The funny thing about reading is that it is an acquired taste, I think. I have a 15 year old grandson that I do a lot of things with. We play golf, I take him to batting practice, go to just about all his basketball and baseball games. The boy is smart as hell, and picked up on my families skill at sarcasm. In other words, I love the boy, but, he is completely tunnel visioned. He remembers every name of every player in the NBA, NFL, and his favorite Baseball teams. But doesn't want to expand his vision to things other then sports.
His mother spends every single moment she has, which is limited, with her head stuck in a book. He won't read anything more complex then those written for a 10 year old. I have talked to him, I don't remember how many times, that if he wants to expand his world and his knowledge I would recommend reading more. He just says it's all boring. I can relate to that. I cannot tell you how many James Bond Novels I used for book reports through most of my high school years.
My father used to belong to one of those book clubs so popular in the 60's. One of the books he had ordered, when I was a junior in high school, was one titled, "Wind From The Carolina's" by Robert Wilder. It's not even in print anymore and was never a big seller, but, for some reason that I cannot explain, I started to read it. I must have been very bored that day. For the first time ever, I was able to put myself in the scenes. It was a semi-historical novel about a family that lived in So. Carolina during the Revolutionary War. They were strong British supporters. Long story short, he was very wealthy and had his entire plantation, mansion and all, packed up and shipped to Great Exuma Island in the Bahamas. The novel covers five generations of the family and the trials and tribulations that they faced and eventually, generations later, ended up back in So. Carolina.
For the first time ever, I was able to mentally picture the story, put myself in it as an outside observer, and couldn't put it down. I had finally learned how to read a novel. I have read that book so many times that I had to do an extensive search on eBay to find another copy, my original had started to fall apart. I had to learn what my daughter just took to instantly, but, it opened up a whole new world for me. I have my favorites now, mostly 'who done it's' and 'biographies', but, I still read everyday. I wish I could find a way to get him to try a different way of reading, but, I suppose there is still time, he will be a Sophomore this year. He has another year to get to the point of being as great as his Grandfather!
