I could watch it after school. States of Decay- that's where you saw Jensen Ackles was Days of Our Lives : ) Thanks for sharing!!

Tiffany said...

I didn't start to really read until my Junior year in high school. Ever since then you can't find me without a book. :) Great post.

Emily @ Falling For YA said...

That is crazy you didn't start reading until later in life. I read a TON as a kid and then gave up reading in my teens and started again when I went to college and had tons of free time. Great post!

emisbookblog(at)AOL(dot)com

Tabitha Michelle said...

I used to be addicted to soap operas!



chicababy_63019(at)yahoo(dot)com

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