The Girl Who Hated Reading

As a kid I hated reading. It took too much effort and any book bigger than a picture book took forever to finish. My mom tried everything to get me to read. She suggested I read Harry Potter, which my older sister loved, I refused. The introduction was boring. She tried bribing me with money if I finished a book by a certain date which resulted in me reading Tuck Everlasting. I can honestly say I don't remember much of the book. I don't think I even read the epilogue because in my mind it wasn't technically part of the main story just an after thought tacked onto the end. I finished it, got my ten bucks, and didn't pick up another book until my mom once again forced me to.
However, sometime in sixth and seventh grade something in me changed. Suddenly I couldn't read enough. I read Eragon, Harry Potter, Leven Thumps, anything and everything I could get my hands on. I didn't just read them, I devoured them, completing books in a matter of days that used to take me weeks to read.
When I finished these series I wanted more and that's when my mom introduced me to the LDS fiction genre. I read Sian Ann Bessey, Betsy Brannon Green, Lynn Gardener, and others. Looking back I remember these books with fondness, not because they were literary genius, but because they told good stories and got me to start reading. Since then reading has become a central part of my life that is essential for my major (English), my job (writing tutoring), and my faith (through scripture reading and study). If it weren't for my love of reading I wouldn't be where I am today and it all started with some children's fantasy and some LDS fiction.