Stories from BOA Readers: #BOATurns40

I learned English at a young age mostly through reading, by copying letter for letter each unfamiliar word in my marbled notebooks until they became mine, until I dreamed with them. As a non-native speaker, books were a safe way for me to encounter new worlds, intimate spaces in which to explore and connect without fear or judgement. In the most transformative reading experiences, the writing becomes akin to our own thoughts and reshapes our most personal spaces.

What I look for in a book is a recognition or confirmation of a truth that is within me. The author is able to express and illuminate a certain experience or emotion and completely draw me in and confirm my feelings and truths. So many books have changed my life that it's hard to pick one. The authors that are in my heart and I carry their words with me are Junot Diaz, Toni Morrison, Audre Lorde, Bhanu Kapil, Clarice Lispector, Aracelis Girmay, Ocean Vuong, etc.

Many years ago I went backpacking in northern Sweden—Lapland, really. Perhaps my memory is romanticizing the setting a bit, but there were herds of reindeer grazing the hillsides under the Northern Lights, and there was no one but me on the trail for miles. I had Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook with me to read. Sweden is considerate of hikers, so every few miles there was a hut where one could rest and sleep. I am a rather lazy camper and had no desire to prove how far I could hike in a day, so I spent hours curled in...

When I open a new book, or even one that I've read a hundred times before, I find myself hoping it’s going to go well. I had difficulty reading when I was young, and, until the age of seven or eight, I was reading far below the reading comprehension expected of me. After years of extra help and nightly reading with my family, I finally figured it out. After that, I would spend whole days reading book after book. I remember reading one Little House on the Prairie book every day for a week. At the end of the week...

My ideal reading experience is the same now as it was when I first fell in love with reading - which was pretty much when I first learned to read. It's very simple really. I am in bed with a book that I love so much that hours pass without me even noticing they're gone. I have lost entire days to books -- and, with any luck, I will again. I also associate this activity with Sundays, but that may be because I'm older and Sundays tend to be the quietest days of the week with the fewest responsibilities. So,...