Habitual Reader Profiles - Page 1

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	Name: Jeff Nelder
	State: California
	Vocation / Avocation: Strategy & Marketing/Storyteller

Why I'm a Habitual Reader:

My mother is a lifelong, steadfast and voracious reader, as well as one heckuva writer. From as far back as I can remember, she has read to my sister and me. When we were very tiny, she sat us on her knees in the evening to read to us from the 'important books'...which were magical tomes that have turned out to be encyclopedia! Seriously...wonderful stuff! When she wasn't reading those important books to us, she read to us from Dr. Seuss, big-little books (novels that are kid sized with one page a picture and the other text); the Adventures of Tintin; and Asterix and Obelix. When we were sick, she read 'The Great Brain' series and the wonderful work of Jonathan Bellairs. At some point here- we were old enough to read, ourselves, and she passed the torch to us. Comic books, novels, poetry, linguistic texts...we were cracking these as we began school. Thanks Mom!

Mom is definitely at the heart of my love of reading...but my own experience in books has continued to stoke the fire. One other experience helped to enable my habitual readership, as well. When I was in high school AP English, I had a teacher who played a joke on me because although I read, I read very slowly. After all, I loved reading aloud in my head as I read- which any speed reading course will tell you slows you down (although I often wonder if it isn't better to stop and smell the flowers). This English teacher told me that I would have to write a paper on 'War and Peace' after the school break. Well, I spent night and day reading those 1500+ pages and came out a much faster reader. Thanks Teach!

Nowadays, my taste in books is varied and I also mix in audiobooks (a taste that I picked up from both my mother and my sister- highly recommended when trying to read and do other things at the same time). I cannot imagine the lack of a love of reading these days or any days. Even when I went back to school for my grad degree, studying around the clock, I felt compelled to continue pleasure reading. That passion for reading has become a passion to write- and I never feel as if I have written enough- for both my sister and me. My sister has written volumes of poetry and songs, in addition to three novels. I've written songs, poems, screenplays and volumes of grant proposals and business plans, as well as a philosophy book. Thanks Mom!

My List of Ten: Books That Resonate with Wisdom and Fun

1. Bones of the Master
Author: George Crane

2. Tao Te Ching
Author: Lao Tzu

3. Dark Rivers of the Heart
Author: Dean Koontz

4. Dogs of Winter
Author: Kem Nunn

5. Bloodsucking Fiends
Author: Christopher Moore

6. Gates of Fire
Author: Steven Pressfield

7. The Anubis Gates
Author: Tim Powers

8. Neuromancer
Author: William Gibson

9. Taiko
Author: Eiji Yoshikawa

10. Memoirs from Antproof Case
Author: Mark Helprin

Have you read any of these titles? Review one now.

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