Although she grew up hating reading, senior Ava Lehman has found a love for books. A single series in elementary school had made her realize that reading was not all that bad after all, and picking up the book led to a new experience she hadn’t expected.
“So I just picked up a Nancy Drew book and actually liked it a lot,” Ava said. “I read all the books in the series, and I just kept going.”
The continuous reading had come as a shock to Ava; it was even more surprising as to what had caused her to pick up the books in the first place. School, being the start of the road to her love for books, had been a surprise because it was where she had always seemed to struggle with reading, yet that’s exactly where her love for books started. The place where she was told she was “bad” or “worse” than the other kids at reading ended up the place where her reading journey began.
“In fifth grade, the school and [the teachers] required you to read all these books,” Ava said.
That little push given by her teachers to pick up a book sent her into the great adventures taking form in reading. Since then, romance books have easily become Ava’s favorite type to read. Most recently, she has been reading the book Taming Seven by Chloe Walsh, which is a part of a romance series following two childhood best friends through their lives. She has noticed that romance tends to be her favorite and most-read genre, but she finds herself loving others as well. Her other favorites branch out in almost completely different directions from her typical romance.
“Fantasy is good, and mystery thrillers, especially during Halloween-time,” Ava said. “I love mysteries.”
Though she often finds herself enjoying mystery thrillers, horror is not always the best match for her taste. She will watch and read horror once in a while, but she tends to stick with her usual romance. When she does watch or read horror, it tends to be around fall time, as does mystery, perfect for “spooky season.”
“I won’t watch [horror movies] too often,” Ava said. “I get creeped out easily.”
Horror movies can be a little frightening, and she has a hard time watching them for too long, but Ava does enjoy watching the movie remakes of her favorite books. She is planning on going to see the new movie based on the book Regretting You by Colleen Hoover, which follows the story between a mother and daughter. Although she is the only one in her family and among her friends to enjoy reading, this doesn’t stop her from continuously bringing people to the movie adaptations with her.
“I like to force my boyfriend to go watch with me,” Ava said. “Even if he’s not excited for it.”
Though she loves reading now, Ava’s relationship with reading had a rocky start. She had originally struggled with reading, but now she is very glad to have learned that reading is one of her hobbies and favorite pastimes. Her struggle with reading had grown into a love that was not what she had expected, each genre taking her on a different adventure in each and every book.
“In the beginning [of school] and growing up, I hated reading,” Ava said. “I was actually really bad at it. In [elementary school], I had to go see a teacher specifically for reading.”
